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Acts 19 · a question people ask

The seven sons of Sceva used the name of the Lord Jesus (19:13-14). Why did it go as it did for them?

In the text

The chapter gives no reason in its own words. It tells what they did: they "took on themselves to invoke over those who had the evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus", saying, "We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches." (19:13). It gives the evil spirit's answer, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know, but who are you?" (19:15), and what the man did next (19:16). Then it says, "Fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified." (19:17). The words of 19:15 are the evil spirit's. These notes add no reason of their own, and apply the verses to no one today.

From Favor's study of Acts 19

Acts 19: The name was magnified

The name the exorcists took on themselves to invoke, "the name of the Lord Jesus" (19:13), is, in the same Greek words, the name that "was magnified" (19:17). And "So the word of the Lord was growing and becoming mighty" (19:20) ends, in the Greek, with the verb behind prevailed in 19:16.

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Last reviewed October 7, 2026. Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible, which is in the public domain. Every answer cites the verses it rests on. What we believe · All Bible questions