According to Acts a silversmith called

Demetrius initiated a riot in Ephesus and

the crowd rushed to the theater (see right).

A man named Alexander abruptly becomes

centre stage (Acts 19:33), and his role in

the story has baffled commentators. The

passage reads as follows:

"The city was filled with the confusion; and people rushed together to the theater,

dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians who were Paul's travel

companions. Paul wished to go into the crowd, but the disciples would not let him,

even some officials of the province of Asia, who were friendly to him, sent him a

message urging him not to venture into the theater. Meanwhile, some were shouting

one thing, some another; for the assembly was in confusion, and most of them did not

know why they had come together. Some of the crowd gave instructions to Alexander,

whom the Jews had pushed forward, and Alexander motioned for silence and tried to

make a defense before the people. But when they recognized that he was a Jew, for

about two hours all of them shouted in unison, "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" But

when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, "Citizens of Ephesus, who is there

that does not know that the city of the Ephesians is the temple keeper of the great

Artemis and of the statue that fell from heaven? Since these things cannot be denied,

you ought to be quiet and do nothing rash. You have brought these men here who are

neither temple robbers nor blasphemers of our goddess. If therefore Demetrius and the

artisans with him have a complaint against anyone, the courts are open..." (Acts

19:29-38)

It is odd that Luke does not explain why Alexander is pushed forward. Nor is it clear

how his part in the story fits with Luke's interests. Why did Luke care to mention this

non-Christian Jew?

However, the passage makes sense if we assume that the readers knew of

"Alexander" and knew that he was a believer. The Alexander episode then becomes an account of how Jews and Gentiles collaborated to attack Christians and this is a common theme in Acts.

The name "Alexander" means "defender of men" and therefore sounds suspiciously like

a new name or alias, since it is comparable in meaning to the names "Sosthenes",

"Aristarchus", "Oblias", "Cephas", and others. This is supported by the fact that Alexander (if a believer) attempts a defense of the Christians and therefore earns the title “defender of men”.

The mention of Alexander fits the context even better if he is to be equated with Gaius or with the town clerk. The equation of Alexander with the town clerk was first proposed by Xabier in this Spanish article. The town clark was particularly deserving of the alias “Alexander” (defender of men).

Luke's intended readers may have known the identity of Alexander. To outsiders, on the other hand, the passage would remain obscure, and they would not even be able to tell whether Alexander was a Christian. Luke’s intention may have been to protect Alexander. If Alexander had been clearly identified, he might have been at risk if the text of Acts had fallen into the hands of the persecutors of the Christians.

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