Act 18:19 came to E, and left them there; and entering
Act 19:1 Paul .. came to E, and finding certain
Act 19:26 this Paul, not only in E, but in
Act 20:17 So sending from Miletus to E, he made
1Co 15:32 if as .. I battled in E against beasts
1Co 16:8 but I will be in E until Pentecost
1Ti 1:3 as I begged you to stay in E
2Ti 1:18 how much it helped us in E, you know
Rev 2:1 write to the angel of the church in E: The
Ephesus (Gr. Ephesus, “permitted”). A city in western Asia Minor, near the mouth of the Cayster River. It was situated at the junction of various trade routes within the Greek world, and on the main road from Rome to the East. It acquired importance due to its strategic position; its great temple, the center of the cult of Diana* (Artemis); his famous magic books, the Ephesia grammata (cf Act 19:19); and the economic power of its banking association. Map XX, B-4. 174. Aerial view of the columns of the theater at Ephesus, with the Via Arcadia, a road leading to the ancient port (now covered in silt, visible as a dark area at the top). It was founded by the Ionian Greeks (11th century BC), and became the capital of the Ionian confederation of 12 cities. In the 6th century BC, King Croesus of Lydia conquered it. After his fall to Cyrus, he joined the Persian Empire. Two centuries later it fell to Alexander the Great, and then changed hands several times 348 during the early years of his successors. Later it was in Seleucid hands, from whom the Romans took it after defeating Antiochus the Great, in Magnesia (190 BC). The city then passed to the kingdom of Pergamon. When Attalus III of that kingdom bequeathed it to Rome (133 BC), Ephesus became the most important center of the Roman province of Asia. As in most of the great cities of the Roman Empire, in Ephesus there was a Jewish community with its synagogue (Acts 18:19; 19:8, 17). Paul, as usual, upon his arrival began his preaching in her. He did it briefly the first time (on his journey from Corinth to Jerusalem, during his 2nd missionary journey), and again for 3 months on his 3rd journey (Acts 18:18; 19:8). After being expelled from the synagogue, Paul held meetings in a school for more than 2 years (vs 9, 10) until the riot, incited by the silversmith Demetrius, made it advisable for him to leave the city (20:1). By this time, he had spent 3 years in Ephesus (v 31), and had probably established a solid Christian center from which the message could be proclaimed to other cities in the province of Asia. This seems evident from the fact that, just a few years later, there were Christian churches in most of the large cities of that province (Col 4:13-16; Rev 2:1-3:22). Upon his return to Jerusalem, about a year after leaving Ephesus, Paul was visited by leaders of that church at Miletus (Acts 0:16-38). During his 1st imprisonment in Rome, Paul wrote the Epistle to the Ephesians, and probably made another visit to the church after his release (1 Tit 1:3). Ephesus suffered greatly from an earthquake (29 AD), but was rebuilt by Tiberius. Paul and John arrived at this rebuilt city. During the 3rd century AD it suffered an invasion by the Goths, who destroyed the famous temple of Diana. However, it recovered, and in 431 AD it was the seat of the 3rd general council of the Church. Important statements were made in it regarding the nature of Christ, and Mary was officially declared the “mother of God.” Gradually the city lost its importance due to the constant filling of the harbor with silt from the Cayster River, and it fell into ruin. Near them is an insignificant village. The first excavations were made by a British expedition under the direction of JT Wood (1863 to 1874), who succeeded in discovering the remains of the ancient temple of Diana. The Germans, led by J. Keil (1926 to 1935), brought to light the churches and the gymnasium of Ephesus, and from 1954 an Austro-German expedition was working on the site. One of the most impressive ruins is the great theater built on the western slope of Mount Pion. Its semicircular auditorium has a diameter of about 150 m, and the orchestra pit about 33 m. The stage had a width of almost 7 m, and stands with 66 rows of seats with a capacity for 24,500 people. This was the scene of the tumult against Paul and his teachings recorded in Act 19: 23-41 The main street that connected the theater with the port was called Arcadiana. Its 530 m extension was paved with marble slab, and on both sides there were commercial premises with colonnades. At night the street was lit up, an unusual occurrence in an ancient city. Other areas of Ephesus that were exposed include the agora, Celsus’s library, gymnasiums, baths, several churches from the Christian period (including the great double church in which the council of 431 was held) and the monumental church that was built in honor of the apostle John (according to a strong tradition, the apostle spent many years of his life in Ephesus and was a recognized leader of the churches in western Asia Minor; 1st of 7 letters written during his exile on the island of Patmos was addressed to the church at Ephesus). 175. Site of the great temple of Diana (Artemis) at Ephesus, today simply a depression in the ground, filled with water that also covers the ancient foundations. Nothing remains of the great temple of Diana* (Artemis), but a depression that in the dry season reveals some of the stones that formed its foundation (fig 175). It was 4 times the size of the Parthenon in Athens, and was among the 7 wonders of the world. Inside the temple structure there were 117 columns (Pliny mistakenly says 127), some 20 m high, 36 of which had life-size sculptures on their lower part. It was the center of great festivities that attracted many visitors, especially during the month of Artemisios (March-April), the month in which the tumult against Pablo would have taken place. 349 It was also the place where the treasures of the great banking association that made Ephesus famous were kept. His main object of worship was an image of the goddess Diana made of black olive wood, according to certain scholars, or meteoric iron according to others (cf Act 19:35). Since she was considered a fertility goddess, the image of her showed many breasts (fig 163). The temple was originally in the center of the city, built on the alluvial soil of the banks of the Cayster River. However, as the city was frequently flooded by the rising river, Lysimachus moved it to a higher place, free of floods and out of reach of the floods (286 BC). Diana’s temple was not moved – it remained outside the city walls – and was destroyed by the Goths (c 260 AD); it was never completely rebuilt. Its columns were used to decorate Christian churches as far away as Constantinople (Istanbul), and the ruins of the temple were a quarry from which building materials were mined until nothing remained. Bib.: MM Parvis and FV Filson, BA 8 (1945):62-80.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
city founded by the Ionian Greeks, ca. eleventh century BC C., on the western coast of Asia Minor, at the mouth of the Caistro River, a strategic point for trade routes between East and West.
In the seventh century a. C. was conquered by the Cimmerians. In the 6th century BC, it was taken over by the Lydian king Croesus, and soon after by the Persian king Cyrus the Great. She was an ally of Sparta against Athens in the Peloponnesian War, 431-404 BC. C. Sparta handed it over to the Persians, who were expelled from there in the time of Alexander the Great, in the year 333 BC. C. Dead Alexander, was in the hands of the Seleucid sovereigns, when the city of E. had its splendor and was called Arsinoeia. In the year 133 a. C., E. became part of the Roman Empire and continued its splendor and commercial importance. The city of E. was famous in ancient times for the sanctuary in honor of the goddess Artemis, which the Romans called the temple of Diana, the object of pilgrimages from other regions of the time. This monument was the pride of the Ephesians, who prided themselves on the fact that her city was † œthe guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her statue fallen from heaven †, Acts 19, 35.
In the first century the apostle Paul founded a Christian community in E. San Pablo was in E. on two occasions. The first visit of the Apostle to the city was brief and ended his second apostolic trip, when he was already on his way to Jerusalem, Acts 18, 19-21. In the second, in his third missionary journey, Paul’s stay in E. lasted for almost three years, Acts 19, 20-31. In the synagogue of E., where there was a Jewish colony, the Apostle preached for three months about the Kingdom of God, but the unbelievers, who spoke ill of the Way, made Paul transfer his preaching to the school of Tyrant, Acts 19, 8-10. His action extended to the seven churches of E., to which the apostle John addresses himself in Rev 1, 11; Rev 2, 1-7. Likewise, through his collaborators, the apostolate of St. Paul, from E., bore the fruit of the evangelization of Colossae, which was entrusted to the Colossian Epaphras, who took his mission to Laodicea and Hierapolis, Col 1, 7 ; 4, 12-13; likewise, Timothy and Erastus, sent to Macedonia, Acts 19, 22; Gaius and Aristarchus, Acts 19, 29; and Titus, 2 Co 12, 18. In E. Pablo carried out extraordinary miracles, cured the sick and those possessed by evil spirits, before which many of the place converted, Acts 19, 11-12. In E., there was a group of artisans who worked in silver replicas of the temple of the goddess Artemis, which they sold to the pilgrims who came to the sanctuary. The silversmiths saw in the preaching of the Apostle Paul a threat to his lucrative business, which led to a revolt against him, led by Demetrius, and the Apostle had to leave E. for Macedonia, Acts 19, 21-40; 20, 1, having left Timothy at the head of this Church, Tm 1, 3. During his stay in E., Saint Paul wrote the first epistles to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, and, perhaps, the letter to the Philippians.
There is a tradition according to which in the city of E. the Virgin Mary and the apostle John died. The importance of E. in the history of Christianity lasted until the seventh century, when it was invaded by the Arabs. In the year 431, the third ecumenical council of the Christian Church met in this city, summoned by Theodocio II, emperor of the East, and Valentinian III, emperor of the West, to solve the problem of the heresy of Nestorius, bishop of Constantinople, according to which Mary was not the mother of God, since she separated the divine from the human in Christ, and, therefore, Mary was considered the mother of Christ as a man. Nestorianism was condemned at this council, and Mary was declared “Mother of God”, in Greek Theotokos, “God-bearer”. Excavations in the city of E. date back to 1863, and buildings have been found…