Acts 19:32
Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together. Some therefore cried one thing, and some another: for the assembly was confused; and the more part knew not wherefore they were come together.
The scene took place at Ephesus after it had been made the center of work for over three years, where a flourishing church was raised up and the gospel had spread throughout the province of Asia among both Jews and Gentiles. Paul had been planning another missionary journey through Macedonia and Achaia to Jerusalem and afterward to Rome, and had sent Timothy and Erastus into Macedonia while deciding himself to remain at Ephesus until after Pentecost because the cause there still needed him. The assembly gathered during the once-a-year special ceremonies in honor of Diana, which drew great numbers from all parts of the province with utmost pomp and splendor.
It was a gala season and a trying time for those newly come to the faith, since the company of believers meeting in the school of Tyrannus stood out against the festive mood and faced ridicule, reproach, and insult. The confusion followed a telling blow to heathen worship from Paul's labors, seen in a perceptible falling off in attendance at the national festival and in the enthusiasm of the worshipers. His teachings reached far beyond actual converts, so that many who had not openly accepted the new doctrines became enlightened enough to lose all confidence in their heathen gods.
The real cause behind the uproar was the threat of the gospel to image-making, as Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen saw their business endangered and the income of pagan priests and artisans at stake, and for that reason aroused bitter opposition against Paul. The same money interest explains much of the persecution that followed the apostles in their work. The assembly was a confused and tumultuous crowd in the theater, with some crying one thing and some another and most not knowing why they had come together.
The uproar kept growing, and the crowd was not willing to distinguish among those involved. When Alexander tried to address the crowd, they pushed him aside and shouted in praise of Diana. When he tried to direct their anger against Paul and his companions, the crowd rejected him and chanted in praise of Diana.
The decision of the city recorder and other honorable officers presented Paul as innocent of any unlawful act, a triumph of Christianity over error and superstition in which God raised up a great magistrate to vindicate His apostle and hold the mob in check. Paul was grateful to God that his life was preserved and that Christianity was not brought into disrepute by the tumult, though the uproar hastened his departure from Ephesus.