The importance that Luke gave to Paul's missionary activity at Ephesus may be gauged by the amount of words he employed to describe it. In comparison to other locations of missionary work, the description of the Ephesian ministry is the longest of any in all three of Paul's missionary journeys. If the amount of space given to a particular episode is any indication of the author's purposes, then the narrative at Ephesus presents a strategic window to view Luke's aims in his composition of Acts. I find it of interest, therefore, that in such a significant narrative Luke takes care to include the speeches of two outsiders: Demetrius the silversmith and the Town Clerk. I believe that the fact that two outsider speeches have been included in this narrative is suggestive of their importance for our understanding of Luke's project. In what follows I explore the significance of these two speeches and compare them to the previously examined speeches: I suggest that a pattern for Luke's use of the speeches of outsiders continues to emerge.

Context

Acts 18.24–20.1 forms an entire section held together by the location of Ephesus. This section is divided into three main parts: (1) 18.24–19.7, where the theme is that of a deficiency of knowledge concerning Jesus. Both Apollos and the twelve disciples at Ephesus knew of John's baptism but not enough about Jesus.