ABOUT THE SEVEN SONS OF SCEVA

"Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"

Many of us are familiar with this story in the city of Ephesus in Acts 19, when a group of brothers decided to imitate the way Paul cast out demons. Unfortunately, the demon mocked them and gave them a good whooping.

One mistake we often make about this story is thinking these sons of Sceva were just random people. Not at all.

Acts 19:11–16(NKJV)

11 - Now God worked unusual miracles by the hands of Paul,

12 - so that even handkerchiefs or aprons were brought from his body to the sick, and the diseases left them and the evil spirits went out of them.

13 - Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."

14 - Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

They were not just random people; these men were exorcists, sons of a prominent Jewish priest. Exorcists are people who practise exorcism. Exorcism is the act of driving out supposed evil spirits from persons, places or things that are possessed by them, by attempting to reverse the spell through rituals and formulas.

So, for these men, this was not their first encounter with evil spirits; this was not their first time attempting to drive them out. In fact, they were described in verse 13 as itinerants (KJV uses the word vagabond); so they were always on the move, going from place to place practising exorcism. And they were Jews.

So now you have an idea of what Jesus was saying in connection to this.

Matthew 12:22–28(NKJV)

22 - Then one was brought to Him who was demon-possessed, blind and mute; and He healed him, so that the blind and mute man both spoke and saw.

23 - And all the multitudes were amazed and said, "Could this be the Son of David?"

24 - Now when the Pharisees heard it they said, "This fellow does not cast out demons except by Beelzebub, the ruler of the demons."

25 - But Jesus knew their thoughts, and said to them: "Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.

26 - If Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand?

27 - And if I cast out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they shall be your judges.

28 - But if I cast out demons by the Spirit of God, surely the kingdom of God has come upon you.

Exorcism among Jews was done by a revered set of people and their rituals included reciting protective passages from the Psalms (especially Psalm 91) and other sacred texts.

So, for these men, this was apparently not their first encounter with a demon-possessed individual. Their biggest mistake, being unbelievers in the first place, was leaving behind what they knew and trying to imitate Paul when they saw that his “method” was unique and absolutely effective.

An unbeliever trying to use the name of Jesus against evil forces is a bad idea. These men found out too late.

Acts 19:13–16(NKJV)

13 - Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists took it upon themselves to call the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "We exorcise you by the Jesus whom Paul preaches."

14 - Also there were seven sons of Sceva, a Jewish chief priest, who did so.

15 - And the evil spirit answered and said, "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?"

16 - Then the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, overpowered them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded.

Finally, from simple Bible reading, we learn that these sons of Sceva mentioned two names (Jesus and Paul) because these were the two characters they saw involved, that is, Paul speaking and performing miracles in the name of Jesus. Hence, it was these two names they mentioned that the evil spirit mentioned in response: “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you?”

So the demon didn’t say, Jesus I know, Paul I know, Peter I know, etc. It was just those two names for the reason stated above.

Victor Ibosiola © 2024