Acts 19:14

υἱοὶ after ἐπτὰ and omitting οἱ with אABE. Vulg. has ‘septem filii qui hoc faciebant.’

14. ἦσαν δέ τινες … ἀρχιερέως ἑπτὰ υἱοί, and there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, a chief priest. We cannot tell why the title ‘chief priest’ is given to Sceva, but it is not improbable that the name was applied to the heads of the twenty-four courses of the Levitical priesthood, who are called in the Old Testament ‘heads of fathers’ houses.’

τοῦτο ποιοῦντες, who did this, i.e. which agreed to adopt this form of words in their exorcisms. There is no need to suppose that the whole seven were present in the case about to be named, but only that they were all exorcists, and in their wish to seem the best of their class they determined to use words which should connect them with the Christian preacher through whom many miracles were known to have been wrought.

Chrysostom’s comment here is: σὺ δέ μοι σκόπει τοῦ συγγραφέως ἐνταῦθα τὸ�, καὶ πῶς ἱστορίαν μόνον γράφει, καὶ οὐ διαβάλλει. τοῦτο τοὺς�. ἀλλὰ τίνος ἦσαν νἱοὶ τὸ ὄνομα λέγει καὶ τὸν�, διδοὺς τοῖς τότε τεκμήριον�. τίνος δὲ ἕνεκεν καὶ περιήρχοντο, ἐμπορίας χάριν. οὐ γὰρ δὴ τὸν λόγον καταγγέλλοντες. πῶς γάρ; καλῶς δὲ ἔτρεχον λοιπόν, κηρύττοντες δι' ὧν ἔπασχον.