But He to whom all the spirits of evil were subject, and who had given his servants authority over them, was about to bring still greater shame and defeat upon those who despised and profaned his holy name. Sorcery had been prohibited in the Mosaic law, on pain of death, yet from time to time it had been secretly practiced by apostate Jews. At the time of Paul’s visit to Ephesus, there were in the city certain Jewish exorcists, who, seeing the wonders wrought by him, claimed to possess equal power. Believing that the name of Jesus acted as a charm, they determined to cast out evil spirits by the same means which the apostle had employed.{LP 136.1}

Men Han som alle onde ånder var underlagt, og som havde givet sine tjenere myndighed over, var ved at gøre dem endnu mere til skamme foragtede og vanhelligede hans hellige navn. I den mosaiske lov var trolddom blevet forbudt, med dødsstraf, alligevel praktiserede de frafaldne jøder det fra tid til anden. På det tidspunkt hvor Paulus besøgte Efesus, var der i den by nogle jødiske troldmænd, som så de undere han udførte, og hævdede at have en lignende kraft. Idet de troede at Jesu navn var en fortryllelse, besluttede de sig for at uddrive de onde ånder, ved de samme midler som apostlen havde brugt.