Dictionaries :: Demetrius (2)

International Standard Bible Encyclopaedia

Demetrius (2):

de-me'-tri-us (Demetrios, "belonging to Ceres"): The name of two persons:

(1) A Christian disciple praised by John (3Joh 1:12).

(2) A silversmith of Ephesus who manufactured the little silver shrines of the goddess Diana to sell to the visiting pilgrims (Ac 19:23 ff). Because the teachings of Paul were injuring the trade of the silversmiths, there arose a riot of which Demetrius was the chief. Upon an inscription which Mr. Wood discovered among the ruins of the city, there appeared the name Demetrius, a warden of the Ephesian temple for the year 57 AD, and some authors believe the temple warden to be identical with the ringleader of the rebellion. The name, however, has been most common among the Greeks of every age. Because of its frequent use it cannot be supposed that Demetrius, the disciple of 3Joh 1:12, was the silversmith of Ephesus, nor that Demas of 2Ti 4:10, who bore the name in a contracted form, may be identified with him.

Written by E. J. Banks