Acts 19:14 — ExegesisTAB

The verse consists of a main clause headed by esan {ἦσαν | ê-san} “they were,” with the postpositive de {δὲ | de} linking this statement to the preceding narrative and providing a mild contrast or continuation. The genitive chain tinos Skeua Ioudaiou archiereōs {τινος Σκευᾶ Ἰουδαίου ἀρχιερέως | ti-nos Skeuâ I-ou-daí-ou ar-khi-e-ré-ōs} functions attributively, specifying that the person in view is “a certain Sceva, a Jewish high priest,” with the indefinite tinos modifying the proper name and the following genitives appositional, further defining Sceva’s ethnic and priestly identity. The nominative phrase hepta huioi {ἑπτὰ υἱοὶ | hep-tà hu-i-òi} supplies the explicit subject, “seven sons,” whose relationship to Sceva is understood from the genitive chain. The participial clause touto poiountes {τοῦτο ποιοῦντες | toû-to poi-ún-tes} is circumstantial, agreeing in case and number with huioi and describing what these sons were characteristically engaged in, “doing this,” with touto referring anaphorically to the attempted exorcism practice just described. In translation, the genitive string is rendered as “of a certain Sceva, a Jewish high priest” to make the appositional relationships clear, and the participle is expressed with an English finite relative or descriptive construction (“doing this,” “who kept trying to do this”) to convey its ongoing aspect while maintaining the narrative flow.