Bible Dictionary
TEMPLES, ROBBERS OF
“Robbers of temples” describes those accused of taking valuable idols or ornaments from pagan sanctuaries for personal gain, rather than destroying them as Israel’s law required. The charge was raised against Paul’s companions at Ephesus.
Definition
“Robbers of temples” describes persons accused of taking valuable idols or ornaments from pagan sanctuaries for profit. The charge is not merely that of sacrilege, but of turning into personal gain objects that should have been destroyed without regard to their value.
Biblical Usage
At Ephesus, the town clerk declared Paul’s companions innocent of being robbers of temples. The charge was especially liable to fall upon Jews because their law required the destruction of heathen idols and their ornaments.
Historical Background
The source notes that the offense was not unusual and that Jewish identity could expose people to suspicion of it. It also records that Josephus expressly denied that Jews committed this crime.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>(hierosuloi; the King James Version "robbers of churches," Ac 19:37): To explain this as "sacrilegious persons" is irreconcilable with the contrast in Ro 2:22. In De 7:25, the Jews were commanded entirely to destroy the gold and silver idols, ornaments of the heathen temples. The sin reproved is that of making that a matter of gain which, without regard to its value, they should have destroyed. "Dost thou, who regardest the mere touch of an idol as a horrible defilement, presume to rob their temples?" There is abundant evidence to show that this crime was not unusual. When the town-clerk of Ephesus declares the companions of Paul innocent of such charge, his words imply that the fact that they were Jews rendered them liable to such suspicion. So Josephus goes out of his way (Ant., IV, viii, 10) to deny that Jews ever committed the crime.</p><p>H. E. Jacobs</p>