19:18a–b

Many who had believed now came forward, confessing: The Greek words indicate that this event occurred over a period of time. Another way to translate these clauses are:

many of those who believed began to come and confess

19:18a

This verse in Greek begins with a word that probably means “and” here. It indicates that the event of 19:18 probably occurred after the event of 19:17 and in connection to the event in 19:15–16. For example:

also (Revised Standard Version)

Many who had believed: The Greek form of the word believed indicates a prior event. These people already believed in Jesus when the event with the seven sons of Sceva occurred. Other ways to translate this phrase are:

many of those who had become believers (Revised English Bible)
-or-
many of those who were already believers

now: The Berean Standard Bible adds this word. It helps to indicate that the believers started confessing after the event with the seven sons of Sceva.

19:18b

confessing and disclosing: The Greek words are literally confessing and disclosing. The word confessing indicates that they told other believers what they did. The word disclosing indicates that they made their magic secrets public. Other ways to translate the Greek words are:

confessing and divulging (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
admitting and revealing (Good News Translation)

In Greek thought, making magic secrets public destroyed their power. In some languages it is necessary to include this implied information for the correct meaning. For example:

confessing their evil deeds ⌊of sorcery⌋ and telling their magic secrets publicly ⌊to ruin their power⌋

confessing: The believers probably confessed to other believers. But some of them may have also confessed to non-believers.

their deeds: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as their deeds probably refers to doing magic or sorcery. But as believers, these deeds were wrong for them to do. In some languages it is more clear to indicate the kind of deeds. For example:

their practices (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
magical spells (God’s Word)

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