View source for Sceva

{{Short description|Jewish priest in the New Testament}}
'''Sceva''' {{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|iː|v|ə}} ({{langx|grc|Σκευᾶς|Skeuas}}) was a Jew called a "[[Kohen|chief priest]]" in {{bibleref2|Acts|19:14}}, although whether he was a chief priest is disputed by some writers.<ref>{{citation|last1=Lake|first1=Kirssop|author1-link=Kirsopp Lake|last2=Lake|first2=Silva|date=April 1934|title=The Acts of the Apostles|journal=Journal of Biblical Literature|publisher=The Society of Biblical Literature|volume=53|issue=1|pages=34–45|jstor=3259338|doi=10.2307/3259338}}</ref> Although there was no high priest in [[Jerusalem]] by this name, some scholars note that it was not uncommon for some members of the Zadokite clan ([[Sons of Zadok]]) to take on an unofficial high-priestly role, which may explain this moniker.<ref>{{citation|last=Jeremias|first=Joachim|author-link=Joachim Jeremias|title=Jerusalem in the Time of Jesus: An Investigation Into Economic & Social Conditions During the New Testament Period|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UlmitLOPVkEC|access-date=2013-03-01|year=1969|publisher=Fortress Press|location=Minneapolis|isbn=978-1-4514-1101-0|page=193}}</ref> However, it is more likely that he was an itinerant [[exorcist]] based on the use of the Greek term ({{langx|grc|περιερχομένων|perierchomenōn}}) "going from place to place" used in {{bibleref2|Acts|19:13}} in relation to his so-called "sons".<ref name="arnold7">{{citation|last=Arnold|first=Clinton|date=March 2012|title=Sceva, Solomon, and Shamanism: The Jewish Roots of the Problem at Colossae|journal=Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society|volume=55|issue=1|pages=7–26|issn=0360-8808|url=http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/55/55-1/JETS_55-1_7-26_Arnold.pdf|access-date=2013-03-01|archive-date=2014-02-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140222071304/http://www.etsjets.org/files/JETS-PDFs/55/55-1/JETS_55-1_7-26_Arnold.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

According to the book of [[Acts 19|Acts of the Apostles]], he had seven sons who attempted to exorcise a demon from a man in the town of [[Ephesus]] by using the name of [[Jesus]] as an invocation. This practice is similar to the Jewish practice, originating in the [[Testament of Solomon]], of invoking Angels to cast out demons.<ref name="arnold7"/> Because of the emphasis on healing and spiritual authority in the ministry of Sceva, it may be accurate to think of him as a [[Shaman]] figure for the Jewish communities in which he worked.<ref name="arnold7"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{New Testament people}}

[[Category:People in Acts of the Apostles]]
[[Category:1st-century Jews]]
[[Category:1st-century people]]
[[Category:Shamans]]