Acts 19:35 - "And when the town clerk had quieted the crowd, he said, ‘Men of Ephesus, what man is there who does not know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great Artemis, and of the sacred stone that fell from the sky?’ "

The town clerk was probably a magistrate of considerable authority and influence, comparable to the mayor of a large city today. It is certainly clear from our text that he was the principal municipal officer of Ephesus, who was immediately responsible for the consequences of a riot such as was threatened over the presence of Paul. We might very well compare him to the Mayor of Newark or Detroit or Cleveland, or any other …