The legal meeting of the citizens is a reference to the official public gatherings of the citizens of Ephesus; it would have been presided over by the city clerk. The Roman government allowed certain cities to have freedom of government, so long as they were obedient to the Roman authority.

The legal meeting of citizens is rendered in some languages as “a meeting of the citizens which has been called by the officials” or “a meeting of the citizens which agrees with the laws.”

In many languages citizens are “people who belong to the city” or “people who have a word in what happens in the city.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .