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TYRANNUS, Hall of
Place in Ephesus where Paul taught daily for two years (Acts 19:9). Paul’s ministry in Ephesus had begun at the synagogue, where he had preached for three months. Finding increasing opposition there, Paul rented the Hall of Tyrannus (nasb “school of Tyrannus”), where he began a ministry to both Jews and Greeks (v 10).
In Greek, the term “hall” literally means “leisure” or “rest.” It eventually became associated with the kind of activity carried on during times of leisure, that is, lectures, debates, and discussion. Finally, the term came to mean the place where these leisure activities occurred.
Virtually nothing is known about Tyrannus himself. Some scholars have suggested that he was a Greek rhetorician, sympathetic to Paul’s preaching. This suggestion is made plausible by an addition in the Western text that states that Paul taught in the hall “from the fifth hour until the tenth,” that is, from 11 am until 4 pm (nrsv mg). This would mean that Paul used the hall only during afternoon rest periods, for in all Ionian cities, work ceased at 11 am and did not resume until late afternoon because of the intense heat. Possibly these rest periods made the hall available for Paul’s use, and Tyrannus himself lectured there before and after these hours.