Sceva, or Scevas, apparently related to the Greek word skeuos meaning a vessel or implement, a Jew called a "chief priest" (archiereus

Archiereus

Archiereus is a Greek term for bishop, when considered as the culmination of the priesthood.It is used in the liturgical books of the Eastern Orthodox Church and Eastern Catholic Church, for those services which correspond to the pontifical services of the Roman Rite...

in Greek) in .
There was no high priest in Jerusalem by this name--some speculate that he was the head of one of the twenty-four courses of
the house of Levi

Levi

Levi/Levy was, according to the Book of Genesis, the third son of Jacob and Leah, and the founder of the Israelite Tribe of Levi ; however Peake's commentary suggests this as postdiction, an eponymous metaphor providing an aetiology of the connectedness of the tribe to others in the Israelite...

. He had seven sons, who in Ephesus

Ephesus

Ephesus was an ancient Greek city, and later a major Roman city, on the west coast of Asia Minor, near present-day Selçuk, Izmir Province, Turkey. It was one of the twelve cities of the Ionian League during the Classical Greek era...

 "took upon them to
call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord

Lord

Lord is a title with various meanings. It can denote a prince or a feudal superior . The title today is mostly used in connection with the peerage of the United Kingdom or its predecessor countries, although some users of the title do not themselves hold peerages, and use it 'by courtesy'...

Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

," in imitation of Paul

Paul of Tarsus

Paul the Apostle , also known as Saul of Tarsus, is described in the Christian New Testament as one of the most influential early Christian missionaries, with the writings ascribed to him by the church forming a considerable portion of the New Testament...

. They tried their method of
exorcism

Exorcism

Exorcism is the religious practice of evicting demons or other spiritual entities from a person or place which they are believed to have possessed...

 on a fierce demon

Demon

call - 1347 531 7769 for more infoIn Ancient Near Eastern religions as well as in the Abrahamic traditions, including ancient and medieval Christian demonology, a demon is considered an "unclean spirit" which may cause demonic possession, to be addressed with an act of exorcism...

, and failed. His answer to them
was "Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are ye?" This has been interpreted as, "The Jesus whom you invoke is One
whose authority I acknowledge; and the Paul whom you name I
recognize to be a servant or messenger of God; but what sort of
men are ye who have been empowered to act as you do by neither?"
(Thomas Lindsay

Thomas Lindsay

Thomas K. Lindsay is an American educator and academic who is the former President of Shimer College. He was the Deputy Chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities until December 2008. He was also the Director of the NEH initiative, which funds programs, research and other activities...

 on the Acts of the Apostles

Acts of the Apostles

The Acts of the Apostles , usually referred to simply as Acts, is the fifth book of the New Testament; Acts outlines the history of the Apostolic Age...

.)