Seven sons of Sceva (Σκευα επτα υιο). Who this Sceva was we do not know. If a high priest, he was highly connected in Jerusalem (cf. Acts 5:24). Some MSS. have ruler instead of priest. His name may be Latin in origin. Σκευα has Doric form of genitive. But that he had seven sons in this degraded business shows how Judaism had fared poorly in this superstitious city. Did they imagine there was special power in the number seven?