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Acts 18

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Paul Begins Ministry in Corinth 1–11

1
After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. ​
2
And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: and he came unto them; ​
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and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought; for by their trade they were tentmakers. ​
4
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
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But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. ​
6
And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. ​
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And he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. ​
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And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. ​
9
And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace: ​
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for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city. ​
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And he dwelt there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. ​

The Trial Before Proconsul Gallio 12–17

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But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment-seat, ​
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saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. ​
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But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked villany, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
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but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; I am not minded to be a judge of these matters. ​
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And he drove them from the judgment-seat.
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And they all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things. ​

Paul Returns to Antioch 18–23

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And Paul, having tarried after this yet many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila: having shorn his head in Cenchreæ; for he had a vow. ​
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And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. ​
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And when they asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not;
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but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you if God will, he set sail from Ephesus. ​
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And when he had landed at Cæsarea, he went up and saluted the church, and went down to Antioch. ​
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And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples. ​

The Ministry of Apollos 24–28

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Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures. ​
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This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John: ​
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and he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more accurately. ​
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And when he was minded to pass over into Achaia, the brethren encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him: and when he was come, he helped them much that had believed through grace; ​
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for he powerfully confuted the Jews, and that publicly, showing by the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Acts 18

Verse 1

departed from Athens, and came to Corinth — 'Departed' is chorizo, to separate, the verb also used in v.2 of the Jews who had to 'depart from Rome'. Paul recalls this arrival in 1 Cor 2:3, 'I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling', and names the house of Stephanas as 'the firstfruits of Achaia' (1 Cor 16:15).

Verse 2

Aquila, born in Pontus — The couple are named in Rom 16:3–4, where Paul says they 'laid down their own necks' for his life, and in 1 Cor 16:19, where a church meets 'in their house'. 'Priscilla' is 'Prisca' in 2 Tim 4:19. 'Lately' (prosphatos) is found only here. Their order is Aquila and Priscilla here, Priscilla and Aquila in v.18.

Verse 3

by their occupation they were tentmakers — Skenopoios is found only here, and 'of the same craft' (homotechnos) only here. Paul tells the Thessalonians he worked 'labouring night and day' (1 Thess 2:9) and the Ephesian elders that 'these hands have ministered unto my necessities' (Acts 20:34).

Verse 5

pressed in the spirit — Synecho, to hold in, is the 'straitened' of Luke 12:50 and the 'constraineth' of 2 Cor 5:14, 'the love of Christ constraineth us'. Silas and Timotheus had been left at Berea (Acts 17:14). Paul later recalls that 'the brethren which came from Macedonia' supplied what he lacked at Corinth (2 Cor 11:9).

Verse 6

Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean — The words follow the watchman's rule of Ezek 33:4: he who hears the trumpet and takes no warning, 'his blood shall be upon his own head'. 'Clean' (katharos) is the word of Acts 20:26, 'I am pure from the blood of all men'. The turn to the Gentiles echoes Acts 13:46, 'lo, we turn to the Gentiles'.

Verse 7

one that worshipped God — Sebomai, to revere, is the word for the God-fearing hearers of Acts 13:43, 16:14 and 17:4, and it is the verb of 'worship God' in the charge of v.13. 'Joined hard' (synomoreo) is found only here: his house bordered on the synagogue.

Verse 8

Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue — Paul names him among the few he baptized at Corinth, 'Crispus and Gaius' (1 Cor 1:14). 'With all his house' matches the jailer's household in Acts 16:34. 'Hearing believed' recalls Rom 10:17, 'faith cometh by hearing'. Sosthenes holds the same title in v.17.

Verse 9

Be not afraid, but speak — The Lord speaks 'in the night by a vision', as to Ananias (Acts 9:10) and to Paul at Troas (Acts 16:9). The charge matches the LORD's word to Jeremiah, 'Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee' (Jer 1:8). 'Hold not thy peace' is siopao, to keep silent.

Verse 10

I am with thee — The words are the LORD's to his people in Isa 41:10 and Christ's own in Matt 28:20, 'I am with you alway'. The protection is seen in vv.12–16, where the charge against Paul is turned away. 'People' (laos) is the word for God's people, as in Acts 15:14, 'a people for his name', taken out of the Gentiles.

Verse 11

a year and six months — 'Continued' is kathizo, to sit and stay, the word of 'tarry ye' in Luke 24:49. The stay is told by its work, 'teaching the word of God among them', and Paul later speaks of the Corinthian work in the words 'I have planted, Apollos watered' (1 Cor 3:6).

Verse 12

Gallio was the deputy of Achaia — Anthypateuo, to act as proconsul, is the verb form of anthypatos, the 'deputy' of Acts 13:7–12 and 19:38. The Jews 'made insurrection' (katephistemi, found only here) and brought him to the 'judgment seat' (bema), the word of Rom 14:10, 'the judgment seat of Christ'.

Verse 13

persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law — 'Persuadeth' (anapeitho) is found only here, and 'worship' is sebomai, as in v.7. The charge does not say which law. Paul's own answer on another occasion is 'Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, nor yet against Caesar, have I offended any thing at all' (Acts 25:8).

Verse 15

a question of words and names, and of your law — Zetema, a matter in dispute, is the word of Acts 15:2 and 23:29, where the Roman commander likewise writes of Paul 'accused of questions of their law'. 'Look ye to it' is optomai, 'see to it', as in Matt 27:24, 'see ye to it'.

Verse 17

Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue — The title is the one Crispus held in v.8. A Sosthenes is called 'our brother' in 1 Cor 1:1, and the name is not found elsewhere in the New Testament. 'Cared' is melei, the verb of John 10:13, 'careth not for the sheep'.

Verse 18

having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow — Euche, a vow, is also in Acts 21:23, 'four men which have a vow on them', who shave their heads (21:24). Num 6:18 describes the Nazarite's shaving at the end of his separation. Cenchrea had a church, whose servant Phebe is commended in Rom 16:1.

Verse 19

reasoned with the Jews — Dialegomai is the verb of v.4, and of Paul's practice at Thessalonica (Acts 17:2) and Athens (17:17). Of Ephesus Paul later writes 'I will tarry at Ephesus until Pentecost', and of Aquila and Priscilla, 'the church that is in their house' (1 Cor 16:8, 19).

Verse 21

I must by all means keep this feast — 'Must' is dei, and the feast is not named. 'If God will' is the manner of speaking James teaches, 'If the Lord will, we shall live' (James 4:15), and Paul uses it in 1 Cor 4:19. The promise to return is kept in Acts 19:1.

Verse 22

went down to Antioch — The place gone up to is not named, though v.21 gave Jerusalem as the goal and 'come up' is the verb of Acts 11:2, 'Peter was come up to Jerusalem'. Antioch is where the brethren of the first journey 'had been recommended to the grace of God' (Acts 14:26). 'Saluted' is aspazomai.

Verse 23

Galatia and Phrygia in order — The same two regions as Acts 16:6, in the other order. 'Strengthening' is episterizo, to confirm, found in Acts 14:22, 15:32, 15:41 and here, each time of building up disciples. 'In order' (kathexes) is the word of Luke 1:3.

Verse 24

Apollos, born at Alexandria — 'Eloquent' (logios) is found only here. 'Mighty in the scriptures' is made specific in v.28, 'shewing by the scriptures'. Alexandrians had a synagogue at Jerusalem (Acts 6:9). Paul later names him beside himself: 'I have planted, Apollos watered' (1 Cor 3:6).

Verse 25

knowing only the baptism of John — Katecheo, to instruct by word of mouth, is the verb of Luke 1:4, 'wherein thou hast been instructed'. 'The way of the Lord' recalls Isa 40:3 and the name 'this way' for the faith (Acts 9:2). 'Fervent' (zeo) is the word of Rom 12:11. Acts 19:3–4 meets other disciples who knew John's baptism.

Verse 26

expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly — 'More perfectly' is akribesteron, from the same root as 'diligently' (akribos) in v.25, so the teaching of v.25 is made more exact. 'Expounded' is ektithemi, the verb of Acts 28:23, and 'speak boldly' is parrhesiazomai, the word of Acts 13:46 and 14:3.

Verse 27

helped them much which had believed through grace — Letters of commendation are named in 2 Cor 3:1, 'epistles of commendation to you'. 'Exhorting' (protrepo) is found only here. 'Through grace' states how they believed, in the terms of Acts 15:11, 'through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved', and Eph 2:8.

Verse 28

mightily convinced the Jews, and that publickly — 'Mightily' (eutonos) is found elsewhere only in Luke 23:10, 'vehemently accused', and 'convinced' (diakatelenchomai) only here. His subject, 'that Jesus was Christ', is the testimony of Paul in v.5 and Acts 17:3. 'By the scriptures' is the method of Luke 24:44.