Acts 18: 1 – 28
Hi there, what town threw you out?
18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them. 4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks. 5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. 8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. 9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.” 11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. 12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 13 “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” 14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” 16 So he drove them off. 17 Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever. 18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken. 19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus. 22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch. 23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples. 24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. 27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
An old famous pick up line for single men to meet a nice young lady is ‘Hi There, Do you come here often?’ A famous line Christians can use to meet other believers is, ‘Hi there, what town threw you out?
We begin to see in the book of Acts the beginning of decrees taken against Christians and Jews. Many royal edicts proclaimed that these groups were no longer welcomed in certain countries. The writer of Hebrews would point out this situation in his hall of fame of chapter 11, “13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off were assured of them, embraced them and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14 For those who say such things declare plainly that they seek a homeland. 15 And truly if they had called to mind that country from which they had come out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16 But now they desire a better, that is, a heavenly country. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared a city for them.”
They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— 38 of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.39 And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, 40 God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”
Paul had recognized that in a town like Athens he could well spare his companions from having to join him so he and sent Timothy off to Thessalonica, and Silas to Macedonia, possibly to Philippi. Now, having laid the foundations of a church at Athens, he decided to move to the much larger opportunity at Corinth. Some of the converts in Athens may well have drawn his attention to it and its need.
18 After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
Corinth was an important city situated on the land bridge between the Corinthian Gulf and the Saronic Gulf, across which land bridge freight, and even smaller vessels, were transferred by land from one harbor (Lechaeum) to the other (Cenchreae) on its way to the world’s trade centers. This was done in order to avoid rounding the dangerous and feared Cape Malea on the Peloponnese peninsula. It was thus itself an important trade center.
Its deity was Poseidon, the great sea-god, as befitted a maritime city, and it was a centre of the worship of Aphrodite, with its multitude of sacred priestess prostitutes, which involved a high degree of sexual perversion, such that ‘a Corinthian’ became a byword for loose living, and it was famous for its schools where great men came to expound ‘wisdom’ and ‘knowledge’, some of value and much of little value. It was in some ways a ‘popular’ version of Athens. People followed their favorite philosophers and spent much time in discussing and arguing their case for their differing views. This was a popular leisure activity. It was also heavily influenced by mystery religions which drew men into exotic experiences. And it was famed for its drunkenness. Another important thing in the life of Corinth was the Isthmian Games to which men came from far afield to partake in serious sporting activity, which themselves were heavily connected with the gods, and were held in Poseidon’s honor.
It was thus considered to be a highly civilized city, especially by its inhabitants. And it was, although very old, in essence a new city, simply because of its recent history. It had earlier been totally destroyed as a leader of rebellion against Rome, and it had been rebuilt by Julius Caesar around 46-44 BC as a Roman colony. Its 200,000 or so inhabitants were mainly without old roots, so that it was not bound by ancient customs, being mainly comprised of Greeks, retired Roman soldiers, freedmen from Italy, businessmen, government officials, easterners and a large number of Jews. It was the provincial capital of Achaia. We know from an inscription from Delphi that the pro-consul Gallio began his rule there in 51/2 AD, which helps to date what follows.
Paul defines something of what Corinth was like when he wrote, "Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingly rule of God? Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingly rule of God -- and such were some of you" (1 Corinthians 6.9-11). Corinth was a cosmopolitan city full of every vice and sin known to man.
2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to see them, 3 and because he was a tentmaker as they were, he stayed and worked with them.
On arrival in Corinth he must have been encouraged when he ‘found’ a Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus, who, along with his wife Priscilla, had lately left Italy because of the expulsion from Rome of all Jews in 49/50 AD.
We are not told whether they formed a partnership, or whether Paul worked for Aquila as an employee, but they worked together as tentmakers. It was customary for a Rabbi to have learned a trade so that he could maintain himself and not need to be supported while preaching. 'Love work,' they said. 'He who does not teach his son a trade teaches him robbery.' This was Paul’s trade. He always made every effort not to have to rely on gifts from local Christians.
Especially having regard to what is said later we may probably assume that Aquila was already a Christian Jew. There is certainly never any suggestion that he was one of Paul’s converts and the assumption must be that he and his wife had been Christians for some time. Their meeting may have been providential, or it could be that Paul had been recommended by Christians he knew to seek out Aquila, and that was why he had ‘found’ him.
4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.
Like his normal patter we see the Paul on every Sabbath day went to the synagogue, and ‘entered into dialogue’ with both Jews and God-fearers, ‘persuading both Jews and Greeks’.
5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.
The arrival of Silas and Timothy from Macedonia, no doubt at his request, must have encouraged him, especially as they brought from Thessalonica encouraging news about the progress of the Christians there, although he also learned of their problems. It was during this time at Corinth that he wrote the letters to the Thessalonians. Many consider that gifts from Macedonia enabled him to concentrate more time on the ministry in Corinth without looking to that church for support. He was determined not to receive any gifts or support from the church in Corinth itself.
6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
The consequence of this powerful preaching of the word was that ‘the Jews’ reacted against it. This probably indicates their refusal to accept Christ as the Messiah and attempting to insult Him. And the final result was that he deserted the synagogue by shaking off its dust from his clothes as a testimony against them, and declared that he was leaving them in order to go the Gentiles outside the synagogue.
We may probably gather from this that the response from the God-fearers had been very different from that of the Jews and that they had begun to bring Gentile friends to hear Paul. That may well have been part of the reason for the opposition.
7 Then Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God.
A God-fearer (one who worshipped God) who lived next door to the synagogue and whose name was Titius Justus, had a large house, and he offered it to Paul for his ministry.
8 Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized.
But in spite of the attitude of the Jews generally, Crispus the ruler of the synagogue became a believer, and so did his entire house. And as well as him and his household, many of the Corinthians came to hear Paul, believed and were baptized. We are justified in seeing in this that a good number of Jews as well as God-fearers did become Christians.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”
It may be that as the Jewish opposition rose Paul remembered back to previous experiences with fanatical Jews and was considering the possibility of moving on so as to prevent an uprising among the people which might make things difficult for the church, for ‘the Lord’ Jesus Christ now spoke to Paul in a night vision, urging him to continue the ministry of the word in Corinth, and assuring him of His presence with him, and that there would be no violence against him.
Our Holy Lord is indicating to Paul that there were large numbers of people whom He wanted to win for Himself. Alternately it may signify that there had been far more converts than Paul had yet realized and that the influence of some of them would for the time being prevent any uprisings. Either way he was told not to hold his peace, for God had a work that He wanted to do.
11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.
The result was that he preached for eighteen months without letting up in ‘teaching the word of God’ among them. The clear assumption of this passage is that the word of God was working effectively in the lives of the ‘many people in this city’
12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 13 “This man,” they charged, “is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
Knowing the constant strength of Jewish feeling we are not surprised to discover that eventually they took action against Paul. It may well have been the arrival of the influential and approachable Gallio who was the pro-consul in around 51/52 AD that resulted in this. He was brother to the philosopher Seneca, (Nero’s tutor), who had a high regard for him and spoke of his pleasantness to everyone. He was not a man easily to be deceived or wrongly influenced, and was generally approved of by a number of writers of the time
The Jews, feeling that he might sympathize with their case, (which they, of course, believed to be fully justified), took the usual tack of the day. In their view Paul was not preaching Judaism, he was preaching an Illicit Religion, one which, unlike Judaism, had not had the stamp of approval from Rome and was therefore not to be participated in. Many of course did participate in illicit religions but the danger of doing so was that they could always be denounced. This, however, would usually only occur when someone had been badly offended or had their business interests affected. And to bring a charge always had its dangers. it could rebound on the plaintiff.
14 Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. 15 But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.”
Gallio was a discerning and wise ruler and having looked over their case he immediately came to the conclusion that both sides were simply disagreeing about the interpretation of the same religion. He drew the proceedings to a close before Paul had even had an opportunity to speak and pointed out to the plaintiffs, that is, the Jews, that interpreting their religion were not the purpose for which he had been appointed. If they could produce evidence of Paul breaking the law, or committing some villainy then he would be quite happy to act. But when it came to such things as interpretations of what ‘the word’ was, and disagreements about particular names connected with it, such as ‘Jesus’ or ‘Christos’, and whether their Instruction (Torah) should be observed by certain people or not, that was a matter for them to decide between themselves. He was not prepared to judge such matters. They must argue it out among them.
16 So he drove them off.
The result was that he drove them all from the place of judgment. He was having none of it. There is an impression here of rather forceful dealings, as the next verse confirms. The authorities did not take kindly to spurious cases which simply wasted their time.
17 Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.
The crowd would mainly be Gentiles among whom there was quite probably some anti-Semitism, which would possibly be the result of jealousy over the Jews’ proverbial success in business. Observing Gallio’s attitude and contempt for the bringing of the case they proceeded to beat Sosthenes, the current ruler of the synagogue, (who had presumably replaced Crispus in the position). This would probably be on the basis that he had brought a false charge. Beatings were quite a common occurrence in those days and it would appear here that it was because it was considered that by bringing an unreasonable case he had wasted everyone’s time. It was intended as a warning to all not to bring up false matters. People had to learn not to misuse the court. That is why Gallio would ignore it. To him it was irrelevant and in fact deserved. In those days going to law always brought the possibility of reprisals if the case was not won.
18 Paul stayed on in Corinth for some time. Then he left the brothers and sisters and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. Before he sailed, he had his hair cut off at Cenchreae because of a vow he had taken.
Having continued his work in Corinth for some further good long time, Paul set sail for Syria, taking with him Priscilla and Aquila. But prior to setting sail he shaved his head as a result of some kind of vow. Cenchreae was an outpost of Corinth, and was the presumably the port from which Paul set sail. The shaving of the head would normally come at the end of the period of the vow, and the hair would then have to be presented in Jerusalem (Numbers 6.18). We must then assume that the vow was made at a time when he was at low ebb, possibly through his illness, or in hope that it would produce more effectiveness in his ministry. Alternately it may have been some kind of expression of gratitude to God for the work he had done in Europe, and a rededication to God’s service for the future, with the shaving being preliminary, and preparatory to allowing it to grow for the full period of the vow. Perhaps it included a vow to return to Europe, and even possibly to visit Rome. Either way in the fulfillment of it he would hurry on to Jerusalem, (although Luke only mentions that visit indirectly in verse 22), prior to returning to Syrian Antioch.
19 They arrived at Ephesus, where Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
On arrival in Ephesus Paul clearly said his ‘goodbyes’ to Priscilla and Aquila. ‘He left them there’ suggests that he did not expect to meet up with them again in Ephesus because he expected to embark at once. It would seem, however, that discovering that he could not embark as soon as he had expected he had to take up short term lodgings in Ephesus by the harbor in order to wait for another ship. This would be why he was unexpectedly able to go to the synagogue to reason with the Jews.
20 When they asked him to spend more time with them, he declined. 21 But as he left, he promised, “I will come back if it is God’s will.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
The Jews there seemingly saw his ministry as acceptable for they asked him to remain. But he had his vow to fulfill and presumably wanted to be in Jerusalem for a coming feast. Thus he refused his consent, but promised that he would return again shortly in the near future if it proved to be God’s will. Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22 When he landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem and greeted the church and then went down to Antioch.
Landing at Caesarea ‘he went up and saluted the church’. This almost certainly indicates that he went up to the church at Jerusalem where he would complete his vow, rather than just to the church of Caesarea. He would not be seen as ‘going up’ to the church in Caesarea. Since ‘going up’ is always referred to going to Jerusalem, then every place else would be what? – Going Down. Therefore Paul then returned to Syrian Antioch. His long second missionary journey was over.
23 After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.
Having spent some time in Syrian Antioch, during which time he would enjoy a teaching and evangelistic ministry, and would familiarize the church there with all that God had done, Paul set out again in order to visit the churches in Asia Minor, in ‘the Galatian region and Phrygia’ which he had previously evangelized. He did this in an orderly way, using the opportunity to strengthen all the disciples who had been won for Christ.
24 Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.
Apollos was an Alexandrian from Egypt, which probably means that he interpreted the Scriptures more allegorically than would be done in Palestine. Alexandria had a large Jewish population and was heavily influenced by the Jewish philosopher Philo. He was also very eloquent, and above all very knowledgeable about, and effective in teaching, the Scriptures.
25 He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.
It would appear that Apollos had either visited Jerusalem and come under the ministry of John the Baptist, or that he had come under the influence of others who had done so. As a result of that ministry they had learned of the coming of Jesus, and even something of His life and teaching. We learn here that Apollos had been instructed in ‘the way of the Lord’. This reminds us of the words cited by John, ‘make ready the way of the Lord’ (Luke 3.4). Apollos had taken in John’s instruction.
Furthermore he knew and taught accurately ‘the things concerning Jesus’. We must probably read this as meaning ‘the things concerning Jesus as taught by John’. He had been so inspired by it that he had taken up a teaching ministry so as to press it home to Jews everywhere, and prepare them for the arrival of the Coming One. Unfortunately we are not given full details of what he did know and believe. But we can be sure that he knew nothing of the saving effects of Jesus’ death and resurrection, nor of the coming of the Holy Spirit in power. Otherwise he would not have needed to be taught more.
26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
In God’s goodness he began to proclaim his teaching in the synagogue in Ephesus which was attended by Priscilla and Aquila. After hearing his speech they took him to one side and updated his teaching, explaining to him ‘the way of God more accurately’. In other words they filled him in on what was lacking in his teaching through lack of knowledge, telling him about the death of Jesus as Messiah, and His resurrection and enthronement through which men could be saved and as a result of which He had sent the full blessing of the poured out Holy Spirit. And he seemingly responded to such an extent that the Ephesians believers then felt able to recommend him to the churches in Achaia.
27 When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28 For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah.
Our Holy Lord was inspiring men now who never saw Him in the flesh to continue and spread the Gospel. They by the grace of God, although not seeing, believed.
