Actschapter 18
28 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · Acts
After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth.
Introduction
Luke, Acts, Acts Overview.
Luke wrote this chapter for a reader who wanted to know whether the faith could stand before Roman law. He tells it as a companion of Paul, though he is absent from these scenes and writes from what others told him. The chapter moves quickly across a great deal of ground and slows down twice, once for a word from the Lord at night and once for a Roman court. Listen for the working couple who shelter Paul and later teach a gifted preacher. Listen also for what a governor refuses to judge. Read it as the close of one tour and the start of another.
Context
- Who
- Theophilus and Gentile readers, given the one date that anchors Paul's whole timeline.
- What
- Paul's long stay at Corinth, the hearing before the proconsul Gallio, the voyage back to Antioch, the start of a new tour and the arrival of Apollos at Ephesus.
- Where
- Corinth and its eastern port Cenchrea, then Ephesus, Caesarea, Jerusalem and Antioch, and the region of Galatia and Phrygia.
- When
- About AD 50 to 52 on the usual reckoning, fixed by the edict of Claudius about AD 49 and by Gallio's year in Achaia about AD 51 to 52.
- Why
- To show the church at Corinth planted under the Lord's promise and the Roman court declining to judge the gospel, and to bring the account to Ephesus.
Historical context
Corinth sat on a narrow neck of land with a harbour on each side, so cargo crossed the isthmus rather than risking the long sail around the southern capes. That made it rich, transient, and rough, a rebuilt Roman colony full of freedmen, traders, sailors, and people on the make.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
Aquila and Priscilla had been forced out of Rome when the emperor Claudius expelled Jews from the city, an event the Roman writer Suetonius dates to about AD 49 and links to disturbances over someone he calls "Chrestus." Their arrival in Corinth is the church's gain from an imperial edict.
Paul worked with them at the same trade, described as tentmaking, leatherwork, sewing panels of cloth or hide for tents and awnings. It was hard, portable work a man could set up in any market, and Paul used it to stay financially independent.
Gallio is the reason this chapter matters for chronology. An inscription found at Delphi records his term as proconsul of Achaia and can be dated to about AD 51-52, which pins Paul's stay in Corinth to within a year or so and fixes the surrounding journeys with it. His ruling, that this was an internal Jewish dispute, not a Roman crime, gave the young churches breathing room across the province.
Significance
The first readers saw a wearied apostle told in a vision to stay and keep speaking, because God had many people in that city. Corinth had every reason to look hopeless, and he stayed a year and a half.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Gallio's verdict was better news than it looked. A Roman governor declining to treat the Christian message as a crime set a precedent the church could point to for years, and Luke, writing for a reader who cared how Rome viewed this movement, makes sure it is on the record.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Corinth: Tentmaking With Aquila and Priscilla
Acts 18:1-3
left Athens and went to Corinth: At Corinth Paul found Aquila and his wife Priscilla, who had come from Italy because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. The historian Suetonius also records that edict, dated to about AD 49. Paul stayed and worked with them.
Acts 18:1
“After these things - After what occurred at Athens, as recorded in the previous chapter. Came to Corinth - Corinth was the capital of Achaia, called anciently Ephyra, and was seated on the isthmus which divides the Peloponnesus from Attica. The city itself stood on a little island; it had two ports, Lecheeum on the west, and Cenchrea on the east. It was one of the most populous and wealthy cities of Greece, and at the same time one of the most luxurious, effeminate, ostentatious, and dissolute.”
2 more voices on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Acts 18:1
“Paul departing from Athens - He did not stay there long. The philosophers there were too easy, too indolent, and too wise in their own eyes to receive the Gospel.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 18:1
“Furthermore, Luke showeth in this place with what great labor, and how hardly, Paul did win the same to Christ. It is well known what a rich city Corinthus was by reason of the noble mart, how populous, how greatly given to pleasure. And the old proverb doth testify that it was sumptuous and full of riot: All men cannot go to Corinthus.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus: Pontus lay on the southern shore of the Black Sea. Jews from Pontus heard Peter at Pentecost in 2:9, and Luke records no conversion for Aquila and his wife. Priscilla is named ahead of her husband in four of the six places the New Testament names the pair.
Acts 18:2
“And found a certain Jew named Aquila,.... This seems to have been his Roman name, which he had took, or was given him, while he was at Rome; very likely his Jewish name was נשד, "Nesher", which signifies an eagle, as "Aquila" does: unless it should rather be thought to be a Greek name; and as "Olympas" is from "Olympios", and "Nymphas" from Nymphios"; so "Akilas", as it in the Greek text, from Akylios", and this from ακυλος, "Akylos", which signifies an acorn.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 18:2
“From this province there were Jews at Jerusalem on the great Pentecost (Ac 2:9), and the Christians of it are included among "the strangers of the dispersion," to whom Peter addressed his first Epistle (1Pe 1:1). Whether this couple were converted before Paul made their acquaintance, commentators are much divided.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 18:2
“Also we may see how the Lord, by his singular counsel, turneth those things to his glory, and the salvation of the godly, which seem contrary to the flesh, and unhappy. Nothing is more miserable than exile, according to the sense of the flesh.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
they were tentmakers by trade: The Jewish teachers held that a father who taught his son no trade taught him to steal, and Gill cites that saying. A scholar of the law could still cut leather or stitch goat's hair cloth for a living. Paul points back to these working hands at 20:34.
Acts 18:3
“And because he was of the same craft, Art, occupation, or trade: he abode with them; in the same house in which they were: and wrought; with his own hands, to support himself, for he was a stranger in this place; and as yet here was no church to minister to him; and when there was, he would take nothing of them, that the false teachers, who rose up among them, might not make any handle of it against him, and to the prejudice of the Gospel; though otherwise he thought it his just due to receive a maintenance from…”
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 18:3
“The same craft - Of the same trade or occupation. And wrought - And worked at that occupation. Why he did it the historian does not affirm; but it seems pretty evident that it was because he had no other means of maintenance. He also labored for his own support in Ephesus Act 20:34 and at Thessalonica, 2Th 3:9-10. The apostle was not ashamed of honest industry for a livelihood; nor did he deem it any disparagement that a minister of the gospel should labor with his own hands.”
Acts 18:3
“They were tent makers by trade - For it was a rule among the Jews (and why is it not among the Christians?) to bring up all their children to some trade, were they ever so rich or noble.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 18:3
“Even those that are redeemed from the curse of the law are not exempt from that sentence, In the sweat of thy face thou shalt eat bread. See how careful Paul was to recommend his ministry, and to prevent prejudices against it, even the most unjust and unreasonable; he therefore maintained himself with his own labour that he might not make the gospel of Christ burdensome, 2 Cor. xi.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
he reasoned in the synagogue: Every Sabbath Paul reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike, the pattern of Thessalonica and Berea. The verb for persuade, used often of Paul's preaching in Acts, describes reasoned argument.
Acts 18:4
“He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath - Discoursed at large concerning Jesus as the Messiah, proving this point from their own Scriptures, collated with the facts of our Lord’s life, etc. And persuaded the Jews and the Greeks - Many, both Jews and proselytes, were convinced of the truth of his doctrine. Among his converts was Epenetus, the first fruit of his labor in Achaia, Rom 16:5; and the family of Stephanas was the next; and then Crispus and Caius, or Gaius; all of whom the apostle himself baptized, 1Co 1:14-16. See on Act 18:8 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:4
“He now wrote his FIRST EPISTLE TO THE THESSALONIANS, in which the "pressure" which resulted from all this strikingly appears. (See Introduction to First Thessalonians). Such emotions are known only to the ministers of Christ, and, even of them, only to such as "travail in birth until Christ be formed in" their hearers.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 18:5-6
devoted himself fully to the word: When the Jews opposed and insulted Paul, he turned to the Gentiles, the second of three such turns with 13:46 and 28:28. Yet he enters the synagogue at Ephesus at 18:19 and writes Romans 9 to 11 between them.
Acts 18:5
“And when Silas and Timotheus ... - They came to Paul according to the request which he had sent by the brethren who accompanied him from Thessalonica, Act 17:15. Paul was pressed - Was urged; was borne away by an unusual impulse. It was deeply impressed on him as his duty. In spirit - In his mind; in his feelings. His love to Christ was so great, and his conviction of the truth so strong, that he labored to make known to them the truth that Jesus Was the Messiah.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 18:5
“And, being thus pressed, he testified to the Jews with all possible solemnity and seriousness, as that which he was perfectly well assured of himself, and attested to them as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus is the Christ, the Messiah promised to the fathers and expected by them.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 18:5
“But now at length both Silas and Timotheus came to the apostle at Corinth. Paul was pressed in spirit - The more probably from what Silas and Timotheus related. Every Christian ought diligently to observe any such pressure in his own spirit, and if it agree with Scripture, to follow it: if he does not he will feel great heaviness.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
he shook out his garments: Shaking out the garments was a public sign that the speaker carried away none of his hearers' guilt. Nehemiah shook out his robe against oath breakers at Nehemiah 5:13, and Paul and Barnabas shook dust off their feet at 13:51. The gesture closed his work in that synagogue.
Acts 18:6
“When they opposed - Αντιτασσομενων, Systematically opposing, putting themselves in warlike order against him: so the word implies. And blasphemed - This is precisely the way in which they still act. They have no arguments against Jesus being the Messiah; but, having made a covenant with unbelief, as soon as they are pressed on this point, they rail and blaspheme. - See the Tela ignea Satanae, by Wagenseil. He shook his raiment - This was an action similar to that of shaking the dust of the feet; see on Mat 10:14 (note).”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:6
“He shook his raiment - To signify he would from that time refrain from them: and to intimate, that God would soon shake them off as unworthy to be numbered among his people. I am pure - None can say this but he that has born a full testimony against sin.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 18:7-8
the house of Titus Justus: Paul went next door to the house of Titus Justus, so that he taught beside the congregation that had rejected him. Crispus, the synagogue leader, believed with his whole household, and Paul recalls baptizing him at 1 Corinthians 1:14.
Acts 18:7
“When Paul could not have liberty to preach in the synagogue, he preached in a house, without any disparagement to his doctrine. But observe the account of this man and his house. The man was next door to a Jew; he was one that worshipped God; he was not an idolater, though he was a Gentile, but was a worshipper of the God of Israel, and him only, as Cornelius.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:7
“A certain man’s house - Probably he had become a convert to the Christian faith. Joined hard - Was near to the synagogue.”
Crispus, the synagogue leader: The synagogue leader arranged the services and chose the readers. His faith cost the congregation its head, and by verse 17 Sosthenes holds the same title. Luke gives the Corinthians' response in two verbs, believed and were baptized.
Acts 18:8
“Crispus the chief ruler of the synagogue - This person held an office of considerable consequence; and therefore his conversion to Christianity must have been very galling to the Jews. It belonged to the chief or ruler of the synagogue to preside in all the assemblies, interpret the law, decide concerning things lawful and unlawful, punish the refractory, excommunicate the rebellious, solemnize marriages, and issue divorces. It is likely that, on the conversion of Crispus, Sosthenes was chosen to succeed him.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:8
“It was for the honour of the gospel that there were some rulers, and persons of the first rank both in church and state, that embraced it. This would leave the Jews inexcusable, that the ruler of their synagogue, who may be supposed to have excelled the rest in knowledge of the scriptures and zeal for their religion, believed the gospel, and yet they opposed and blasphemed it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 18:9-10
spoke to Paul in a vision: In a vision the Lord promised Paul that He had many people in this city, before those people could be seen. The vision stands behind the stay that follows, the longest Luke records for Paul apart from Ephesus.
Acts 18:9
“Then spake the Lord to Paul . . . by a vision, Be not afraid . . . no man shall set on thee to hurt thee, &c.--From this it would seem that these signal successes were stirring up the wrath of the unbelieving Jews, and probably the apostle feared being driven by violence, as before, from this scene of such promising labor. He is reassured, however, from above.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:9
“By a vision - Compare the notes on Act 9:10; Act 16:9. Be not afraid - Perhaps Paul might have been intimidated by the learning, refinement, and splendor of Corinth; perhaps embarrassed in view of his duty of addressing the rich, the polite, and the great. To this he may allude in 1Co 2:3; “And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling.” In such circumstances it pleased God to meet him, and disarm his fears. This he did by assuring him of success.”
For I am with you: The promise of presence repeats God's word to Jeremiah at Jeremiah 1:8 and Jesus' word to the eleven at Matthew 28:20. The pledge that no one would lay a hand on him is kept in verses 12 to 17, when the charge before Gallio collapses.
Acts 18:10
“No man shall set on thee - Και ουδεις επιθησεται σοι, No man shall be permitted to lay violent hands upon thee. It is very likely that the Jews had conspired his death; and his preservation was an act of the especial interposition of Divine Providence. I have much people in this city - Εν τῃ πολει ταυτῃ, In this very city: there are many here who have not resisted my Spirit, and consequently are now under its teachings, and are ready to embrace my Gospel as soon as thou shalt declare it unto them.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
a year and a half: Paul stayed a year and a half, the longest settled ministry Luke records for him outside Ephesus. Luke reports the promise of verse 10 holding. The two letters to the Corinthians, written after he left, show how much that teaching produced.
Acts 18:11
“And he continued ... - Paul was not accustomed to remain long in a place. At Ephesus, indeed, he remained three years Act 20:31; and his stay at Corinth was caused by his success, and by the necessity of placing a church, collected out of such corrupt and dissolute materials, on a firm foundation.”
Gallio Throws the Case Out of Court
Acts 18:12-13
While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia: , the Jews brought Paul before the judgment seat. An inscription found at Delphi dates Gallio's term to about AD 51 to 52, one of the few fixed dates for Paul's ministry.
Acts 18:12
“When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia - Of which Corinth was the chief city. This Gallio, the brother of the famous Seneca, is much commended both by him and by other writers, for the sweetness and generosity of his temper, and easiness of his behaviour.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 18:12
“When Gallio was the deputy of Achaia - The Romans comprehended, under the name of Achaia, all that part of Greece which lay between Thessaly and the southernmost coasts of Peloponnesus. Pausanias, in Attic. vii. 16, says that the Romans were accustomed to send a governor into that country, and that they called him the governor of Achaia, not of Greece; because the Achaeans, when they subdued Greece, were the leaders in all the Grecian affairs see also Suetonius, in his life of Claudius, cap. xxv., and Dio Cassius, lx. 24. Edit. Reimari.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 18:12
“In this city, though it be a very profane wicked city, full of impurity, and the more so for a temple of Venus there, to which there was a great resort, yet in this heap, that seems to be all chaff, there is wheat; in this ore, that seems to be all dross, there is gold. Let us not despair concerning any place, when even in Corinth Christ had much people.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
persuading the people to worship God: Each city on Paul's route brought its own charge. At Philippi the charge was customs unlawful for Romans, at 16:21, and at Thessalonica it was defying Caesar's decrees, at 17:7. At Corinth the accusers bring a charge about worship before a Roman judge.
Acts 18:13
“Thus when people are taught to worship God in Christ, and to worship him in the Spirit, they are ready to quarrel, as if they were taught to worship him contrary to the law; whereas this is indeed perfective of the law.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:13
“Saying, this fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. Meaning either to the law of the Romans, which forbad the bringing in of any new gods, without the leave of the senate; See Gill on Act 16:21; or rather to the law of Moses: the Arabic version reads, "our law"; though this was false, for Moses in his law wrote of Christ, and ordered the children of Israel to hearken to him.”
Acts 18:14-16
a wrongdoing or vicious crime: Gallio told the Jews to settle a dispute about their own law themselves. By treating it as a matter inside Judaism, he in effect gave the Christians the legal standing Judaism already held under Roman law.
Acts 18:14
“Paul was now about to open his mouth - He was about to enter on his defense; but Gallio, perceiving that the prosecution was through envy and malice, would not put Paul to any farther trouble, but determined the matter as follows. If it were a matter of wrong - Αδικημα, Of injustice; any thing contrary to the rights of the subject. Or wicked lewdness - Ῥᾳδιουργημα πονηρον, Destructive mischief. (See the note on Act 13:10, where the word is explained.) Something by which the subject is grievously wronged; were it any crime against society or against the state.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:14
“Paul was going about to make his defence, and to show that he did not teach men to worship God contrary to the law; but the judge, being resolved not to pass any sentence upon this cause, would not give himself the trouble of examining it. He shows himself very ready to do the part of a judge in any matter that it was proper for him to take cognizance of.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
a dispute about words and names: Gallio was the elder brother of the philosopher Seneca, who praised his mild temper in his Natural Questions. The words and names he waved aside were the question whether Jesus was the Christ, Paul's claim since verse 5. A Roman judge heard it as a quarrel over terms.
Acts 18:15
“Of words - A dispute about words, for such he would regard all their controversies about religion to be. And names - Probably he had heard something of the nature of the controversy, and understood it to be a dispute about names; that is, whether Jesus was to be called the Messiah or not. To him this would appear as a matter pertaining to the Jews alone, and to be ranked with their other disputes arising from the difference of sect and name.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:15
“But the question concerning the name of Jesus is of more importance than all things else under heaven. Yet there is this singularity (among a thousand others) in the Christian religion, that human reason, curious as it is in all other things, abhors to inquire into it.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
he drove them away from the judgment seat: Gallio drove the accusers away from the judgment seat by the force of his office, and Luke's verb carries that force. Paul was about to speak and never needed to. The case ended before he said a word.
Acts 18:16
“And he drave them from the judgment seat. He would not hear, and try the cause; but dismissed them with threatening them, if ever they brought an affair of that kind to him any more.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:16
“And he drave them from the judgment seat - He saw that their accusation was both frivolous and vexatious, and he ordered them to depart, and the assembly to disperse. The word απηλασεν, which we translate he drave, does not signify here any act of violence on the part of Gallio or the Roman officers, but simply an authoritative dismission.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
of concern to Gallio: The crowd beat Sosthenes the synagogue leader in front of the judgment seat, but none of this was of concern to Gallio. The indifference that protected Paul left Sosthenes unprotected. Many identify him with the brother Sosthenes of 1 Corinthians 1:1, though the text cannot prove it.
Acts 18:17
“Then they all took Sosthenes - The successor of Crispus, and probably Paul's chief accuser, and beat him - It seems because he had occasioned them so much trouble to no purpose, before the judgment seat - One can hardly think in the sight of Gallio, though at no great distance from him. And it seems to have had a happy effect. For Sosthenes himself was afterward a Christian, 1 Cor. i, 1.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 18:17
“Then all the Greeks - The Greeks who had witnessed the persecution of Paul by the Jews, and who had seen the tumult which they had excited. Took Sosthenes ... - As he was the chief ruler of the synagogue, he had probably been a leader in the opposition to Paul, and in the prosecution. Indignant at the Jews; at their bringing such questions before the tribunal; at their bigotry, and rage, and contentious spirit, they probably fell upon him in a tumultuous and disorderly manner as he was leaving the tribunal.”
Acts 18:17
“The parties put a great contempt upon the court, when they took Sosthenes and beat him before the judgment-seat. Many conjectures there are concerning this matter, because it is uncertain who this Sosthenes was, and who the Greeks were that abused him.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
A Vow, a Voyage, and Disciples Strengthened
his head shaved in Cenchrea: The Greek grammar allows the vow at Cenchrea to be Aquila's, the nearer name, but most take it as Paul's. If so, the apostle to the Gentiles still kept the customs of his people, likely by a temporary vow of the kind in Numbers 6.
Acts 18:18
“Granted that there he did what he did not wish to do, through the compelled fear of the Jews: why did he let his hair grow in consequence of a vow and afterward cut it at Cenchrea in obedience to the law. Because the Nazarites who vowed themselves to God were accustomed to do this according to the commands of Moses?”
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 18:18
“Those that lived in Judea were, in such a case, bound to do it at the temple: but those who lived in other countries might do it in other places. The Nazarite's head was to be shaved when either his consecration was accidentally polluted, in which case he must begin again, or when the days of his separation were fulfilled ( Num. vi. 18 ), which, we suppose, was the case here.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 18:18
“And Paul - tarried there yet a good while - The persecuting Jews plainly saw, from the manner in which the proconsul had conducted this business, that they could have no hope of raising a state persecution against the apostles; and the laws provided so amply for the personal safety of every Roman citizen that then were afraid to proceed any farther in their violence. It would not be unknown that Paul was possessed of the right of Roman citizenship; and therefore his person was sacred as long as he did nothing contrary to the laws.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 18:18
“It was probably one made in one of his seasons of difficulty or danger, in prosecution of which he cuts off his hair and hastens to Jerusalem to offer the requisite sacrifice within the prescribed thirty days [JOSEPHUS, Wars of the Jews, 2.15.1].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 18:19-21
When they reached Ephesus: At Ephesus Paul reasoned in the synagogue, a first short visit before the long ministry of chapter 19. Asked to stay longer, he declined but promised to come back if God is willing, and chapter 19 opens with his return.
Acts 18:19
“And he came to Ephesus - See the notes on Rev 2:1-5. This was a celebrated city in Ionia, in Asia Minor, about 40 miles south of Smyrna. It was chiefly famous for the Temple of Diana, usually reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. Pliny styles this city the ornament of Asia. In the times of the Romans it was the metropolis of the province of Asia. This city is now under the dominion of the Turks, and is almost in a state of ruin.”
asked him to stay for a while longer: The Jews at Ephesus asked Paul to stay longer. At Thessalonica, Berea and Corinth the synagogue had driven him out. When he came back, he spoke in this synagogue for three months, as 19:8 records.
Acts 18:20
“When they desired him to tarry longer time with them,.... Either Aquila and Priscilla, whom he left here, for here they were, as is certain from Ac 18:24,26 or rather the Jews with whom he reasoned, who might be desirous of further conference with him, upon the subject they had disputed about; either in order to gain more knowledge, or in hopes of baffling and confounding him: he consented not; for a reason afterwards given.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:20
“It is good to have opportunities in reserve, when one good work is over to have another to apply ourselves to: I will return again to you, but he inserts that necessary proviso, if God will. Our times are in God's hand; we purpose, but he disposes; and therefore we must make all our promises with submission to the will of God.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Later manuscripts add a sentence here in which Paul says he must keep the coming feast in Jerusalem. The oldest manuscripts lack it, and the Berean follows them. Paul kept his word to Ephesus when he came back at 19:1.
Acts 18:21
“Keep this feast - Probably the Passover is here referred to. Why he was so anxious to celebrate that feast at Jerusalem, the historian has not informed us. It is probable, however, that he wished to meet as many of his countrymen as possible, and to remove, if practicable, the prejudices which had everywhere been raised against him, Act 21:20-21. Perhaps, also, he supposed that there would be many Christian converts present, whom he might meet also. But I will return ... - This he did Act 19:1, and remained there three years, Act 20:31.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:21
“I must by all means keep the feast at Jerusalem - This was not from any apprehension that he was obliged in conscience to keep the Jewish feasts; but to take the opportunity of meeting a great number of his countrymen to whom he might preach Christ, or whom he might farther instruct, or free from the prejudices they had imbibed against him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 18:22-23
greeted the church at Jerusalem: Paul greeted the church at Jerusalem, went down to Antioch, the church that had first sent him out, and strengthened disciples through Galatia and Phrygia. Luke gives in two verses travel that likely took many months.
Acts 18:22
“The expression "going up" is invariably used of a journey to the metropolis; and thence he naturally "went down to Antioch." Perhaps the vessel reached too late for the feast, as he seems to have done nothing in Jerusalem beyond "saluting the Church," and privately offering the sacrifice with which his vow (Ac 18:18) would conclude.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia: The usual division of Paul's travels begins the third missionary tour at this verse. Luke names the same two regions as 16:6, in the reverse order. Paul had already directed the churches of Galatia about the collection for the saints, as 1 Corinthians 16:1 records.
Acts 18:23
“The country of Galatia and Phrygia - He had been over these regions before, preaching the gospel, Act 16:6. Strengthening - Establishing them by exhortation and counsel. See the notes on Act 14:22.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:23
“Galatia and Phrygia in order--visiting the several churches in succession. Galatia is mentioned first here, as he would come to it first from Antioch. It was on this visitation that he ordained the weekly collection (1Co 16:1, 2), which has been since adopted generally, and converted into a public usage throughout Christendom.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Apollos Taught the Way More Accurately
Acts 18:24-26
well versed in the Scriptures: Apollos, well versed in the Scriptures, came from Alexandria, a city known for its library and for Jewish scholars such as Philo. Yet a tentmaker and his wife, Aquila and Priscilla, explained to him the way of God more accurately.
Acts 18:24
“A certain Jew named Apollos - One MS., with the Coptic and Armenian, calls him Apelles; and the Codex Bezae, Apollonius. It is strange that we should find a Jew, not only with a Roman name, as Aquila, an eagle; but with the name of one of the false gods, as Apollos or Apollo in the text. Query: Whether the parents of this man were not originally Gentiles, but converted to Judaism after their son Apollo (for so we should write the word) had been born and named.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:24
“An eloquent man, mighty in the Scriptures - Of the Old Testament. Every talent may be of use in the kingdom of God, if joined with the knowledge of the Scriptures and fervour of spirit.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
fervent in spirit: Paul uses the same Greek phrase at Romans 12:11, rendered there keep your spiritual fervor. Apollos knew only the baptism of John, as the twelve men of 19:3 did. Luke records no rebaptism for him.
Acts 18:25
“This man had been instructed - Though not perfectly, in the way of the Lord - In the doctrine of Christ. Knowing only the baptism of John - Only what John taught those whom he baptized, namely, to repent and believe in a Messiah shortly to appear.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:25
“This man was instructed - Greek: was catechised. He was instructed, in some degree, into the knowledge of the Christian religion. By whom this was done we have no information. In the way of the Lord - The word “way” often refers to doctrine, Mat 21:32. It means here that he had been correctly taught in regard to the Messiah, yet his knowledge was imperfect, Act 18:26. The amount of his knowledge seems to have been: (1) He had correct views of the Messiah to come - views which he had derived from the study of the Old Testament.”
the way of God more accurately: Luke uses one Greek word twice, accurately in verse 25 and more accurately here. Apollos taught correctly what he knew, and the couple supplied what he lacked. They did it in their own home.
Acts 18:26
“Probably he returned to live at Alexandria, soon after he had been baptized by John; and so had no opportunity of being fully acquainted with the doctrines of the Gospel, as delivered by Christ and his apostles. And explained to him the way of God more perfectly - He who knows Christ, is able to instruct even those that are mighty in the Scriptures.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 18:26
“They took him unto them - This eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures, who was even a public teacher, was not ashamed to be indebted to the instructions of a Christian woman, in matters that not only concerned his own salvation, but also the work of the ministry, in which he was engaged. It is disgraceful to a man to be ignorant, when he may acquire wisdom; but it is no disgrace to acquire wisdom from the meanest person or thing.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 18:27-28
wrote to the disciples there: When Apollos crossed to Achaia, the brothers wrote to the disciples there to welcome him, an early letter of commendation. At Corinth a faction later claimed his name, and Paul answers those divisions in 1 Corinthians 1 and 3.
Acts 18:27
“Who greatly helped through grace - It is through grace only that any gift of any one is profitable to another. Them that had believed - Apollos did not plant, but water. This was the peculiar gift which he had received.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 18:27
“Into Achaia - See the notes on Act 18:12. The brethren wrote - The brethren at Ephesus. Why he was disposed to go into Achaia the historian does not inform us. But he had heard of the success of Paul there; of the church which he had established; of the opposition of the Jews; and it was doubtless with a desire to establish that church, and with a wish to convince his unbelieving countrymen that their views of the Messiah were erroneous, and that Jesus of Nazareth corresponded with the predictions of the prophets, that he went there.”
Acts 18:27
“APOLLOS is not Paul, and Paul is not Apollos. To blend the two in one would be to spoil each one of the two without producing a good third. It is a great mercy that we have Paul, Apollos, Cephas and other varieties of preachers, for not only is variety charming, but it is necessary. It is not everybody that can be profited by Paul, for it requires a great deal of fixed attention to follow him and many hearers cannot concentrate their thoughts for long.”
Acts 18:27
“And when he was disposed--"minded," "resolved." to pass into Achaia--of which Corinth, on the opposite coast (see on Ac 18:1), was the capital; there to proclaim that Gospel which he now more fully comprehended. the brethren--We had not before heard of such gathered at Ephesus.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
proving from the Scriptures: The Greek verb behind powerfully refuted appears only here in the New Testament, and it means to confute thoroughly. Apollos argued from the same Scriptures to the same conclusion as Paul at 17:3 and 18:5. Paul later writes that Apollos watered what he planted, at 1 Corinthians 3:6.
Acts 18:28
“He mightily convinced the Jews - Ευτονως διακατηλεγχετο; He vehemently confuted the Jews; and that publicly, not in private conferences, but in his public preaching: showing by the scriptures of the Old Testament, which the Jews received as divinely inspired, that Jesus, who had lately appeared among them, and whom they had crucified, was the Christ, the promised Messiah, and that there was salvation in none other; and that they must receive him as the Messiah, in order to escape the wrath to come. This they refused to do; and we know the consequence.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
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Acts 18:28
“Thus his ministry would be as good as another visitation to the Achaian churches by the apostle himself (see 1Co 3:6) and the more as, in so far as he was indebted for it to Priscilla and Aquila, it would have a decidedly Pauline cast.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
How this psalm is built
The form: Missionary narrative: the close of Paul's second tour at Corinth and the opening of his third, with a Roman hearing set inside it, as 18 classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| He reasoned in the synagogue | The verb reasoned stands at verse 4 in Corinth and at verse 19 in Ephesus, and the word synagogue falls six times in the chapter. The pattern of 17:2 and 17:17 continues, with Paul arguing in the synagogue first wherever he goes.This site's published exposition of Acts 18:4, The exposition_notes row on Acts 18:4, citing Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible, and John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles. | Acts 18:4, Acts 18:19 |
| Jesus is the Christ, at the start and the end | Paul testifies to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ at verse 5, and Apollos proves from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ at verse 28. The same four words open and close the chapter's preaching, first from Paul and then from a man Paul never taught.The text of Acts 18:5 and 18:28, set together by this site's published exposition, The exposition_notes row on Acts 18:27 to 28, citing Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, and Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible. | Acts 18:5, Acts 18:28 |
| The turning saying | At verse 6 Paul says that from now on he will go to the Gentiles. The same kind of saying stands at 13:46 in Pisidian Antioch and at 28:28 in Rome, and each time Paul goes on to preach to Jews again in the next city.This site's published exposition of Acts 18:5 to 6, The exposition_notes row on Acts 18:5 to 6, citing John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, and J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained. | Acts 18:6 |
| The word to Paul in the night | Verses 9 and 10 give the Lord's words to Paul in a vision, three commands and three reasons. The Lord speaks to Paul at night again at 23:11 in Jerusalem, and an angel stands by him at night at 27:23 at sea.This site's published exposition of Acts 18:9 to 10, The exposition_notes row on Acts 18:9 to 10, citing John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible. | Acts 18:9, Acts 18:10 |
How the chapter is built
10 more paragraphs on the patterns
The chapter falls into four parts. Verses 1 to 17 give the stay at Corinth, from the arrival and the synagogue to the vision and the hearing before Gallio. Verses 18 to 22 give the voyage home by way of Cenchrea, Ephesus, Caesarea and Jerusalem to Antioch. Verse 23 opens a new tour through Galatia and Phrygia in a single sentence. Verses 24 to 28 turn to Apollos at Ephesus and Corinth while Paul is away.
The Corinth section has its own turn. Verses 4 to 6 end with Paul leaving the synagogue, verses 7 to 8 give the first fruit next door, and verses 9 to 11 give the promise that sets the length of the stay. Verses 12 to 17 then show that promise kept, since no one lays a hand on Paul before the governor.
Where it stands in Acts
Chapter 17 left Paul alone at Athens with a small harvest and his companions still in Macedonia. This chapter brings Silas and Timothy back at verse 5, and after it Silas is no longer named in Acts. The first visit to Ephesus at verses 19 to 21 is short, and the promise to return at verse 21 is kept at 19:1, where the long Ephesian ministry begins. Apollos and the disciples of John at 18:25 and 19:3 join the two chapters across the seam.
The debated readings
Whose vow. The Greek of verse 18 can be read of Paul or of Aquila, who is named just before the shaving. This site's published exposition records that most commentators take it as Paul's own vow, with Numbers 6 behind it, and John Gill and Adam Clarke are the works that note cites.
Which Sosthenes. The synagogue leader beaten at verse 17 shares his name with the brother Paul names at 1 Corinthians 1:1. Matthew Henry and Albert Barnes are the works cited on that verse, and the identity stays open.
Who beat him. The Berean says the crowd seized Sosthenes. Later manuscripts name the Greeks, and the King James prints that reading.
The reach of the chapter
The Lord's word at verse 10, I am with you, stands beside Jeremiah 1:8 and Matthew 28:20. The shaking out of the garments at verse 6 stands beside Nehemiah 5:13 and the watchman of Ezekiel 33:4. Paul's own letters fill in the picture: Crispus and Gaius at 1 Corinthians 1:14, Apollos watering what Paul planted at 1 Corinthians 3:6, and Prisca and Aquila greeted at Romans 16:3.
Keep studying
Studies11
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible, 1708 to 1710, on Acts 18; This site's published exposition of Acts 18, scripts/data/exposition-revision/acts-18.json, the notes on 18:1 to 3, 18:12 to 13 and 18:22 to 23, citing W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, 1895 and W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, 1895, on Acts 18.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; R. J. Knowling, The Acts of the Apostles, Expositor's Greek Testament; Seneca, Natural Questions, Book 4, preface; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.