In Corinth
18
📚After these things Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 18:1 Corinth was the fourth largest city in the Roman Empire after Rome, Alexandria and Antioch. It was situated about 75 kilometers west of Athens. It was the capital and commercial center of Achaia (Greece), and notorious for immorality. 1 Cor 2:1-5 reveals Paul’s state of mind when he arrived in Corinth. Perhaps he felt he had failed in Athens and feared that the Corinthians, too, for the most part, might reject the gospel. It seems he changed his manner of preaching from what it was in Athens. Paul was able to adjust his style of speaking to meet any situation, yet without compromising the truth.⚜
2 📚And there he found a Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus and lately come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius 📖 had commanded all Jews to leave Rome. And he went to them,
18:2 Aquila means “eagle”. Pontus was in the northern part of Asia Minor (now called Turkey). Italy was the land to the west with Rome as its capital.⚜
3 📚and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked. For by occupation they were tent makers.
18:3 Though he was a great apostle Paul did not think it was humiliating or demeaning to work with his hands and earn a living. And in this he was an example to us all – see Acts 20:34; 1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3:7-8; 1 Cor 9:1-15.⚜
4 📚And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.
5 📚And when Silas and Timothy had come down from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.
6 📚But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads. I am pure from guilt. From now on I will go to the Gentiles”.
18:6 See Acts 13:45-46; 14:19; 17:5; 28:28; Matt 8:11; 21:43; Rom 1:16. Paul well knew his responsibility – Acts 20:26-27. If he had not proclaimed the gospel to them he would have considered himself guilty of their “blood” (of not giving them a chance to receive God’s salvation). Compare Ezek 33:1-9. Shaking out his clothes was similar to shaking dust off the feet (Acts 13:51; Matt 10:14).⚜
7 📚And he left there and entered the house of a certain man named Justus, who was a worshipper of God. His house was right next to the synagogue. 8 📚And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord together with all his household, and many of the Corinthians, hearing the message, believed and were baptized.
18:8 No opposition can keep those whom God has chosen from coming to Christ (Acts 13:48; John 6:37, 44).⚜
9 📚Then the Lord spoke to Paul at night through a vision 📖: “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent. 10 📚For I am with you, and no man will attack you to do you harm, for I have many people in this city”. 11 📚And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
18:11 For Paul this was a comparatively long time to stay in one place.⚜
12 📚And when Gallio was the proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the place of judgment,
18:12 They attacked Paul but did not harm him. We know from history that Gallio was an educated and witty man, a brother of the philosopher Seneca. But apparently he had little interest either in Judaism or Christianity or in the true and living God.⚜
13 📚saying, “This fellow persuades men to worship God in a manner contrary to the Law”.
14 📚And now when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrongdoing or wicked reckless deeds, O Jews, there would be reason for me to bear with you. 15 📚But if it is a question of words and names and your law, you see to it, for I will not be a judge of such matters”.
18:15 Some of those who do not understand the gospel of Christ may think that in the matter of religion one word or one name is as good as another. Gallio with all his education and wit was ignorant of the truth of Acts 4:12.⚜
16 📚And he ejected them from the place of judgment. 17 📚Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the place of judgment. And Gallio cared for none of those things.
In Ephesus
18 📚After this Paul remained there for a good while, and then took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, along with Priscilla and Aquila, having had his hair cut off in Cenchrea because he had taken a vow 📖. 19 📚And he came to Ephesus, and left them there, but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 📚When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent, 21 📚but took leave of them, saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem. But I will return to you, God willing”. And he sailed from Ephesus.
18:19-21 Ephesus was the capital city of the province of Asia and the largest city in Asia Minor. Once God had kept Paul from going there (Acts 16:6). Now he is led to go.⚜
22 📚And after he had landed at Caesarea and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch.
Paul’s third missionary journey
23 📚And after he had spent some time there, he left and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. 24 📚And a certain Jew named Apollos, born in Alexandria, an eloquent man and powerful in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus.
18:24 See Acts 19:1; 1 Cor 3:4-6, 22; 4:6; 16:12; Titus 3:13. The city of Alexandria was in Egypt. It was founded by Alexander the Great and became a great center of learning. Apollos had been a member of the large Jewish community there.⚜
25 📚This man was instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit, so he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, but knew only the baptism of John 📖. 26 📚And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him and expounded to him the way of God more precisely.
18:26 Apollos, great as he was in learning and oratory, was humble enough to learn from two members of the congregation. And those two performed a very valuable ministry to the church and are an example for all time.⚜
27 📚And when he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brethren wrote, urging the disciples to receive him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed.
18:27 Corinth was the capital of Achaia (v 1). “Brethren” and “disciples” were both names for the followers of Christ. Notice the phrase “who by grace had believed”. Compare Acts 13:48; John 6:37, 44; Eph 2:8-9; Phil 1:29. No one apart from God’s gracious working in his heart would come to experience a true and living faith in Christ.⚜
28 📚For he forcefully refuted the Jews, and did it publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.