Acts 18

Ac 18:1-22.

PAUL'S

ARRIVAL AND

LABORS AT

CORINTH,

WHERE

HE

IS

REJOINED BY

SILAS AND

TIMOTHY, AND, UNDER

DIVINE

ENCOURAGEMENT,

MAKES A

LONG

STAY--AT

LENGTH,

RETRACING

HIS

STEPS, BY

EPHESUS,

CÆSAREA, AND

JERUSALEM,

HE

RETURNS FOR THE

LAST

TIME TO

ANTIOCH,

THUS

COMPLETING

HIS

SECOND

MISSIONARY

JOURNEY.

1-4. came to Corinth--rebuilt by Julius Cæsar on the

isthmus between the Ægean and Ionian Seas; the capital of the

Roman province of Achaia, and the residence of the proconsul; a large

and populous mercantile city, and the center of commerce alike for East

and West; having a considerable Jewish population, larger, probably, at

this time than usual, owing to the banishment of the Jews from Rome by

Claudius Cæsar

(Ac 18:2).

Such a city was a noble field for the Gospel, which, once established

there, would naturally diffuse itself far and wide.

2. a Jew . . . Aquila . . . with his wife

Priscilla--From these

Latin names one would conclude that they had resided so long in Rome

as to lose their Jewish family names.

born in Pontus--the most easterly province of Asia Minor,

stretching along the southern shore of the Black Sea. 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. They may have brought their Christianity

with them from Rome [OLSHAUSEN], or Paul may have

been drawn to them merely by like occupation, and, lodging with them,

have been the instrument of their conversion [MEYER]. They appear to have been in good circumstances,

and after travelling much, to have eventually settled at Ephesus. The

Christian friendship now first formed continued warm and unbroken, and

the highest testimony is once and again borne to them by the apostle.

Claudius, &c.--This edict is almost certainly that mentioned by

SUETONIUS, in his life of this emperor

[Lives of the Cæsars, "Claudius," 25].

3. tentmakers--manufacturers, probably, of those hair-cloth

tents supplied by the goats of the apostle's native province, and

hence, as sold in the markets of the Levant, called cilicium.

Every Jewish youth, whatever the pecuniary circumstances of his

parents, was taught some trade (see on

Lu 2:42),

and Paul made it a point of conscience to work at that which he had

probably been bred to, partly that he might not be burdensome to the

churches, and partly that his motives as a minister of Christ might not

be liable to misconstruction. To both these he makes frequent

reference in his Epistles.

4. the Greeks--that is, Gentile proselytes; for to the heathen, as

usual, he only turned when rejected by the Jews

(Ac 18:6).

5, 6. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from

Macedonia--that is, from Thessalonica, whither Silas had probably

accompanied Timothy when sent back from Athens (see on

Ac 17:15).

Paul was pressed in the spirit--rather (according to what is certainly

the true reading) "was pressed with the word"; expressing not only his

zeal and assiduity in preaching it, but some inward pressure which

at this time he experienced in the work (to convey which more clearly

was probably the origin of the common reading). What that pressure was

we happen to know, with singular minuteness and vividness of

description, from the apostle himself, in his first Epistles to the

Corinthians and Thessalonians

(1Co 2:1-5;

1Th 3:1-10).

He had come away from Athens, as he remained there, in a depressed and

anxious state of mind, having there met, for the first time, with

unwilling Gentile ears. He continued, apparently for some time,

laboring alone in the synagogue of Corinth, full of deep and anxious

solicitude for his Thessalonian converts. His early ministry at Corinth

was colored by these feelings. Himself deeply humbled, his power as a

preacher was more than ever felt to lie in demonstration of the Spirit.

At length Silas and Timotheus arrived with exhilarating tidings of the

faith and love of his Thessalonian children, and of their earnest

longing again to see their father in Christ; bringing with them also,

in token of their love and duty, a pecuniary contribution for the

supply of his wants. This seems to have so lifted him as to put new

life and vigor into his ministry. 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.

6. Your blood be upon your own heads, &c.--See

Eze 33:4, 9.

from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles--Compare

Ac 13:46.

7, 8. he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named

Justus--not changing his lodging, as if Aquila and Priscilla up to this

time were with the opponents of the apostle

[ALFORD], but merely ceasing

any more to testify in the synagogue, and henceforth carrying on his

labors in this house of Justus, which "joining hard to the synagogue,"

would be easily accessible to such of its worshippers as were still open

to light. Justus, too, being probably a proselyte, would more easily

draw a mixed audience than the synagogue. From this time forth

conversions rapidly increased.

8. Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with

all his house--an event felt to be so important that the apostle

deviated from his usual practice

(1Co 1:14-16)

and baptized him, as well as Caius (Gaius) and the household of

Stephanas, with his own hand

[HOWSON].

many of the Corinthians . . . believed and were baptized--The beginning

of the church gathered there.

9-11. 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.

10. I have much people in this city--"whom in virtue of their election

to eternal life He already designates as His" (compare

Ac 13:48)

[BAUMGARTEN].

11. continued there a year and six months--the whole period of

this stay at Corinth, and not merely up to what is next recorded.

During some part of this period he wrote his

SECOND

EPISTLE TO THE

THESSALONIANS.

(See

Introduction

to Second Thessalonians.)

12-17. when Gallio was the deputy--"the proconsul." See on

Ac 13:7.

He was brother to the celebrated philosopher

SENECA,

the tutor of Nero, who passed sentence of death on both.

13. contrary to the--Jewish

law--probably in not requiring the Gentiles to be circumcised.

14. If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness--any offense

punishable by the magistrate.

15. if it be a question of words and names, and of your law . . . I

will be no judge, &c.--in this only laying down the proper limits of

his office.

16. drave them, &c.--annoyed at such a case.

17. all the Greeks--the Gentile spectators.

took Sosthenes--perhaps the successor of Crispus, and certainly the

head of the accusing party. It is very improbable that this was the same

Sosthenes as the apostle afterwards calls "his brother"

(1Co 1:1).

and beat him before the judgment-seat--under the very eye of the

judge.

And Gallio cared for none of those things--nothing loath, perhaps,

to see these turbulent Jews, for whom probably he felt contempt,

themselves getting what they hoped to inflict on another, and

indifferent to whatever was beyond the range of his office and case. His

brother eulogizes his loving and lovable manners. Religious

indifference, under the influence of an easy and amiable temper,

reappears from age to age.

18. Paul . . . tarried . . . yet a good

while--During his long residence at Corinth, Paul planted other

churches in Achaia

(2Co 1:1).

then took . . . leave of the brethren, and sailed . . . into--rather,

"for"

Syria--to Antioch, the starting-point of all the missions to the

Gentiles, which he feels to be for the present concluded.

with him Priscilla and Aquila--In this order the names also occur in

Ac 18:26

(according to the true reading); compare

Ro 16:3;

2Ti 4:19,

which seem to imply that the wife was the more prominent and helpful to

the Church. Silas and Timotheus doubtless accompanied the apostle, as

also Erastus, Gaius, and Aristarchus

(Ac 19:22, 29).

Of Silas, as Paul's associate, we read no more. His name occurs last in

connection with Peter and the churches of Asia Minor

[WEBSTER

and

WILKINSON].

having shorn his head in Cenchrea--the eastern harbor of

Corinth, about ten miles distant, where a church had been formed

(Ro 16:1).

for he--Paul.

had a vow--That it was the Nazarite vow

(Nu 6:1-27)

is not likely. 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]. This explains the haste with which he leaves Ephesus

(Ac 18:21),

and the subsequent observance, on the recommendation of the brethren,

of a similar vow

(Ac 21:24).

This one at Corinth was voluntary, and shows that even in heathen

countries he systematically studied the prejudices of his Jewish

brethren.

19. he came to Ephesus--the capital of the Roman province of Asia.

(See

Introduction

to Ephesians).

It was a sail, right across from the west to the east side of the

Ægean Sea, of some eight or ten days, with a fair wind.

left them there--Aquila and Priscilla.

but he himself entered into the synagogue--merely taking advantage

of the vessel putting in there.

and reasoned with the Jews--the tense here not being the

usual one denoting continuous action (as in

Ac 17:2; 18:4),

but that expressing a transient act. He had been forbidden to

preach the word in Asia

(Ac 16:6),

but he would not consider that as precluding this passing exercise of

his ministry when Providence brought him to its capital; nor did it

follow that the prohibition was still in force.

20. when they desired him to tarry--The Jews seldom rose against the

Gospel till the successful preaching of it stirred them up, and there

was no time for that here.

21. I must . . . keep this feast--probably Pentecost, presenting a

noble opportunity of preaching the Gospel.

but I will return--the fulfilment of which promise is recorded in

Ac 19:1.

22. And when he had landed at Cæsarea--where he left the vessel.

and gone up--that is, to Jerusalem.

and saluted the church--In these few words does the historian

despatch the apostle's

FOURTH VISIT TO

JERUSALEM

after his conversion. 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. It is left to be understood, as on his arrival from his

first missionary tour, that "when he was come, and had gathered the

church together, he rehearsed all that God had done with him"

(Ac 14:27)

on this his second missionary journey.

Ac 18:23-21:16.

PAUL'S

THIRD AND

LAST

MISSIONARY

JOURNEY--HE

VISITS THE

CHURCHES OF

GALATIA AND

PHRYGIA.

23. And after he had spent some time there--but probably not long.

he departed--little thinking, probably, he was never more to return to

Antioch.

went over all . . . Galatia and Phrygia in

order--visiting the several churches in succession. See on

Ac 16:6.

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. Timotheus and Erastus, Gaius and

Aristarchus, appear to have accompanied him on this journey

(Ac 19:22, 29;

2Co 1:1),

and from Second Corinthians we may presume, Titus also. The details of

this visit, as of the former

(Ac 16:6),

are not given.

Ac 18:24-28.

EPISODE

CONCERNING

APOLLOS AT

EPHESUS AND IN

ACHAIA.

This is one of the most interesting and suggestive incidental narratives

in this precious history.

24, 25. a . . . Jew named Apollos--a contraction from Apollonius.

born at Alexandria--the celebrated city of Egypt on the southeastern

shore of the Mediterranean, called after its founder, Alexander the

Great. Nowhere was there such a fusion of Greek, Jewish, and Oriental

peculiarities, and an intelligent Jew educated in that city could

hardly fail to manifest all these elements in his mental character.

eloquent--turning his Alexandrian culture to high account.

and mighty in the scriptures--his eloquence enabling him to express

clearly and enforce skilfully what, as a Jew, he had gathered from a

diligent study of the Old Testament Scriptures.

came to Ephesus--on what errand is not known.

25. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord . . .

knowing only the baptism of John--He was instructed, probably, by

some disciple of the Baptist, in the whole circle of John's teaching

concerning Jesus, but no more: he had yet to learn the new light which

the outpouring of the Spirit at Pentecost had thrown upon the

Redeemer's death and resurrection; as appears from

Ac 19:2, 3.

being fervent in the spirit--His heart warm, and conscious, probably,

of his gifts and attainments, he burned to impart to others the truth he

had himself received.

he spake and taught diligently--rather, "accurately" (it is the same

word as is rendered "perfectly" in

Ac 18:26).

26. speak boldly in the synagogue, whom when Aquila and Priscilla

heard--joying to observe the extent of Scripture knowledge and

evangelical truth which he displayed, and the fervency, courage, and

eloquence with which he preached the truth.

they took him unto them--privately.

and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly--opening up

those truths, to him as yet unknown, on which the Spirit had shed such

glorious light. (In what appears to be the true reading of this verse,

Priscilla is put before Aquila, as in

Ac 18:18

[see on

Ac 18:18];

she being probably the more intelligent and devoted of the two). One

cannot but observe how providential it was that this couple should have

been left at Ephesus when Paul sailed thence for Syria; and no doubt it

was chiefly to pave the way for the better understanding of this

episode that the fact is expressly mentioned by the historian in

Ac 18:19.

We see here also an example of not only lay agency (as it is

called), but female agency of the highest kind and with the most

admirable fruit. Nor can one help admiring the humility and

teachableness of so gifted a teacher in sitting at the feet of a

Christian woman and her husband.

27, 28. 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. But the desire of the Jews to whom Paul preached to retain him

among them for some time

(Ac 18:20),

and his promise to return to them

(Ac 18:21),

seem to indicate some drawing towards the Gospel, which, no doubt, the

zealous private labors of Priscilla and Aquila would ripen into

discipleship.

wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him--a beautiful specimen

of "letters of recommendation" (as

Ac 15:23, 25-27,

and see

2Co 3:1);

churches maintained active Christian fellowship with each other.

when he was come, helped them much--was a great acquisition to the

Achaian brethren.

which believed through grace--one of those incidental expressions which

show that faith's being a production of God's grace in the heart was

so current and recognized a truth that it was taken for granted, as a

necessary consequence of the general system of grace, rather than

expressly insisted on. (It is against the natural order of the words to

read them, as BENGEL,

MEYER, and others, do, "helped through grace those

who believed").

28. For he mightily convinced the Jews--The word is very strong:

"stoutly bore them down in argument," "vigorously argued them down," and

the tense in that he continued to do it, or that this was the

characteristic of his ministry.

showing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ--Rather, "that the

Christ (or Messiah) was Jesus." This expression, when compared with

Ac 18:25,

seems to imply a richer testimony than with his partial knowledge he

was at first able to bear; and the power with which he bore down all

opposition in argument is that which made him such an acquisition to

the brethren. 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.