Pulpit Commentary - Acts 18:1

Pulpit Commentary - Acts 18:1 - 18:28

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Pulpit Commentary - Acts 18:1 - 18:28

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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

18:1 - 18:28

EXPOSITION

Act_18:1

He for Paul, A.V. and T.R. After these things, etc. No hint is given by St. Luke as to the length of Paul's sojourn at Athens. But as the double journey of the Beroeans, who accompanied him to Athens, back to Beraea, and of Timothy from Beraea to Athens, amounted to above five hundred miles, we cannot suppose it to have been less than a month; and it may have been a good deal more. His reasonings in the synagogue with the Jews and devout Greeks, apparently on successive sabbaths, his daily disputations in the Agora, apparently not begun till after he had "waited" some time for Silas and Timothy, the knowledge he had acquired of the numerous temples and altars at Athens, and the phrase with which this chapter begins, all indicate a stay of some length. Came to Corinth. If by land, a forty miles' or two days' journey, through Eleusis and Megara; if by sea, a day's sail. Lewin thinks he came by sea, and that it was in winter, and that possibly one of the shipwrecks mentioned in 2Co_11:25 may have occurred at this time. Corinth, at this time a Roman colony, the capital of the province of Achaia, and the residence of the proconsul. It was a great commercial city, the center of the trade of the Levant, and consequently a great resort of the Jews. It had a very large Greek population. Ancient Corinth had been destroyed by Mummins, surnamed Achaicus, R.C. 146, and remained waste ( ἐρήμη ) many years. Julius Caesar founded a Roman colony on the old site (Howson), "consisting principally of freedmen, among whom were great numbers of the Jewish race." Corinth, as a Roman colony, had its duumviri, as appears by coins of the reign of Claudius

. So in classical authors, Livia and Livilla, Drusa and Drusilla, are used of the same persons. Prisca is a not uncommon name for Roman women. The masculine Priscus occurs very frequently. Aquila and Priscilla were among the most active Christians, and the most devoted friends of St. Paul (Act_2:18, Act_2:26; Rom_16:3, Rom_16:4, Rom_16:5; 1Co_16:19; 2Ti_4:19); and were evidently persons of culture as well as piety. Lately; προσφάτως (i.q. πρόσφατον , Pindar, etc.), only found here in the New Testament. But it occurs in the LXX. of Deu_24:5 and Eze_11:3, and in the apocryphal books repeatedly, and in Polybius. The adjective πρόσφατος , which is also used by the LXX. and the Apocrypha and in classical Greek for "new," is used only once in the New Testament, in Heb_10:20. It means properly "newly killed," hence anything "recent," "fresh, or "new." Both the adjective and the adverb are very common in medical writings. Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. Suetonius mentions the fact, but unfortunately does not say in what year of Claudius's reign it took place. His account is that, in consequence of frequent disturbances and riots among the Jews at the instigation of Chrestus, Claudius drove them from Rome. It seems almost certain, as Renan says, especially combining Tacitus's account ('Annal.,' 15.44) of the spread of Christianity in the city of Rome before the time of Nero, that Chrestus (Greek Χρηστός ,) is only a corruption of the name Christ, similar to that found on three or four inscriptions before the time of Constantine, where Christians are called Χρηστιανοί , and to the formation of the French word Chretien—in old French Chrestien; and that the true account of these riots is that they were attacks of the unbelieving Jews upon Christian Jews, similar to these at Jerusalem (Act_8:1-40.), at Antioch in Pisidia (Act_13:50), at Iconium and Lystra (Act_14:1-28.), and at Thessalonica and Beraea (Act_17:1-34.). The Romans did not discriminate between Jews and Christian Jews, and thought that those who called Christ their King were fighting under his leadership. Tertullian and Lactantius both speak of the vulgar pronunciation, Chrestianus and Chrestus. Howson also adopts the above explanation. But Meyer thinks that Chrestus was, as Suetonius says, a Jewish leader of insurrection at Rome. The question bears on the passage before us chiefly as the solution does or does not prove the existence of Christians at Rome at this time, and affects the probability of Aquila and Priscilla being already Christians when they came to Corinth, before they made St. Paul's acquaintance.

Act_18:3

Trade for craft, A.V.; they wrought for (he) wrought, A.V. and T.R.; trade for occupation, A.V. ( τέχνῃ ). Of the same trade; ὁμότεχνον . This word occurs here only in the New Testament, but is of frequent use in Hippocrates, Dioscorides, and Galen (Hobart, as before). Tent-makers; σκηνοποιοί , which is paraphrased by σκηοῤῥάφοι , tent-stitchers or tailors, by Chrysostom and Theodoret. Hug and others erroneously interpret it "makers of tent-cloth," from the fact that a certain kind of cloth made of goats' hair, called κιλίκιον , was manufactured in Paul's native country of Cilicia. But the fact of such manufacture would equally lead persons who were living in Cilicia to exercise the trade of making tents of the cloth so manufactured. St. Paul alludes to his manual labor in Act_20:33-35; 1Co_4:12; 1Th_2:9; 2Th_3:8, 2Th_3:9.

Act_18:4

Jews and Greeks for the Jews and the Greeks, A.V. Observe again the influence of the synagogue upon the Greek population. Reasoned (see Act_17:2, Act_17:17, note).

Act_18:5

But for and, A.V.; Timothy for Timotheus, A.V.; came down for were come down, A.V.; constrained by the Word for pressed in spirit, A.V. and T.R.; testifying for and testified, A.V.; the Christ for Christ, A.V. When Silas and Timothy, etc. It is probable that Silas had returned by St. Paul's directions to Beraea, and Timothy to Thessalonica from Athens. If there were extant a letter of Paul to the Beraeans, it would probably mention his sending back Silas to them, just as the Epistle to the Thessalonians mentions his sending Timothy to them. Now they both come to Corinth from Macedonia, which includes Beraea and Thessalonica. If they came by sea, they would probably sail together from Dium to Cenchreae (see Act_17:14, note). Was constrained by the Word. As an English phrase, this is almost destitute of meaning. If the R.T. is right, and it has very strong manuscript authority, the words συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ mean that he was seized, taken possession of, and as it were bound by the necessity of preaching the Word, constrained as it were to preach more earnestly than ever. In St. Luke συνέχεσθαι is a medical term: in Luk_4:28, R.T., "Holden with a great fever;" Luk_8:37, "Holden with a great fear;" Act_28:8, "Sick of fever and dysentery;" and so frequently in medical writers ('Medical Language of St. Luke,' Hobart). But it is worth considering whether συνείχετο is not in the middle voice, with the sense belonging to συνεχής , i.e. "continuous," "unbroken," and so that the phrase means that, after the arrival of Silas and Timothy, St. Paul gave himself up to continuous preaching. St. Luke has not infrequently a use of words peculiar to himself. The Vulgate rendering, instabat verbo, seems so to understand it. It was probably soon after the arrival of Silas and Timothy that St. Paul wrote his First Epistle to the Thessalonians (1Th_1:1-10. l; 1Th_3:1, 1Th_3:2, 1Th_3:6). The Second Epistle followed some time before St. Paul left Corinth. If the T.R., τῷ πνεύματι , is right, it must be construed, "constrained by the Spirit," in accordance with Greek usage. Testifying, etc. Note how different St. Paul's preaching in the synagogue was from his preaching in the Areopagus.

Act_18:6

Shook out for shook, A.V. For this action of shaking his raiment, comp. Act_13:51. It was in accordance with our Lord's direction in Mat_10:14, where the same word ( ἐκτινάσσειν ) is used. It is "much employed in medical language". The idea seems to be having nothing henceforth in common with them. Your blood, etc. (see Eze_33:4-9). St. Paul's keen sense of the perverseness of the Jews breaks out in his First Epistle to the Thessalonians (it. 14-16), written about this time. See hole to Mat_10:5.

Act_18:7

Went for entered, A.V.; the house of a certain man for a certain man's house, A.V.; Titus Justus for Justus, A.V. and T.R. Thence. Clearly from the synagogue, where he had been preaching to the Jews, not from Aquila's house, as Alford and others. It does not appear to be a question here of where Paul lodged, but where he preached. Justus had probably a large room, which he gave Paul the use of for his sabbath and other meetings. As Howson truly says, he continued to "lodge" ( μένειν ) with Aquila and Priscilla. It is only said that he "came" ( ἧλθεν ) to the house of Justus from the synagogue. So Renan, "Il enseigna desormais dans la maison de Titius Justus". One that worshipped God ( σεβομένον τὸν Θεόν ); i.e. a Greek proselyte of the gate (see Act_13:43, Act_13:50; Act_16:14; Act_17:4, Act_17:17, etc.) Cornelius is called εὐσεβὴς καὶ φοβούμενος τὸν Θεόν . Whose house, etc. Either his proximity to the synagogue had led to his attending there, or, being already a proselyte, he had taken a house hard by for the convenience of attending. Joined hard; ἧν συνομοροῦσα , found only here either in the New Testament or elsewhere. Ὁμορέω occurs in Plutarch; συνόμορος is also a word (Steph., 'Thesaur.').

Act_18:8

Ruler for chief ruler, A.V. ( ἀρχισυνάγωγος , as in Act_13:15); in for on, A.V. Crispus (a common Roman name) was one of the very few whom St. Paul himself baptized, probably on account of his important position as ruler of the synagogue, as we learn from 1Co_1:14. With all his house (comp. Act_16:33, Act_16:34). Many of the Corinthians; i.e. of the Greeks and Romans, who composed the population of the city. It is seldom that we have the names of so many converts preserved as we have of this Achaian mission. Besides Crispus and Gaius, we know of Epaenetus and Stephanas, who would seem to have been converted together (Rom_16:5; 1Co_16:15); and probably also Fortunatus and Achaicus (1Co_16:17). Gains, from his name (Caius) and his salutation to the Church at Rome, was probably a Roman. Fortunatus and Achaicus also be-belonged, perhaps, to the Roman colony. Here too were many heathen converts (1Co_12:2), though mostly of the lower rank (1Co_1:26-29).

Act_18:9

And the Lord said unto for then spake the Lord to, A.V. A vision ( ὅραμα ); literally, a thing seen, but always used of a wonderful "sight:" Mat_17:9 of the Transfiguration, Act_7:31 of the burning bush. But more commonly of a "vision," as in Act_9:10, Act_9:12; Act_10:3, Act_10:17, Act_10:19; Act_11:5; Act_12:9; Act_16:9. So in the LXX. (Gen_46:2, etc.). St. Paul received a similar gracious token of the Lord's watchful care of him soon after his conversion (Act_22:17-21). He tells us that then he was in an "ecstasy," or trance. The ἔκστασις describes the mental condition of the person who sees an ὅραμαα .

Act_18:10

Harm for hurt, A.V. I have much people, etc. We may infer from this intimation from him who "knoweth them that are his," which led to St. Paul staying on at Corinth upwards of a year and six months (Act_18:11), that the shortness of his stay at Athens was because the Lord had not much people there. For the encouraging promise of protection in the midst of danger given to St. Paul by Christ in this vision, comp. Jer_1:17-19.

Act_18:11

Dwelt for continued, A.V. Dwelt; literally, sat down, as Act_13:14, etc., and hence to "remain quietly" (Luk_24:49). A year and six months. It is not clear whether these eighteen months are to be measured to the end of St. Paul's stay at Corinth, or only to the rising up of the Jews related in Act_13:12-17. Renan is doubtful. Howson does not go into the question. But Lewin rightly measures the eighteen months down to Gallio's arrival. And so does Meyer, who also notices the force of ἐκάθισε , as indicating a quiet, undisturbed abode, and calls special attention to the ἔτι of Act_13:18, as showing that the "many days" there mentioned were additional to the year and a half of Act_13:11. The only longer residence we know of was that of three years at Ephesus (Act_20:31).

Act_18:12

But for and, A.V.; proconsul for the deputy, A.V.; with one accord rose up for made insurrection with one accord, A.V.; before for to, A.V. Gallio. Marcus Annaeus Novatus took the name of Lucius Junius Annaeus Gallio, on account of his adoption by L. Junius Gallio. He was the elder brother of Seneca, and a man of ability, and of a most amiable temper and disposition. His brother Seneca said that he had not a fault, and that everybody loved him. He was called "Dulcis Gallio" by Statius. It is unfortunately not known exactly in what year Gallio became either Consul or Proconsul of Achaia. Had it been known, it would have been invaluable for fixing the chronology of St. Paul's life. Lewin puts it (his proconsulate) in the year A.D. 53, and so does Renan; Howson, between A.D. 52 and A.D. 54. The circumstantial evidence from secular writers corroborating St. Luke's account is exceedingly curious. There is no account extant either of his consulate or of his proconsulate of Achaia. But Pithy, speaking of the medicinal effect of a sea-voyage on persons in consumption, gives as an example, "as I remember was the case with Annaeus Gallio after his consulate," and seems to imply that he went to Egypt for the sake of the long sea-voyage; which would suit very well his going there from his government in Achaia. And that his proconsulate was in Achaia is corroborated by a chance quotation in Seneca's Epistle 104, of a saying of "my lord Gallio, when ha had a fever in Achaia and immediately went on board ship," where the phrase "domini met," applied to his own brother, seems also to indicate his high rank. Profane history also shuts up the probable date of Gallio's proconsulate between the year A.D. 49 and the year A.D. 65 or 66, in which he died. There is a diversity of accounts as to his death. Ernesti, in his note on Tacitus, 'Auual.,' 15. 73., where Tacitus speaks of him as frightened at the death of his brother Seneca, and a suppliant for his own life, says, "quem Nero post interfecit," and refers to Dion Cassius, 58, 18, and Eusebius. But Dion is there speaking of Junius Gallio in the reign of Tiberius, not of our Gallio at all; though afterwards, speaking of the death of Seneca, he says, "and his brothers also were killed after him "(62, 25). ^£ As for Eusebius, the passage quoted ^£ is not found in the Greek or Armenian copies of the 'Chronicon,' but only in the Latin of Jerome. But, as Scaliger points out, there is a manifest blunder here, because the 'Chronicon ' places the death of Gallio two years before that of Seneca, whereas we know from Tacitus that Gallio was alive after his brother's death. Moreover, the description "egregius declamator" clearly applies to Junius Gallio the rhetorician, and not to Gallio his adopted son. Though, therefore, Renan says, "Comme son frere il eut l'honneur sous Neron d'expier par, la mort sa distinction et son honnetete", if we give duo weight to the silence of Tacitus, it is very doubtful whether he died a violent death at all. St. Luke, as usual, is most accurate in calling him proconsul. Achaia had been recently made a senatorial province by Claudius. For ἀνθύπατος , see Act_13:7, Act_13:8, Act_13:12; Act_19:38. The verb occurs only here in the New Testament. The term deputy was adopted in the A.V. doubtless from that being the title of the Viceroy of Ireland, and other officers who exercise a deputed authority, just as the proconsul was in the place of the consul. Rose up against; κατεπέστησαν , one of Luke's peculiar words, found neither in the New Testament nor in the LXX., nor in classical writers (Steph., 'Thesaur.'). The judgment seat (see note to verse 12).

Act_18:13

Man for fellow, A.V. The A.V. was intended to express the contemptuous feeling often implied in οὖτος (Luk_23:1-56. 2; Mat_12:24; Act_5:28, etc.). Contrary to the Law; meaning, as it naturally would in the mouth of a Jew, the Law of Moses. Hence Gallio's answer in Act_18:15, "If it be a question … of your Law, look ye to it." The very phrase, to "worship God," had a technical sense (see above, Act_18:7). Paul, they said, professed to make proselytes, and encouraged them to break the Law.

Act_18:14

But for and, A.V.; about for now about, A.V.; if indeed for if, A.V.; of wicked villainy for wicked lewdness, A.V. The Greek ῥᾳδιούργημα occurs only here in the New Testament or elsewhere; ῥᾳδιουργία , which is not uncommon in Greek writers, occurs in Act_13:10.

Act_18:15

They are questions about for it be a question of, A.V. and T.R.; your own for of your, A.V., an unnecessary change; look to it yourselves for look ye to it, A.V.; I am not minded to be a for for I will be no, A.V. and T.R.; these for such, A.V.

Act_18:16

And he drave them; ἀπήλασεν , found only here in the New Testament or LXX. But it is used by Demosthenes and Plutarch in exactly the same connection: ἀπὸ τοῦ συνεδρίου ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος . It implies the ignominious dismissal of the case, without its being even tried. The judgment seat ( βῆμα ); the proconsular place of judgment. The βῆμα (here and Act_18:12) was properly the "raised space," or "tribune," on which, in the case of a consul, proconsul, or praetor, the sella curulis was placed on which he sat and gave judgment. It was usually a kind of apse to the basilica. In Mat_27:19; Joh_19:13, and, indeed, here and elsewhere, it seems to be used, generally, for the judgment-seat itself (see Act_25:10).

Act_18:17

And they all laid hold on for then all the Greeks took, A.V. and T.R.; ruler for chief ruler, A.V., as Act_18:8. The R.T. has far more manuscript support than either the T.R. or another reading, which has "Jews" instead of "Greeks." All means all the crowd of bystanders and lookers-on, mostly, no doubt, Greeks. The Jews, always unpopular, would be sure to have the Corinthian rabble against them as soon as the proconsul drove them from the judgment seat. Sosthenes. There is no probability whatever that he is the same person as the Sosthenes of 1Co_1:1. The name was very common. He appears to have succeeded Crispus as ruler of the synagogue, and would be likely, therefore, to be especially hostile to Paul.

Act_18:18

Having tarried after this yet many days for after this tarried there yet a good while, and then, A.V.; for for into, A.V.; Cenchreae for Cenchrea, A.V. Took his leave; ἀποταξάμενος , here and again in Act_18:21. This is a somewhat peculiar use of the word, which occurs also in Luk_9:61 and 2Co_2:13. It is used in the same sense in Josephus ('Ant. Jud.,' 11. 8.6). In a metaphorical sense it means" to renounce," "to bid adieu to" (Luk_14:23). Of the six times it occurs in the New Testament, four are in St. Luke's writings and one in St. Paul's. With him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchreae, etc. There is great diversity of opinion as to whether it was St. Paul or Aquila who had the vow. ^£ Meyer thinks that the mention of Priscilla before Aquila, contrary to the order in verse 2 and in verse 26 (where, however, the R.T. reads "Priscilla and Aquila"), is a clear indication that Luke meant the words κειράμενος κ . τ . λ ., to refer to Aquila, not to St. Paul, and Howson takes the same view. But this is a very weak argument, refuted at once by Rom_16:3 and 2Ti_4:19, as well as by the whole run of the passage, in which Paul is throughout the person spoken of; or, as Alford puts it, in the consecutive narrative from 2Ti_4:18 to verse 25, there are nine aorist participles, of which eight apply to Paul, as the subject of the section, making it scarcely doubtful that the ninth applies to him likewise. Moreover, there is no conceivable reason why the vow should be mentioned if it was taken by Aquila, and, what is still more conclusive, the person who went to Jerusalem, i.e. Paul, must be the one who had the vow, not the person who stayed behind, i.e. Aquila. In fact, nobody would ever have thought of making Aquila the subject if it were not for the thought that there is an incongruity with Paul's character in his making a vow of that kind. But we must take what we find in Scripture, and not force it to speak our own thoughts. As regards the nature of the vow, it is not quite clear what it was. It was not the simple Nazaritic vow described in Num_6:18-21; nor is the word here used by St. Luke ( κειράμενος ) the one which is there and elsewhere employed by the LXX., and by St. Luke himself in Act_21:24, of that final shaving of the hair of the Nazarite for the purpose of offering it at the door of the tabernacle ( ξυράω ). It seems rather to have been of the nature of that vow which Josephus speaks of as customary for persons in any affliction, viz. to make a vow that, for thirty days previous to that on which they intend to offer sacrifice, they will abstain from wine and will shave off ( ξυρήσασθαι ) their hair, adding that Bernice was now at Jerusalem in order to perform such a vow ('Bell. Jud.,' it. 15.1). But it further appears, from certain passages in the Mishna, that, if any one had a Nazarite vow upon him outside the limits of the Holy Land, he could not fulfill such vow till he was come to the Holy Laud, to Jerusalem; but it was allowable in such case to cut his hair short ( κείρεσθαι τὴν κεφαλήν ), and as some say to take it with him to Jerusalem, and there offer it at the same time that he offered his sacrifice and shaved his head ( ξυρήσασθαι ). ^{£ It would seem, therefore, that either in a severe illness or under some great danger (
ἀνάγκη
) St. Paul had made such a vow; that he had been unwilling to cut his hair short at Corinth, where he was thrown so much into the society of Greeks, and therefore did so at Cenchreae just before he embarked for Syria; and that he made all haste to reach Jerusalem in time for the Passover, that he might there accomplish his vow. His motives for the vow may have been partly those described on another occasion (Act_21:24), and partly his own Jewish feelings of piety showing themselves in the accustomed way. Cenchreae. The eastern port of Corinth; a considerable place. There was a Church there, doubtless founded by St. Paul during his stay at Corinth (Rom_16:1).

Act_18:19

They came for he came, A.V. and T.R.; he left for left, A.V. They came to Ephesus. "No voyage across the AEgean was more frequently made than that between Corinth and Ephesus. They were the capitals of the two flourishing and peaceful provinces of Achaia and Asia, and the two great mercantile towns on opposite sides of the sea" (Howson, vol. 1.454). The voyage would take from ten to fifteen days. Reasoned;
διελέχθη
, as in Act_17:2, Act_17:17; Act_18:4, Act_19:8, Act_19:9; Act_20:7, Act_20:9; Act_24:25. As regards the expression, left them there, it probably arises from some actual detail which made it the natural one to use. If, for example, the synagogue was just outside the city, and Paul, parting with Aquila and Priscilla in the city, had gone off immediately to the synagogue, the phrase used would be the natural one; or the words, "he left them there," may be spoken with reference to the main narrative, which is momentarily interrupted by the mention of St. Paul's visit to the synagogue. Note the extreme importance of this brief visit to Ephesus, where the foundation of a vigorous and flourishing Church seems to have been laid. He who knows "the times and the seasons" sent St. Paul there now, though two years before he had forbidden him to go to Asia.

Act_18:20

And when they asked for when they desired, A.V.; abide a for tarry, A.V.; time for time with them, A.V. He consented not;
οὐκ ἐπένευσεν
, only here in the New Testament, but found in Pray. Act_26:20; Act_2:1-47 Mace. Act_4:10, etc., and frequently in medical writers; literally, to bend the head forward by the proper muscles (Hobart).

Act_18:21

Taking his leave of them, and saying for bade them farewell, saying, A.V.; I will return for I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem; but I will return, A.V. and T.R.; he set sail for and he sailed, A.V. and T.R. Taking his leave; as in Act_18:18, note. I must by all means, etc. This clause is not found in
à
, A, B, E, and several versions, and is omitted in the R.T. But Alford, Meyer, Wordsworth, and others consider it to be genuine. It is certainly difficult to account for such words being inserted in the text if they were not genuine; whereas it is easy to account for their omission, either by accident or from the fact that the brevity of the allusion to his visit to Jerusalem in Act_18:22 might easily mislead a copyist into thinking that St. Paul did not go to Jerusalem at this time, and therefore that the words were misplaced. Observe how St. Paul's fixed purpose to reach Jerusalem as soon as possible tallies with the account of his vow. This feast (A.V.). Iris not clear what feast is meant. Alford, Wordsworth, ' Speaker's Commentary,' and others, following Wieseler, think it was the Feast of Pentecost, being influenced by the consideration that sailing was dangerous and very unusual so early as before the Passover. But Meyer thinks it uncertain. But the expression, "I must by all means," would cover the risk of a voyage in the stormy season. I will return again. The fulfillment of this promise is related in Act_19:1, etc. If God will (see Jas_4:13-15).

Act_18:22

He went up for and gone up, A. g.; and went for he went, A.V. When he had landed at Caesarea; i.e. Caesarea Stratonis, or Sebaste, or
Παραλιός
, as it was variously called, to distinguish it from Caesarea Philippi (see Act_8:40; Act_9:30; Act_10:1, etc., and frequently elsewhere in the Acts). "Caesarea, whither probably the vessel was bound, was the military capital of the Roman province of Judea, of which Felix was at this time procurator. It was also the harbor by which all travelers from the West approached it, and from whence roads led to Egypt on the south, to Tyre and Sidon and Antioch on the north, and eastward to Nablous and Jerusalem and the Jordan" (Howson, 1.455). He went up and saluted the Church; meaning, without any doubt, he went up to Jerusalem, as both the word
ἀναβὰς
, and the object of his-going up, "to salute the Church," conclusively show. For
ἀναβαίνω
, whether coupled with
εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα
as in Mat_20:17, Mat_20:18, or standing alone as in Joh_7:8, Joh_7:10, and Joh_12:20, is the regular word for going up to Jerusalem (see Act_11:2; Act_15:2; Act_21:12, Act_21:15; Act_24:11; Act_25:1, Act_25:9); and
ἡ ἐκκλησία
, the Church, which Paul went to salute, can mean nothing but the mother Church of Jerusalem. No doubt he was received officially by the apostles, represented by James and the elders and the Church, as in Act_15:4; and gave a formal account of the result of his second missionary journey, and of the great event of the introduction of the gospel into Macedonia and Achaia. It is a remarkable example of St. Luke's great brevity at times that this is the only notice of his arrival at Jerusalem, where his vow was to be fulfilled. Went down to Antioch; from whence he had started with Silas, after his separation from Barnabas, some three years before, "being recommended by the brethren to the grace of God" (Act_16:40; comp. Act_14:26, Act_14:27; Act_15:30).

Act_18:23

Having for after he had, A.V.; through the region for over all the country, A.V.; stablishing for strengthening, A.V. Having spent some time there (Act_15:33, note). How long we have no means of knowing; probably under six months; "quelques mois"; "four months". According to Renan, Lewin, 'Speaker's Commentary,' and many others, it was at this time that the meeting with St. Peter occurred to which St. Paul refers in Gal_2:11, etc. And Renan ingeniously connects that perversion of the faith of the Galatians which led to St. Paul's Epistle being addressed to them, with the visit to Antioch of James's emissaries, Lewin also identifies the journey of St Paul to Jerusalem mentioned in Gal_2:1 with that recorded in our verse 22. But neither of these theories is borne out by any known facts, nor is in itself probable. There is no appearance of Barnabas or Titus being with St. Paul at this time, and it is very unlikely that any should have come from James to Antioch so immediately after St. Paul's salutation of the Church at Jerusalem and the fulfillment of his vow there. The time preceding the visit of Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, as related in Act_15:1-41., is far the most likely for the encounter of the two apostles (see Act_14:28; Act_15:1, and note). Went through;
διερχόμενος
, as in Act_8:4, Act_8:40; Act_10:38; Act_13:6; Act_16:6; Act_17:23, etc. The region of Galatia and Phrygia. In Act_16:6 the order is inverted, "the region of Phrygia and Galatia," R.V., or "Phrygia and the region of Galatia," A.V. The natural inference from this is, as Lewin says, with whom Farrar agrees, that on this occasion St. Paul went straight from Antioch to Galatia, passing through the Cilician Gates and by Mazaca, or Caesarea, as it was called by Tiberius Caesar, in Cappadocia, and not visiting the Churches of Lycaonia. ^£ He proceeded from Galatia through Phrygia to Ephesus. The distance from Antioch to Tarsus was one hundred and forty-one miles, from whence to Tavium in Galatia was two hundred and seventy-one miles, making the whole distance from Antioch to Tavium in Galatia four hundred and twelve miles, or about a three weeks' journey including rest on the sabbath days. From Galatia to Ephesus would be between six hundred and seven hundred miles. The entire journey would thus be considerably more than a thousand miles, a journey of forty days exclusive of all stoppages. Six months probably must have elapsed between his departure from Antioch and his arrival at Ephesus; Lewin says "several months". In order; in the same order, though inverted, in which he had first visited them, leaving out none. Stablishing, etc. (
ἐπιστηρίζων
); see above, Act_14:22; Act_15:32, Act_15:41.

Act_18:24

Now for and, A.V.; an Alexandrian by race for born at Alexandria, A.V.; learned for eloquent, A.V. (
λόγιος
); came to Ephesus; and he was mighty, etc., for and mighty in the Scriptures, came, etc., A.V. From Act_18:24 to Act_18:28 is a distinct episode, and an important one, as containing the first mention of a very remarkable man, Apollos (a short form of Apollonius, like Epaphras for Epaphroditus) of Alexandria, a city destined to play a conspicuous part in Church history, as the traditional Church and see of St. Mark, the school of the Neoplatonists, the scene of the labors of Origen, Clement, and many other men of note, and the birthplace of the Gnostic leaders Cerinthus, Basilides, and Valentinus. The notices of Apollos in the New Testament are Act_19:1; 1Co_1:12; 1Co_3:4, 1Co_3:5, 1Co_3:6, 1Co_3:22; 1Co_4:6; 1Co_16:12; Tit_3:13; and all show St. Paul's high esteem for him. It was no more his fault than St. Peter's and St. Paul's that the factious Corinthians elevated him, or rather degraded him, into the leader of a party, Eloquent seems to be a better translation of
λόγιος
here than learned. The Greek word, which only occurs here in the New Testament, has both meanings.

Act_18:25, Act_18:26

Had been for was, A.V.; spirit for the spirit, A.V.; carefully for diligently, A.V.; things concerning Jesus for things of the Lord, A.V. and T.R.; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him for whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, A.V. and T.R.; carefully for perfectly, A.V. Knowing only the baptism of John. It is difficult at first sight to conceive how at this time any one could know the baptism of John without knowing further that of Christ. But a possible account of it is that Apollos living at Alexandria, where as yet there was no Christian Church. had met some Jews who had been in Judaea at the time of John's ministry, and had heard from them of John's baptism and preaching, and of his testimony to Jesus as the Messiah, but had had no further opportunity of careful instruction in the faith of Jesus Christ till he happened to come to Ephesus and make the acquaintance of his compatriots, Aquila and Priscilla. They hearing him speak with fervor and eloquence, but perceiving that his knowledge was imperfect, immediately invited him to their house, and instructed him in the fullness of the truth of the gospel. This necessarily included the doctrine of Christian baptism, which we cannot doubt was administered to him (Joh_1:33; Act_1:5; Act_2:38).

Act_18:27

Minded for disposed, A.V.; pass over for pass, A.V.; encouraged him, and wrote to for wrote exhorting, A.V.; and … he helped for who … helped, A.V. To pass over into Achaia. Nothing can be more natural than the course of events here described. In his intimate intercourse with Priscilla and Aquila, Apollos had necessarily heard much of the great work at Corinth, and the flourishing Church there; and so he longed to see for himself and to exercise his powers in watering what St. Paul had so well planted (1Co_3:6). Priscilla and Aquila having heard his eloquent sermons at Ephesus, and being interested in the Corinthian Church, seem to have encouraged him, and to have joined with the other disciples at Ephesus in giving him commendatory letters to the Church of Corinth. Encouraged him;
προτρεψάμενοι
, a word found nowhere else in the New Testament, but used in classical Greek and in the Apocrypha, in the sense of "exhorting," "urging."
Προτρεπτικοὶ λόγοι
are hortatory words. In medical writers a "stimulant" is
προτρεπτικόν
. There is a difference of opinion among commentators whether the exhortation was addressed to Apollos, as the R.V. takes it, or to the brethren at Corinth, as the A.V. understands it. It seems rather more consonant to the structure of the sentence and to the probability of the case that the exhortation was addressed to the Corinthian Church, and not to Apollos, who needed no such encouragement,
Προτρεψάμενοι ἔγραψαν
is equivalent to "wrote and exhorted."

Act_18:28

Powerfully confuted for mightily convinced, A.V.; the Christ for Christ, A.V. Powerfully confuted;
διακατηλέγχετο
,, one of St. Luke's peculiar compounds, found nowhere else;
εὐτόνως
here and Luk_23:10 (vehemently), but nowhere else in the New Testament. The adjective
εὔτονος
, meaning "nervous," "vehement," and the adverb
εὐτόνως
, meaning "vigorously," "with force," are very frequent in medical writers;
εὐτόνως
is also found in the LXX. of Jos_6:7,
Σημαινέτωσαν εὐτόνως
, "Let them blow a loud blast." Showing by the Scriptures, etc. The same line of preaching as St. Peter and St. Paul always adopted when address-lug Jews (see Act_2:1-47; Act_13:1-52; Act_17:3; Act_18:5, etc.). It is remarkable that the success of Apollos at Corinth seems to have been chiefly among the Jews, who had opposed themselves so vehemently to St. Paul (Jos_6:6). It is one of the many proofs of the singleness of eye and simplicity of purpose of the great apostle, that the success of this novice where he himself had failed did not excite the least jealousy (1Co_16:12). St. Luke, too, Paul's friend and biographer, here speaks of the powers and work of Apollos with no stinted measure of praise.}HOMILETICS

Act_18:1-3

Christian friendship.

Unselfish friendship, the union of human souls in the bands of a close, unworldly, self-sacrificing love, has always been a spectacle that has fascinated men, one on which they have dwelt with peculiar fondness. Among the Greeks, Pylades and Orestes, Damon and Pythias; in the Old Testament David and Jonathan, and in the New Testament Peter and John, are examples of such friendships, and of the admiration which men cannot help having for them. But there is not any more beautiful and touching picture of human friendship to be found anywhere than that which rises up before us in the case of Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla. We first find the group in a humble workman's dwelling at Corinth. Drawn together by being ὁμότεχνοι , men of the same trade, they are lodging in the same house. They were brought there indeed from different causes, and from different parts of the world. Paul from Antioch, urged westward by his ardent desire to add new realms to the kingdom of Christ; Aquila and Priscilla driven eastward by the cruel edict of a despot forcing them from their home and all its interests in Italy. They met in Corinth, and dwelt under one roof. There we see the men busy at their trade of tent-making, while the wife, the woman of the house, added that comfort and cheerfulness to the home which the presence of a bright, energetic, intelligent woman is so well fitted to afford. A common trade, a common race, and the common interests arising from both, would soon cement a friendship between two virtuous men thus thrown together in a foreign land. But a much closer bond of union soon knit the two men together. Whether Aquila and Priscilla brought with them from Rome the rudiments of the Christian faith, or whether they first learnt that Jesus is the Christ from the lips of Paul, we have no means of deciding. What is certain is that many words concerning the kingdom of God passed between them in their hours of work. While Paul's industrious hands were travailing and stitching night and day to earn his bread, his eloquent tongue was discoursing of Jesus Christ and his great salvation. Aquila, doubtless well read in the Scriptures, like his later namesake and fellow-citizen in Pontus, was not slow to take in his words; while Priscilla, taking perhaps the woman's part in cutting out and preparing the materials for their work, listened with intense interest to the words of eternal life uttered by the apostle. The friendship begun in earthly relations was soon perfected in the bonds of the love of Christ. We can fancy the hours of united prayer when those two or three were gathered together in the name of Jesus. We can fancy the close fellowship induced by the common enmity of their unbelieving and blaspheming fellow-countrymen. We can fancy their common joy when first one and then another of their Jewish brethren was brought to the Shepherd and Bishop of souls. We seem to feel their common anxiety when Paul was brought before the bema of Gallio, and to hear their common praises when the conspiracy was defeated and the apostle was set free. We no longer wonder to read that when Paul set sail for Syria, Aquila and Priscilla went too (Act_18:18), and all that follows follows so naturally. Their labor at Ephesus as the apostle's delegates; their faithful instruction of Apollos; their patient continuance at Ephesus after St. Paul's return (1Co_16:13); the Church in their house, both at Ephesus and at Rome (1Co_16:9; Rom_16:3); their unbroken attachment to the very latest moment to which our knowledge extends (2Ti_4:19);—all is of a piece with that first holy friendship which was born in the workshop at Corinth, and nourished in the fellowship of faith. The picture leaves a deep impression upon the mind that human friendship, like all else that is good or beautiful in human life, attains its perfect growth, and produces its fairest fruits, when it is laid in a common fellowship with God, and is fostered by a constant partnership in loving labors for the glory of Christ and. for the increase of his Church.

Act_18:4-17

The testimony.

The kernel of the gospel is the truth that Jesus was the Christ. He was the Person spoken of by all the prophets as to come. Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Mary, born in the reign of Augustus Caesar, and crucified in that of Tiberius; known to his contemporaries in Judaea and Galilee as a Teacher and a Prophet, known to later ages by the Gospels which record his life and death and resurrection from the dead; is God's Christ. He came into the world, in accordance with the eternal purpose of God, to be the Teacher, the Savior, the Judge, the Lord, the King of the whole earth, the Head of the human race. He fulfilled in his own person all the predictions of the prophets; he accomplished by his work all that God had in store for the redemption of the sons of men. Whatever the Holy Ghost spoke of the Godhead, of the priesthood, of the sacrifice, of the reign, of the glorious kingdom of Messiah, has its fulfillment in the Lord Jesus. The truth, therefore, that Jesus was the Christ is the kernel of the whole gospel. But further, this is either a fact or it is not a fact. There is no cloudland of uncertain existence, no matter of doubtful disputation or of fluctuating opinion. Those who have told us these things are witnesses of what they knew, not disputers about what they thought. What they have delivered to us is their testimony. We must either accept it as true or reject it as false. It has met with both treatments in the world, and, whether believed or disbelieved, has been a potent factor in men's behavior. When believed, it has made the kind of man that Paul was, the kind of men and women that Aquila and Priscilla were. It has made men pure, holy, upright, patient, meek, kind, unselfish, self-denying, laboring for the good of others rather than for their own gain; with affections set on heavenly more than on earthly things; conscientious, true, faithful to their word; to be trusted and relied upon; great benefactors to their race, full of love to mankind. When disbelieved, it has not simply been set aside as a thing unworthy of credit, but it has set in action the most malignant passions in the human breast. Envy and jealousy, hatred and malice, have blazed up in all their fury against the authors and abettors of this testimony. You would think, judging by the fierce rage of the opponents, that there could not be a greater crime against humanity than to teach men to love God, to abstain from all evil, and to live in peace and good will towards one another. Judging by the rage of the opponents, you would think that a greater wrong could not be done to men than to tell them of life and rest and happiness in the eternal reach beyond the grave, as encouragements to patient well doing on this side the grave. Jews and heathens, so unlike one another in everything else, were exactly alike in their reception of this testimony. The Jews blasphemed and cursed and persecuted, and brought for punishment before the Roman tribunals those who gave testimony for Christ; the heathen, tolerant of every form of idolatry, let loose fire and sword and wild beast against the harmless disciples of the Lord Jesus. The accomplished philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, gave Justin Martyr to the executioner and Polycarp to the flames, with as little scruple as Nero tortured his Christian subjects at Rome. The scornful hatred of Tacitus for the pestilential superstition of the Christian was as bitter as the scurrilous wit of Lucian. In our own day many tongues are let loose against the testimony. New philosophers, new exponents of the physical laws by which the world consists, new pretenders to superior wisdom and wider intelligence in the various departments of human knowledge, however differing among themselves in the fundamental principles of their several schemes, agree in the scornful rejection of "the testimony of Jesus Christ." The Church meanwhile pursues her unwavering course. She holds in her hand the lamp of that truth which she did not invent, but which she received from God. That lamp sheds forth its heavenly light, whether men receive it or whether they shut it out from their hearts and walk on in darkness. For that truth the Church is ready now, as she ever was, to endure the scorn and hatred of mankind or to suffer imprisonment and death. Her office is to testify that Jesus is the Christ. By the grace of God she will continue that testimony until the Lord comes, and her witness to the absent is swallowed up in her adoration of the present, in visible power and glory.

Act_18:18-23

The concise narrative.

The grain of mustard seed becomes a great tree, and the fowls of the air lodge in its branches. Could we unfold all that is covered under these few words, whole volumes of surpassing interest might be evolved. The occasion and motives of Paul's vow; the first visit to the capital of Proconsular Asia, to be afterwards the scene of such great events; Pentecost at Jerusalem; the interview with James and the elders of Jerusalem; his thoughts in the metropolis of Christianity, in the stronghold of Judaism, about the aspects of the Church, and the relations of his Corinthians converts to the believing priests and Pharisees at Jerusalem; the execution of his vow, and the state of his feeling towards the temple and its services: his return to Antioch, the metropolis of Gentile Christianity, the new Rome, as it were, of the Christian world; his meeting with old disciples; his narratives of God's work in the new world of Europe, just conquered for the God of Israel; his possible meeting again with Barnabas there, and their tearful reconciliation, and the binding up of the old wound so painful to two good and loving hearts; and then the long and wearisome journey, full of labor and peril, through Phrygia and Galatia; the aspect of old friends and old enemies; the new conquests for Christ, the new triumphs of the gospel, perhaps fresh disappointments from the fickleness of the Gaulish character; were all this told, and the skeleton verses before us filled in with all this life and action, what volumes we should have! But it has pleased God to seal up all these books, and hide them from our eyes. It is our part to be thankful for what we have, and to draw the lesson that the silence of Scripture is as surely ordered as its revelations are, anti that we must read, not to satisfy our curiosity, but to edify our souls.

Act_18:24-28

The episode.

The five verses which make up this section are unique in this respect, that the historian, leaving his hero engaged in unknown labors in Phrygia and Galatia, gives us in them a view of what was going on meanwhile at Ephesus. And a most curious narrative it is. It introduces to us one of the most remarkable men of his age, the Alexandrian Apollos, a Jew of great learning, great ability, and great eloquence; and relates his accession to the Church and to the ranks of the Christian ministry, under most singular circumstances. It further gives us a very striking instance of the devotion of Aquila and Priscilla to the work of Christ, and of their eminent services in the infant Church. Of the after career of Apollos we know next to nothing. We see him for a moment, like a blazing comet in the ecclesiastical heavens, striking down opposition and unbelief with the onslaught of his fervid and logical eloquence; we see the reflex of his great influence at Corinth, in the repeated mention of him in St. Paul's Epistle to the Corinthians (1Co_1:12; 1Co_3:4-6; 1Co_4:5), written from Ephesus; but the only evidence we have of his continuance in the work which he so brilliantly began, is to be found in St. Paul's brief order to Titus, "Bring Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their journey diligently, that nothing be wanting unto them" (Tit_3:13). Yet how manifold, in all probability, were the evangelic labors of Apollos in that interval! How many must have been convinced by him that Jesus is the Christ, and found eternal life in his Name! And if the conjecture of Luther, followed by many since, and recently supported at length by Dr. Farrar ('Early Days of Christianity,' vol. 1. Act_17:1-34., 18.), that he was the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews, be true, what a wide extension is given, in time and space, to the Christian influence of this man "mighty in the Scriptures;" and yet for nearly eighteen centuries has all this labor of love, this precious knit of devoted zeal and spiritual power, been unknown to the Church of God. Surely the reward of the successful evangelist and pastor is not to be looked for in fame and worldly reputation, or the applause of men. And as surely every word spoken for Christ, and every labor endured for the Master's sake, will not be forgotten, but will be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. Then perhaps the last will be first, and the first last.

HOMILIES BY W. CLARKSON

Act_18:1-11

Truth before the citadel.

When the apostle of Jesus Christ confronted the heathenism of Corinth, we may say that, in his person, Divine truth was opening its attack on the very citadel of sin; such was its "abysmal profligacy," its intemperance, its dishonesty, its superstition. In the brief account we have of Paul's work in this city we are reminded—

I. THAT CHRISTIAN BLAMELESSNESS SHOULD ANSWER TO THE DEPRAVITY IT ENCOUNTERS. (Act_18:3.) At such a city as Corinth it was eminently desirable that the apostle of truth and righteousness should be, in all respects, above reproach. There must not be the shadow of suspicion of self-seeking upon him; he must show himself, and be seen to be, the disinterested, missionary he was. Therefore he worked away with his own hands, laboriously maintaining himself all the while that he was laboring in spiritual fields (see 1Co_9:15-18). This is the spirit in which it becomes all earnest men to act. We should give ourselves trouble, we should deny ourselves pleasure, according to the necessities of the case before us. Though "free from all," we should become "the servants of all, that we may gain the more" (1Co_9:19). There are circumstances in which we are perfectly justified in using our liberty; there are others in which we are constrained to forgo our freedom, and impose hardships on ourselves, that we may gain those whom, otherwise, we should not win.

II. THAT WHEN MEN PERSISTENTLY REJECT THE BEST WE CAN BRING THEM, WE MUST PASS ON TO OTHERS. (Act_18:5, Act_18:6.) When Silas and Timotheus rejoined Paul at Corinth, they found him "earnestly occupied in discoursing;" "he was being constrained by the Word;" he was striving with his whole strength to convince the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. But his most zealous efforts were all unavailing, His opponents resisted his arguments; they opposed him and blasphemed his Lord. Then he turned, sorrowfully and indignantly, away from them, and gave himself to the work of God among the Gentiles (Act_18:6). This was not more sensible and obligatory then than it is now. If we have been laboring devotedly, prayerfully, patiently, among certain men, and they determinately reject our message, it is both foolish and wrong of us to waste our resources there; we must pass on to others who may welcome our word as the truth of God.

III. THAT CHRIST WILL NOT LEAVE HIS FAITHFUL SERVANTS WITHOUT DIVINE ENCOURAGEMENT. He granted Paul

(1) the joy of spiritual success (Act_18:8); also

(2) the assurance of his protecting care (Act_18:9, Act_18:10).

The exact measure of his success we do not know, but it was probably considerable; the Church at Corinth became of such importance that Paul paid it great attention, and spent on it much strength in after years. T he vision which the Savior granted w