Act 18:1-17 | Barnes | STEP | CHAPTER 18 Verse 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, Lechaeum 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, proud, ostentatious, and dissolute. Laciviousness here was not only practised and allowed, but was consecrated by the worship of Venus; and no small part of the wealth and splendour of the city arose from the offerings made by licentious passion in the very temples of this goddess. No city of ancient times was more profligate. It was the Paris of antiquity; the seat of splendour, and show, and corruption. Yet even here, notwithstanding all the disadvantages of splendour, gaiety, and dissoluteness, Paul entered on the work of rearing a church; and here he was eminently successful. The two epistles which he afterwards wrote to this church show the extent of his success; and the well-known character and propensities of the people will account for the general drift of the admonitions and arguments in those epistles. Corinth was destroyed by the Romans, 146 years before Christ; and during the conflagration, several metals in a fused state, running together, produced the composition known as Corinthian brass. It was afterwards restored by Julius Caesar, who planted in it a Roman colony. It soon regained its ancient splendour, and soon relapsed into its former dissipation and licentiousness. Paul arrived there A.D. 52 or 53.

Acts 18:1-17

CHAPTER 18

Verse 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, Lechaeum 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, proud, ostentatious, and dissolute. Laciviousness here was not only practised and allowed, but was consecrated by the worship of Venus; and no small part of the wealth and splendour of the city arose from the offerings made by licentious passion in the very temples of this goddess. No city of ancient times was more profligate. It was the Paris of antiquity; the seat of splendour, and show, and corruption. Yet even here, notwithstanding all the disadvantages of splendour, gaiety, and dissoluteness, Paul entered on the work of rearing a church; and here he was eminently successful. The two epistles which he afterwards wrote to this church show the extent of his success; and the well-known character and propensities of the people will account for the general drift of the admonitions and arguments in those epistles. Corinth was destroyed by the Romans, 146 years before Christ; and during the conflagration, several metals in a fused state, running together, produced the composition known as Corinthian brass. It was afterwards restored by Julius Caesar, who planted in it a Roman colony. It soon regained its ancient splendour, and soon relapsed into its former dissipation and licentiousness. Paul arrived there A.D. 52 or 53. Verse 2. And found a certain Jew. Aquila is elsewhere mentioned as the friend of Paul, Rom 16:3, 2Ti 4:19, 1Cor 16:19. Though a Jew by birth, yet it is evident that he became a convert to the Christian faith.

Born in Pontus. Acts 2:9.

Lately come from Italy. Though the command of Claudius extended only to Rome, yet it was probably deemed not safe to remain, or it might have been difficult to procure occupation in any part of Italy.

Because that Claudius. Claudius was the Roman emperor. He commenced his reign A.D. 41, and was poisoned A.D. 64. At what time in his reign this command was issued is not certainly known.

Had commanded, etc. This command is not mentioned by Josephus; but it is recorded by Suetonius, a Roman historian, (Life of Claudius, chap. 26,) who says, that "he expelled the Jews from Rome, who were constantly exciting tumults under their leader, Chrestus." Who this Chrestus was, is not known. It might have been a foreign Jew, who raised tumults on some occasion, of which we have no knowledge--as the Jews in all heathen cities were greatly prone to excitements and insurrections. Or it may be that Suetonius, little acquainted with Jewish affairs, mistook this for the name Christ, and supposed that he was the leader of the Jews. This explanation has much plausibility; for,

(1.) Suetonius could scarcely be supposed to be intimately acquainted with the affairs of the Jews.

(2.) There is every reason to believe that, before this, the Christian religion was preached at Rome.

(3.) It would produce there, as everywhere else, great tumult and contention among the Jews.

(4.) Claudius, the emperor, might suppose that such tumults endangered the peace of the city, and resolve to remove the cause at once by the dispersion of all the Jews.

(5.) A Roman historian might easily mistake the true state of the case; and while they were contending about Christ, he might suppose that it was under him, as a leader, that these tumults were excited. All that is material however, here, is the fact, in which Luke and Suetonius agree, that the Jews were expelled from Rome during his reign.

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 laboured for his own support in Ephesus, Acts 20:34 and also at Thessalonica, 2Thes 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 labour with his own hands.

For by their occupation. By their trade; that is, they had been brought up to this business. Paul had been designed originally for a lawyer, and had been brought up at the feet of Gamaliel. But it was a regular custom among the Jews to train up their sons to some useful employment, that they might have the means of an honest livelihood. Even though they were trained up to the liberal sciences, yet they deemed a handicraft trade, or some honourable occupation, an indispensable part of education. Thus Maimonides (in the Tract Talmud. Tors, c. i. & 9) says, that "the wise generally practise some of the arts, lest they should be dependent on the charity of others." See Grotius. The wisdom of this is obvious; and it is equally plain that a custom of this kind now might preserve the health and lives of many professional men, and save from ignoble dependence or vice, in future years, many who are trained up in the lap of indulgence and wealth.

They were tentmakers. σκηνοποιοι. There have been various opinions about the meaning of this word. Many have supposed that it denotes a weaver of tapestry. Luther thus translated it. But it is probable that it denotes, as in our translation, a manufacturer of tents, made of skin or cloth. In eastern countries, where there was much travel, where there were no inns, and where many were shepherds, such a business might be useful, and a profitable source of living. It was an honourable occupation, and Paul was not ashamed to be employed in it.

(&) "craft" "occupation" (d) "wrought" Ac 20:34 (|) "wrought" "worked" Verse 4. And he reasoned. Acts 17:2.

(*) "reasoned" "discoursed" (a) "synagogue" Acts 17:2 Verse 5. And when Silas and Timotheus, etc. They came to Paul according to his request, which he had sent by the brethren who accompanied him from Thessalonica, Acts 17:16.

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 laboured to make known to them the truth that Jesus was the Messiah.

That Jesus was Christ. That Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. Comp. Acts 17:16. The presence of Silas and Timothy animated him; and the certainty of aid in his work urged him to zeal in making known the Saviour.

(1) "was Christ" "is the Christ" Verse 6. And when they opposed themselves. To him and his message.

And blasphemed. Acts 13:4.

He shook his raiment. As an expressive act of shaking off the guilt of their condemnation. Comp. Acts 13:45. He shook his raiment to show that he was resolved henceforward to have nothing to do with them; perhaps, also, to express the fact that God would soon shake them off, or reject them. (Doddridge.)

Your blood, etc. The guilt of your destruction is your own. You only are the cause of the destruction that is coming upon you. Mt 27:25.

I am clean. I am not to blame for your destruction. I have done my duty. The gospel had been fairly offered, and deliberately rejected; and Paul was not to blame for their ruin, which he saw was coming upon them.

I will go, etc. See Acts 13:46.

(c) "opposed themselves" 2Ti 2:25 (d) "shook his raiment" Neh 5:13 (e) "Your blood be" Eze 28:4 Verse 7. A certain man's house. Probably he had become a convert to the Christian faith.

Joined hard. Was near to the synagogue. Verse 8. And Crispus. He is mentioned, in 1Cor 1:14, as having been one of the few whom Paul baptized with his own hands. The conversion of such a man must have tended greatly to exasperate the other Jews, and to further the progress of the Christian faith among the Corinthians.

With all his house. With all his family, Acts 10:2.

And many of the Corinthians. Many even in this voluptuous and wicked city. Perhaps the power of the gospel was never more signal than in converting sinners in Corinth, and rearing a Christian church in a place so dissolute and abandoned. If it was adapted to such a place as Corinth --if a church, under the power of Christian truth, could be organized there--it is adapted to any city; and there is none so corrupt that the gospel cannot change and purify it.

(f) "Crispus" 1Cor 1:14 (+) "with all his house" "with his hold household" Verse 9. By a vision. Acts 9:10, Acts 16:9.

Be not afraid. Perhaps Paul might have been intimidated by the learning, refinement, and splendour of Corinth; perhaps embarrassed in view of his duty of addressing the rich, the polite, and the great. To this he may allude in 1Cor 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. The fact that God had much people in that city, Acts 18:10, was employed to remove his apprehensions. The prospect of success in the ministry, and the certainty of the presence of God, will take away the fear of the rich, the learned, and the great.

(&) "Hold not thy peace" "Be not silent" Verse 10. For I am with thee. I will attend, bless, and protect you. Mt 28:20.

No man shall set on thee. No one who shall rise up against thee shall be able to hurt thee. His life was in God's hands, and he would preserve him, in order that his people might be collected into the church.

For I have. Greek, There is to me; i.e., I possess, or there belongs to me.

Much people. Many who should be regarded as his true friends, and who should be saved.

In this city. In that very city that was so voluptuous, so rich, so effeminate, and where there had been already so decided opposition shown to the gospel. This passage evidently means that God had a design or purpose to save many of that people; for it was given to Paul as all encouragement to him to labour there, evidently meaning that God would grant him success in his work. It cannot mean that the Lord meant to say that the great mass of the people, or that the moral and virtuous part, if there were any such, was then regarded as his people; but that he intended to convert many of those guilty and profligate Corinthians to himself, and to gather a people for his own service there. We may learn from this,

(1.) that God has a purpose in regard to the salvation of sinners.

(2.) That that purpose is so fixed in the mind of God, that he can say that those in relation to whom it is formed are his. There is no chance; no hap-hazard; no doubt in regard to his gathering them to himself.

(3.) This is the ground of encouragement to the ministers of the gospel. Had God no purpose to save sinners, they could have no hope in their work.

(4.) This plan may have reference to the most gay, and guilty, and abandoned population; and ministers should not be deterred by the amount or the degree of wickedness from attempting to save them.

(5.) There may be more hope of success among a dissolute and profligate population, than among proud, and cold, and skeptical philosophers. Paul had little success in philosophic Athens; he had great success in dissolute Corinth. There is often more hope of converting a man openly dissolute and abandoned, than one who prides himself on his philosophy, and is confident in his own wisdom.

(g) "I am with thee" Mt 28:20. (%) "set on thee" "Lay hands on" (|) "much people in this city" "many" Verse 11. And he continued. etc. Paul was not accustomed to remain long in a place. At Ephesus, indeed, he remained three years, Acts 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.

(2) "he continued there" "sat there" Verse 12. And when Gallio. After the Romans had conquered Greece, they reduced it to two provinces, Macedonia and Achaia, which were each governed by a proconsul. Gallio was the brother of the celebrated philosopher Seneca, and was made proconsul of Achaia, A.D. 53. His proper name was Marcus Annaeus Novatus; but having been adopted into the family of Gallio, a rhetorician, he took his name. He is described by ancient writers as having been of a remarkably mild and amiable disposition. His brother Seneca (Pref. Quest. Natu. 4) describes him as being of the most lovely temper: "No mortal," says he, "was ever so mild to any one, as he was to all; and in him there was such a natural power of goodness, that there was no semblance of art or dissimulation."

Was the deputy. See this word explained in Acts 13:7. It means, here, proconsul.

Of Achaia. This word, in its largest sense, comprehended the whole of Greece. Achaia Proper, however, was a province of which Corinth was the capital. It embraced that part of Greece lying between Thessaly and the southern part of the Peloponnesus.

The Jews made insurrection. Excited a tumult, as they had in Philippi, Antioch, etc.

And brought him to the judgment seat. The tribunal of Gallio; probably intending to arraign him as a disturber of the peace.

(a) "judgment seat" Jas 2:6 Verse 13. Contrary to the law. Evidently intending contrary to all law--the laws of the Romans and of the Jews. It was permitted to the Jews to worship God according to their own views in Greece; but they could easily pretend that Paul had departed from that mode of worshipping God. It was easy for them to maintain that he taught contrary to the laws of the Romans, and their acknowledged religion; and their design seems to have been, to accuse him of teaching men to worship God in an unlawful and irregular way, a way unknown to any of the laws of the empire. Verse 14. About to open his mouth. In self-defence; ever ready to vindicate his conduct.

A matter of wrong. Injustice, or crime; such as could be properly brought before a court of justice.

Or wicked lewdness. Any flagrant and gross offence. The word used here occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It denotes, properly, an act committed by him who is skilled, facile, or an adept in iniquity--an act of a veteran offender. Such crimes Gallio was willing to take cognizance of.

Reason would, etc. Greek, "I would bear with you according to reason." There would be propriety or fitness in my hearing and trying the ease. That is, it would fall within the sphere of my duty, as appointed to guard the peace, and to punish crimes.

(*) "wicked lewdness" "injustice or wicked mischief" (b) "O ye Jews, reason" Rom 13:3 (+) "bear with you" Verse 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; i.e., 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.

Of your law. A question respecting the proper interpretation of the law, or the rites and ceremonies which it commanded. The Jews had many such disputes, and Gallio did not regard them as coming under his cognizance as a magistrate.

Look ye to it. Judge this among yourselves; settle the difficulty as you can. Comp. Jn 18:31.

For I will be no judge, etc. I do not regard such questions as pertaining to my office, or deem myself called on to settle them.

(++) "words and names" "Doctrines" (c) "look ye to it" Jn 18:31, Acts 23:29, 22:11,19 Verse 16. And he drave them, etc. He refused to hear and decide the controversy. He commanded them to depart from the court. The word used here does not denote that there was any violence used by Galio, but merely that he dismissed them in an authoritative manner. Verse 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, etc. 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. The Greeks would feel no small measure of indignation at these disturbers of the public peace, and they took this opportunity to express their rage.

And beat him. ετυπτον. This word is not that which is commonly used to denote a judicial act of scourging. It probably means that they fell upon him, and beat him with their fists, or with whatever was at hand.

Before the judgment seat. Probably while leaving the tribunal. Instead of "Greeks" in this verse, some Mss. read "Jews," but the former is probably the true reading. The Syriac, Arabic, and Coptic read it "the Gentiles." It is probable that this Sosthenes afterwards became a convert to the Christian faith, and a preacher of the gospel. See 1Cor 1:1,2: "Paul, and Sosthenes our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth."

And Gallio cared, etc. This has been usually charged on Gallio as a matter of reproach, as if he were wholly indifferent to religion. But the charge is unjustly made; and his name is often most improperly used to represent the indifferent, the worldly, the careless, and the skeptical. But by the testimony of ancient writers, he was a most mild and amiable man; and an upright and just judge. Nor is there the least evidence that he was indifferent to the religion of his country, or that he was of a thoughtless and skeptical turn of mind. All that this passage implies is,

(1.) that he did not deem it to be his duty, or a part of his office, to settle questions of a theological nature that were started among the Jews.

(2.) That he was unwilling to make this subject a matter of legal discussion and investigation.

(3.) That he would not interfere, either on one side or the other, in the question about making proselytes either to or from Judaism. So far certainly his conduct was exemplary and proper.

(4.) That he did not choose to interpose, and rescue Sosthenes from the hands of the mob. From some cause he was willing that he should feel the effects of the public indignation. Perhaps it was not easy to quell the riot; perhaps he was not unwilling that he who had joined in a furious and unprovoked persecution should feel the effect of it in the excited passions of the people. At all events, he was but following the common practice among the Romans, which was to regard the Jews with contempt, and to care little how much they were exposed to popular fury and rage. In this he was wrong; and it is certain also that he was indifferent to the disputes between Jews and Christians; but there is no propriety in defaming his name, and making him the type and representative of all the thoughtless and indifferent men on the subject of religion in subsequent times. Nor is there propriety in using this passage as a text applicable to this class of men.

(d) "Sosthenes" 1Cor 1:1