A Commentary in Simple English on The Acts of the Apostles

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CHAPTER 18

Verses 1-17: Paul in Corinth

This first part of Chapter 18 tells us how Paul and his friends began the church in the city of Corinth. We have two long letters which Paul sent to the church at Corinth. He wrote them a few years later, and they tell us a lot about the church at Corinth. We think that Paul was in Corinth from the autumn of the year 50AD to the spring of 52AD.

Corinth was very different from Athens, the city which Paul had just left. Corinth stood at the ‘isthmus’. Here the road between the north and south of Greece passed over a narrow neck of land only 5Km wide. On each side was the sea. On the east side was the Aegean Sea. The port of Cenchrea was about 14Km. from Corinth on this side. On the west side was a port called Lechaeum. From here ships could sail through the Gulf of Corinth into the western Mediterranean.

When you look at a map, you will see that ships could go round the southern tip of Greece. However, many ships had sunk there in storms. Sailors knew the danger. They did not want to go that way! So small ships could be pulled from one side of the isthmus to the other. If a ship was too big for this it could be unloaded. No doubt great numbers of slaves would carry heavy loads from one side of the isthmus to the other. People had tried to dig a canal through the isthmus. The Roman Caesar, Nero, made a fresh start on this in 52AD. but he failed.

Corinth was already a very old city when in 146BC, the Romans destroyed it. For a hundred years it was in ruins. Then Julius Caesar made it a Roman ‘colony’. It was built again and in 27BC, the Romans made it the ‘capital’ city of the province of Achaia. This was the southern part of Greece and the Romans who ruled the province lived there. In 1858AD, an earthquake destroyed the city. This time, a new city which the Greeks built was a little way away. So it has been possible to study the ruins of the old city. [18.1]

The ‘Olympic’ Games were not the only great games in Greece. The Greeks met near Corinth for the ‘Isthmian’ games. These were held at a place called Posidonium, just east of Corinth. [18.2] These games took place every two years. They were probably held in 50AD and 52AD.

Above Corinth there was a very steep hill about 670 metres high. One of the buildings on the top of the hill was the Temple of Aphrodite. Port cities are often wicked places. Corinth was a wicked city and the Temple of Aphrodite made things much worse.

(Verse 1) So Paul came to Corinth. See 1 Corinthians 2:3. He did not feel at all well. (Verse 2) He met a Jew called Aquila and his wife Priscilla. They were some of the Jews who had to leave Rome in 49AD. They may well already have been Christians before they met Paul. Aquila came from Pontus; see 2:9. It might have taken them rather longer to reach Corinth from Rome than other Jews had taken to reach Thessalonica. Still, when Paul reached Corinth, they were busy. Paul joined them in their work. (Verse 3) He also lived with them. They made tents. It may be that people who came to see the Games at Corinth would want to buy small tents. Aquila and Priscilla may also have made ‘rigging’ for ships. They would use the same tools and they would need ropes for both.

Paul worked hard all week. But on the Jewish Sabbath he was able to go to the synagogue to join in worship. He spoke about the Good News in the synagogue as he had done in other places. There must have been a number of people who were not Jews, who came to the synagogue worship. Paul tried to reach them with the Good News, as well as the Jews.

(Verse 5) Then Silas and Timothy joined Paul in Corinth. They came from the north, that is, from Philippi and Thessalonica. This is the last time that we read about Silas in Acts. Verse 18 says that Paul left ‘the brothers’ in Corinth. This may mean Silas and Timothy. But Silas may still be with Paul until verse 22, when Paul ‘goes up’ to the church at Jerusalem.
Timothy brought a gift of money to help Paul. This came from the church at Philippi. See 2 Corinthians 11:8 and Philippians 4:15. It was just at this time that Paul wrote his first letter to the church at Thessalonica. See 1 Thessalonians 3:6. Paul now gave all his time to the Good News. He taught that Jesus was the Christ, that is, the Messiah.

(Verse 6) As in other cities, Paul had to leave the synagogue. Some of the Jews did believe. From what Luke tells us, it does not seem that many of the Jews became Christians. (Verse 7) The house right next door to the synagogue belonged to a man who was not a Jew. His full name was probably Gaius Titus Justus: see Romans 16:23. He had joined in the synagogue worship, but now he believed the Good News. This man’s house was the first home of the church. The leader of the synagogue, Crispus and his family also became Christians. The very first family to believe it seems, was that of Stephanas. Paul himself baptised these people. See 1 Corinthians 1:14-16 and also 1 Corinthians 16:15 and 17. [18.3] At first Paul baptised the new Christians. Soon he passed this work on to Timothy and Silas and perhaps to Corinthian Christians.

The church at Corinth gave Paul a great deal of trouble later on. Luke does not say anything here about the choice of elders at Corinth. No doubt there were elders, but there may not have been many men who were ready for this work. The two letters which Paul wrote to Corinth do not say anything about elders or other church leaders. Indeed, many of the troubles at Corinth might have been sorted out by able leaders. The people at Corinth liked good preachers. We shall soon read about Apollos, and the church at Corinth liked to hear him preach. Probably Peter went there: see 1 Corinthians 1:12. 1 Corinthians 9:5 and 6 may mean that the Corinth church knew Barnabas and some of ‘the Lord’s brothers’. See Matthew 13:55, although James the Lord’s brother probably did not leave Jerusalem.

(Verse 9) Paul had split the people who went to the synagogue. A lot of them had become Christians and they no longer went to the synagogue worship. Paul knew that this had made the Jews angry when it happened in other cities. No doubt he feared that this would happen again in Corinth. So God gave Paul a special message. He was not to stop his work. (Verse 10) The Jews did turn on Paul, as we shall soon see. But God’s promise was true. Paul was not hurt at all. God promised Paul that many more people in Corinth would believe the Good News. [18.4] (Verse 11) So Paul stayed in Corinth from late in 50AD. until about May of 52AD.

About the middle of this time, in early summer 51AD. a new Roman governor came to Corinth. His name was Gallio, and we know quite a lot about him. He had a brother called Seneca, who is more famous. They came from Spain. Seneca was a thinker or ‘philosopher’. When Nero first became Caesar, Seneca guided Nero and he ruled well. A few years later Nero parted from Seneca. Nero’s reign then became more and more violent and evil. Nero later killed both Seneca and Gallio. Seneca said that everyone who knew Gallio like him.

(Verse 12) Perhaps until this time the Jews had not agreed with each other what they should do about Paul. Now they all agreed. They brought Paul to the judgment seat or ‘bema’ in the city centre. There Gallio would sit early each morning to hear law cases. (Verse 13) What the Jews said to Gallio about Paul was not clear. Gallio might not know whether they meant the Jewish law or the Roman law. Really, the Jews meant a bit of each!

(Verse 14) As Roman governor, Gallio could use his own common sense. He could also think about the way that things were done in this city. Paul did not have time to answer what the Jews had said. Gallio could tell that the Jews mostly meant the Jewish Law, and Gallio did not want to know about that.

The Jews had not said that Paul had done anything wrong. Gallio would know that the Jews had been sent away from Rome. He would have his men who would tell him what went on in Corinth. He had spies. So (Verse 15) he would not get mixed up in what he saw as a Jewish quarrel. If the Jews had argued that Paul had broken Roman law, it would have been much harder for him. See 17:7. There Paul had to leave Thessalonica quickly because his enemies said that he had broken Roman law. Other Roman governors would hear how Gallio had dealt with this case. This was probably a help to Christians for some years to come. (Verse 16) Probably Gallio shouted orders to the ‘lictors’ to drive the Jews out. Sosthenes seems to have followed Crispus as the leader of the synagogue. The crowd was mostly made up of Greeks who did not like the Jews at all. They turned on Sosthenes and beat him up. Gallio did not stop them. [18.5]

Gallio left Corinth early on the advice of his brother Seneca. He went on a trip by ship to help his health.

Verses 18-21: Paul visits Ephesus

(Verse 18) We can only guess that Paul felt that his work in Corinth was done. We do not know why he left Corinth when he did. It is Spring in 52AD. Paul went down from Corinth to the port of Cenchrea on the Aegean Sea. We would like to know why Aquila and Priscilla left Corinth too. Perhaps the ‘Asian’ Games at Ephesus were the next big Greek sports meeting. Trade might be better there than in Corinth.

Paul had his head shaved at Cenchrea. Again, we can do no more that guess what this was about. Perhaps Paul had made a vow to let his hair grow. This was when God promised to keep Paul safe in Corinth (verses 9 and 10). So now that he had left Corinth, he could shave his head. Now the vow that Paul made may have included a promise that he would offer a sacrifice in the Jerusalem temple. This would explain the journey which he makes now and why Paul is in rather a hurry. [18.6] He may want to reach Jerusalem for one of the great Jewish feasts. Perhaps this was Passover.

(Verse 19) The sea crossing from Cenchrea to Ephesus was about 375Km. It might only take three or four days. Sometimes it took two weeks. There were many small islands in the Aegean Sea, and the ship might have to call at some of them. This would slow the journey down.

So Paul came to Ephesus which was the great Greek city of the Roman province of Asia. There is a good deal about Ephesus in the Commentary on Revelation. See the first part of Chapter 2. We shall not set this out again here.

Aquila and Priscilla stayed on in Ephesus, probably for several years. Paul could not stay long. He went into the Jewish synagogues. He spoke with the people there about the Good News. (Verse 20) They wanted to hear more, but Paul could not stop. ‘He did not nod his head’. He did promise to come back. (Verse 21) As any Christian should, he promised ‘if it is God’s will’.

Paul was now on his own as he sailed from Ephesus to Caesarea in Palestine. This is perhaps why Luke says so little about this journey. The ship had to cover nearly 1000Km. It may have called in at places like Rhodes or at a port in Cyprus. Paul may have been at sea for weeks. No doubt he spread the Good News to everyone on the ship. He would have time to read, to think and to pray. A sea journey like this was probably the only quiet time that Paul had in his busy life.

Verses 22 and 23: Jerusalem and Antioch

(Verse 22) It is not only that Luke does not tell us very much about Paul’s journey. In some parts of Acts we can add more from Paul’s letters. Here, we cannot do this. Paul may have had trouble on this journey: see 2 Corinthians 11:25. We just do not know. The ship reached the port city of Caesarea, on the coast of Palestine. When Luke says that Paul ‘went up’, he means that he went up to Jerusalem. This was about 80 Km away.

Now we can only guess what Paul did in Jerusalem. He ‘greeted the church’ but Luke says nothing about the apostles or the elders. Paul may have wanted to worship in the temple. It may be that he needed to talk through his promised return visit to Ephesus. But on his next journey he gathers money to help the poor Christians in Jerusalem. He may have seen just how poor the Christians in Jerusalem were. [18.7]

We really only know about this ‘collection’ for the Jerusalem church from Paul’s letters. But see 24:17. He writes about it in Romans 15:25-28. [18.8] There he says that the churches in Greece have given money for the Jerusalem church. In 1 Corinthians 16:1-4 Paul also writes about this ‘collection’. He wrote this letter before he wrote Romans. He is not sure whether he will go to Jerusalem with the gift of money. Other men may go instead. In 2 Corinthians, we can look at 8:1-15. Some people at Corinth felt: ‘We are very poor. Why should we give to help other people?’ Perhaps there were some people, too, who thought that Paul took the money for himself. See 8:19-21. The whole of Chapter 9 is about the collection, too.

So Paul went back from Jerusalem to Antioch in Syria. (Verse 23) This is the last time that we read about Antioch in the New Testament. Paul now wants to do two things. He wants to go back to Ephesus. He will be in Ephesus fron the autumn of the year 52AD until probably the summer of 55AD. Then he spent the winter in the north of Greece, that is, Macedonia. The summer of 56AD is covered in Acts 20:2. Then Paul spends the next winter in Corinth. So Paul began the collection in 52AD. It did not reach Jerusalem until the summer of 57AD. The collection was the other thing that Paul set out to do on this journey. It was trouble in the church at Corinth which led to this five year delay.

Paul was wise. He gathered other men from the churches to carry this collection. We can see from Acts 20:4 who they were. This should have put an end to any idea that Paul helped himself to the money. Paul set out on this journey on his own. But he soon gathered a group of friends who worked with him.

The Antioch church had sent help to Jerusalem once before. See Acts 11:29-30. Paul spent some time in Antioch. We guess that he then set out to the north through Tarsus and the Cilician Gates through the Taurus Mountains. Then he would go west to Derbe and begin the collection. There he met Gaius, who joined hin on the journey. He would visit the churches at Lystra, Iconium and Antioch in Pisidia. He taught the Christians in those churches. He also made the collection for Jerusalem. See 1 Corinthians 16:1. So in the autumn of 52AD, Paul came to Ephesus.

Verses 24-28: Apollos

In the first twelve chapters of Acts, we have read about Peter. We call the book the Acts of the Apostles, but we also read about Stephen and Philip. They were not apostles. There was also the start of the story of Paul. From Chapter 13 onwards we read about the work and travel of Paul. These few verses are the only ones from Chapter 13 to the end where Paul is not present. For this reason they are important. They tell us about the work of the Good News in a city where there is no church yet. There is no apostle at work. Yet God is at work.

So here we can see a little of the work of God. Work like this went on in many places. Here too we may see that God’s work will go on without famous preachers like Paul.. It went on in many parts of the Roman world and beyond.

(Verse 24) The name Apollos would be short for Apollonius. The name was used in this short form in Egypt. Apollos came from the great city of Alexandria in Egypt. [18.9] He knew the Old Testament well. He used it with power. He was a great speaker.

(Verse 25) Someone had taught him ‘the way of the Lord’. This may make us think about the teaching of John the Baptist. See, for example, Matthew 3:3. Or perhaps we should remember verses like Acts 9:2, where ‘the Way’ means the Christian way of life. Apollos’ spirit was ‘burning’ or ‘boiling’. He was careful and exact. What he taught was right. Yet there were things which he did not yet know. We know that many years after this, there were still followers of John the Baptist who were not Christians.

(Verse 26) Apollos started to speak in the Jewish synagogue in Ephesus. Aquila and Priscilla must have gone to worship at the synagogue and they heard Apollos. They took him to their home and ‘filled him in’ on what he did not know.

It may well be that some Christians from Corinth were in Ephesus. They told Apollos about the church at Corinth. Achaia is, of course, that part of Greece. The Christians in Ephesus were happy for Apollos to go to Corinth. They gave him a letter to the Church at Corinth. ‘The brothers’ were the start of the Ephesus Church. See Romans 16:1 and 1 Corinthians 16:3. 2 Corinthians 3:1 shows that the church at Corinth sometimes gave such letters to Christian people. These letters asked other churches to welcome them. People like Apollos also brought letters with them.

Apollos had a great time of blessing in Corinth. (Verse 28) He used the Old Testament. He proved that Jesus was Christ, that is, the Messiah that God had promised. He helped the Christians. He argued openly with the Jews.

See 1 Corinthians 1:12, 3:5, 6 and 22 and 4:6. These verses show how much the teaching of Apollos helped the church in Corinth. By the time that Paul wrote this letter, Apollos had left Corinth and must have been back in Asia. The Corinth church wanted him to come back. We hear just once more about Apollos. This is ten or twelve years later. In Titus 3:13, it seems that he is in Crete. He is with a lawyer called Zenas. We cannot even guess any more than this.

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