The Grace Commentary – Your free verse-by-verse Bible commentary Acts 18

Acts 18:1

After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth.

Corinth was the capital city of the Roman province of Achaia. Paul probably arrived in Corinth on this, his second missionary trip, towards the end of AD 50. We know this because he was brought on trial before Gallio, who was proconsul of Achaia from AD51–52 (see entry for Acts 18:12).

Acts 18:2

And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them,

(a) Claudius. The emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome around AD 49. After his death in AD 54, they were allowed to return to the city. In the Life of Claudius (25.4), Suetonius writes that the Jews were expelled because they “constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus.” If this Chrestus is Christos (Christ), as many scholars believe, it seems the Jewish community in Rome had been disrupted on account of the gospel.

(b) Aquila and his wife Priscilla were Jewish Christians from Rome now living in Corinth.

(c) Pontus was the name of both an ancient kingdom and a Roman province located in the northeast Asia Minor (modern Turkey)

Acts 18:3

and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers.

Tent-makers. Paul was a tent-maker by trade. On several occasions (here in Corinth, in Ephesus (Acts 20:34), and in Thessalonica (2 Th. 3:8)) Paul made tents to support himself. However, he was not called to be a tent-maker but a preacher of the gospel (Rom. 15:20, 1 Cor. 9:16). When Silas and Timothy arrived, he was able to devote himself full-time to the preaching of the gospel (see verse 5).

Tent-making was backbreaking work that involved long hours of physically taxing labor. The tent-maker had to scrape and trim leather hides, punch holes, and stitch them together by hand into tents strong enough to withstand years of hard use in all kinds of weather.

Acts 18:5

But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

(a) Macedonia; see entry for Acts 16:10.

(b) Devoting himself completely. Paul stopped making tents (see verse 3) and began preaching full-time. He was able to do this because of the support he received from Silas and Timothy. Either they brought money with them or they worked so that Paul could preach.

Acts 18:6

But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

Blasphemed. The original verb blasphēmeō means “to malign” (e.g., Tit. 3:2), “to abuse” (e.g., Mark 15:29), “to speak evil of” (e.g., Rom. 14:16), or “to slander” (e.g., Rom. 3:8). It is speaking falsely of someone in a way that injures their good name.

Acts 18:7

Then he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was next to the synagogue.

A worshiper of God. Like the God-fearing Greeks of Thessalonica, Titius Justus worshiped the God of the Jews; see entry for Acts 17:4.

Acts 18:9

And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent;

Vision. Visions are supernatural revelations that are so compelling they appear as real images, even though they are received in our spirits; see entry for Acts 9:10.

(b) Do not be afraid. Is it a stretch to say that Paul was discouraged and deeply troubled at this point? About a year earlier, he had received a divine call to take the gospel to Europe. Since then he had been beaten in Philippi, run out of Thessalonica and Berea, mocked in Athens, and abused in Corinth. By the time Paul reached Corinth, he was in a low state. As he later said to the Corinthians, “I came to you in weakness and fear with much trembling” (1 Cor. 2:3). We should not over-spiritualize the heroes of the New Testament. Like anyone, Paul was a man with moods and emotions. He had good reasons to be downcast. After being torn away from the Thessalonians, he felt the way a nursing mother would feel if she had been separated from her child (1 Th. 2:7).

Acts 18:11

And he settled there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

(a) A year and six months. Paul stopped in Corinth for eighteen months

(b) The word of God is the good news of Jesus. See entry for Word of God.

Acts 18:12

But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,

(a) Gallio. Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus or Gallio was a Roman senator and the brother of the writer Seneca. Proconsuls typically governed Roman provinces for a period of one year and were usually sent out in the spring. Historical records show that Gallio was proconsul of Achaia from AD 51–52. The mention of Gallio here gives us a reference point for establishing a timeline of Paul’s life and journeys. Paul was likely brought before Gallio in the late summer of AD 51 or early AD 52.

(b) Achaia was a Roman province covering southern Greece. Although Athens had the history, the chief city of the province was Corinth.

Acts 18:13

saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”

The Law refers to the Law of Moses, the commandments, ordinances, punishments, and ceremonial observances given to the nation of Israel through Moses (Jos. 8:31, John 1:17). This law is sometimes referred to as the law of commandments (Eph. 2:15) or the law of the Jews (Acts 25:8). See entry for The Law.

Acts 18:15

but if there are questions about words and names and your own law, look after it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.”

Your own law. As far as Gallio was concerned, this was a Jewish matter. He either did not see the distinction between Jews and Christians or he chose to overlook it.

No doubt Gallio had heard about the troubles caused the last time a Roman governor got entangled in a trial with an innocent man accused by the Sanhedrin. Unlike Pilate, Gallio had no intention of allowing himself to be manipulated by the chief priests.

Acts 18:22

When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and went down to Antioch.

(a) Caesarea. Paul’s ship landed at the port of Caesarea and from there he travelled mostly uphill to visit the church in Jerusalem. This was the fourth of at least five visits Saul or Paul made to Jerusalem after his conversion; see entry for Acts 9:26

(b) Antioch; see entry for Acts 11:19.

Acts 18:23

And having spent some time there, he left and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

Disciples. The first Christians called themselves disciples or followers, which was a holdover from the time when people followed Jesus. However, none of the New Testament epistle writers used this word. See entry for Acts 6:1.

Acts 18:25

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, being acquainted only with the baptism of John;

(a) Fervent in spirit. He was enthusiastic; see entry for Rom. 12:11.

(b) Baptism of John. John’s baptism of water prophetically foreshadowed the baptism of the Holy Spirit. See entry for Mark 1:8.

Acts 18:27

And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,

(a) Achaia; see entry for Acts 18:12.

(b) Disciples. The first Christians called themselves disciples or followers, which was a holdover from the time when people followed Jesus. However, none of the New Testament epistle writers used this word. See entry for Acts 6:1.

(c) Believed through grace. The grace of God is received by faith (Eph. 2:8). It is not earned through labor or law-keeping.

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Acts 18