Acts 18:17

Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

Gallio became proconsul of Achaia and took charge of the affairs of the province in the summer of 51 A. D., almost a year after Paul had come to Corinth. "Another proof of St. Luke's accuracy. Achaia from B. C. 27 (when it had been separated from Macedonia, to which it had been united since B. C. 146, and made into a separate province) had been governed by a proconsul. In A. D. 15 Tiberius had reunited it with Macedonia and Mysia, and it was therefore under an imperial Zegatus as an imperial province. But a further change occurred when Claudius, A. D. 44, made it again a senatorial province under a proconsul. " Evidently the Jews thought this a propitious time to inaugurate a tumult, for they arose against Paul with one accord, as one man, and led him to the judgment-seat of the proconsul. They may have thought that the new proconsul would want to make a favorable impression and gain the good will of all his subjects at once, and therefore would grant their request. Their charge against Paul was that he, against the law, was persuading the people to worship God. The wording of the accusation showed great skill, for in a certain sense the word "law" might include both the Roman law and the Jewish law, the first being fixed by the government, the second being permitted by a special decree. In stating that Paul's teaching was illegal, they meant to convey the impression that he was spreading a prohibited religion, while in their own hearts they had reference only to their ceremonial law and to the traditions which they held sacred. So the Jews here made use of boldness mingled with cleverness. Paul was just about to open his lips to make a suitable reply to this sophistical charge when Gallio gave the Jews an answer which showed that he drew a hard and fast line between a charge of unlawful action against the state and against Jewish law and custom. He explained that if it were a case of an unlawful action, of a breach of state law, or if it were an actual crime, a moral wrong, with which they were charging Paul, he would sustain them, he would look into the case, according to right and justice. But so far as any discussion regarding a word and names of their law was concerned, they would have to see to that themselves; he did not propose to act as judge in such matters. Gallio was not altogether clear in his mind what the whole controversy was about; he may have heard some references to the Word of God, to the name of Jesus, to the customs and usages of the Jews. And it was not necessary for him, in his capacity as secular judge, to be familiar with these matters. But he certainly proved that the high praise bestowed upon him by the historians, in calling him a man of admirable integrity, amiable and popular, was not misplaced. In this he might well serve as an example to state officers everywhere, in showing them that the business of the state deals with transgressions of the second table of the Law only, and should not interfere with the exercise of religion. The prompt and energetic action of the proconsul, not only in rendering a clear opinion without the least delay, but also in dismissing the importunate Jews with some sharpness, in clearing the court, made a very favorable impression upon the people that were gathered in the forum, and turned the tide of popular prejudice in favor of Paul. The Greeks that were present immediately laid hold of Sosthenes, the successor of Crispus as the ruler of the synagogue, and gave him a sound thrashing in full view of the judgment-seat, and Gallio took no official notice of the beating, assuming, no doubt, that there was some bitterness against the Jews which might find its vent in this comparatively harmless way. And thus, in accordance with the Lord's promise that no harm should befall the apostle, the purpose of Gallio to confine himself strictly to his business of proconsul was a means of saving Paul from persecution and probably even death.