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,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOUND A CERTAIN JEW - Aquila is mentioned elsewhere as the friend of Paul, Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19; 1 Corinthians 16:19. Though a Jew by birth, yet it is evident that he became a convert to the Christian faith. BORN IN PONTUS - See the notes on Acts 2:9. LATELY COME FROM ITALY - Though the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SAME CRAFT - Of the same trade or occupation. 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 labored for his own support in Ephesus Acts 20:34 and at Thessalo... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE REASONED ... - See the notes on Acts 17:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN SILAS AND TIMOTHEUS ... - They came to Paul according to the request which he had sent by the brethren who accompanied him from Thessalonica, Acts 17:15. 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... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY OPPOSED THEMSELVES - To him and his message. AND BLASPHEMED - See the notes on Acts 13:45. HE SHOOK HIS RAIMENT - As an expressive act of shaking off the guilt of their condemnation. Compare Acts 13:45. He shook his raiment to show that he was resolved henceforward to have nothing to... [ Continue Reading ]
A CERTAIN MAN’S HOUSE - Probably he had become a convert to the Christian faith. JOINED HARD - Was near to the synagogue.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CRISPUS - He is mentioned in 1 Corinthians 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 -... [ Continue Reading ]
BY A VISION - Compare the notes on Acts 9:10; Acts 16:9. BE NOT AFRAID - Perhaps Paul might have been intimidated by the learning, refinement, and splendor of Corinth; perhaps embarrassed in view of his duty of addressing the rich, the polite, and the great. To this he may allude in 1 Corinthians 2:... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I AM WITH THEE - I will attend, bless, and protect you. See the notes on Matthew 28:20. NO MAN SHALL SET ON THEE - No one who shall rise up against thee will 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.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CONTINUED ... - 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.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND 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 in 53 a.d. His proper name was Marcus Annaeus Novatus, but... [ Continue Reading ]
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... [ Continue Reading ]
ABOUT TO OPEN HIS MOUTH - In self-defense, 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... [ Continue Reading ]
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; that is, whether Jesus was to be called the Messiah or not. To him th... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE DRAVE THEM ... - He refused to hear and decide the controversy. The word used here does not denote that there was any violence used by Gallio, but merely that he dismissed them in an authoritative manner.... [ Continue Reading ]
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 ... - 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... [ Continue Reading ]
AND SAILED THENCE INTO SYRIA - Or set sail for Syria. His design was to go to Jerusalem to the festival which was soon to occur, Acts 18:21. HAVING SHORN HIS HEAD - Many interpreters have supposed that this refers to Aquila, and not to Paul. But the connection evidently requires us to understand it... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CAME TO EPHESUS - See the notes on Revelation 2:1. This was a celebrated city in Ionia, in Asia Minor, about 40 miles south of Smyrna. It was chiefly famous for the Temple of Diana, usually reckoned one of the seven wonders of the world. Pliny styles this city the ornament of Asia. In the tim... [ Continue Reading ]
KEEP THIS FEAST - Probably the Passover is here referred to. Why he was so anxious to celebrate that feast at Jerusalem, the historian has not informed us. It is probable, however, that he wished to meet as many of his countrymen as possible, and to remove, if practicable, the prejudices which had e... [ Continue Reading ]
AT CESAREA - See the notes on Acts 8:40. AND GONE UP - From the ship. AND SALUTED THE CHURCH - The church at Jerusalem. This was Paul’s main design; and though it is not distinctly specified, yet the whole narrative implies that he went there before returning to Antioch. The word saluted implies t... [ Continue Reading ]
THE COUNTRY OF GALATIA AND PHRYGIA - He had been over these regions before, preaching the gospel, Acts 16:6. STRENGTHENING - Establishing them by exhortation and counsel. See the notes on Acts 14:22.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND A CERTAIN JEW NAMED APOLLOS - Apollos afterward became a distinguished and successful preacher of the gospel, 1Co 1:12; 1 Corinthians 3:5; 1 Corinthians 4:6; Titus 3:13. Nothing more is known of him than is stated in these passages. BORN AT ALEXANDRIA - Alexandria was a celebrated city in Egypt... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS MAN WAS INSTRUCTED - Greek: was catechised. He was instructed, in some degree, into the knowledge of the Christian religion. By whom this was done we have no information. IN THE WAY OF THE LORD - The word “way” often refers to doctrine, Matthew 21:32. It means here that he had been correctly t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND EXPOUNDED - Explained. THE WAY OF GOD - Gave him full and ample instructions respecting the Messiah as having already come, and respecting the nature of his work.... [ Continue Reading ]
INTO ACHAIA - See the notes on Acts 18:12. THE BRETHREN WROTE - The brethren at Ephesus. Why he was disposed to go into Achaia the historian does not inform us. But he had heard of the success of Paul there; of the church which he had established; of the opposition of the Jews; and it was doubtless... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR HE MIGHTILY CONVINCED THE JEWS - He did it by strong arguments; he bore down all opposition, and effectually silenced them. AND THAT PUBLICLY - In his public preaching in the synagogue and elsewhere. SHOWING BY THE SCRIPTURES - Proving from the Old Testament. Showing that Jesus of Nazareth cor... [ Continue Reading ]