XVIII. (1) AND CAME TO CORINTH. — The journey may have been either by land along the Isthmus of Corinth, or by sea from the Piræus to Cenchreæ. The position of Corinth on the Isthmus, with a harbour on either shore, Cenchreæ on the east, Lechæum on the west, had naturally made it a place of commerci... [ Continue Reading ]
AND FOUND A CERTAIN JEW NAMED AQUILA, BORN IN PONTUS. — The name presents some interesting associations. Strictly speaking, the Greek form is _Ahylas,_ but this is undoubtedly the transliterated form of the Latin _Aquila_ (= Eagle). The name appears in a yet more altered form in _Onkelos,_ the tradi... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE HE WAS OF THE SAME CRAFT. — The calling was one which St. Paul had probably learnt and practised in his native city, which was noted then, as now, for the rough goat’s-hair fabrics known to the Romans, from the name of the province, as Cilicium (= sack-cloth). The material was one used for t... [ Continue Reading ]
HE PERSUADED THE JEWS AND THE GREEKS. — It is necessary to remind the reader that the latter word does not mean Greek-speaking Jews, or proselytes in the full sense of the word, but, as elsewhere (see Note on Acts 11:22), is used for those who were Gentiles by birth, and who, though worshipping in t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN SILAS AND TIMOTHEUS WERE COME FROM MACEDONIA. — We learn from 1 Thessalonians 2:18, that the latter had come to St. Paul at Athens, but had been almost immediately sent back to Thessalonica to bring further news about the converts, for whose trials the Apostle felt so much sympathy and anxi... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN THEY OPPOSED THEMSELVES, AND BLASPHEMED. — The latter word includes the reviling of which the Apostle himself was the object, as well as blaspheming against God. Assuming what has been suggested in the Note on Acts 18:2, we may think of these disturbances as reproducing what had already tak... [ Continue Reading ]
AND ENTERED INTO A CERTAIN MAN’S HOUSE, NAMED JUSTUS. — On the name, see Note on Acts 1:23. It may be added here that it occurs also in early Christian inscriptions in the Vatican Museum, in one case at the bottom of a glass cup, in the _Museo Christiano,_ in conjunction with the name of Timotheus.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND CRISPUS, THE CHIEF RULER OF THE SYNAGOGUE, BELIEVED ON THE LORD. — The article does not necessarily show that there was only one ruler — commonly, as at the Pisidian Antioch (Acts 13:15), there were more — but that this Crispus was thus distinguished from others of the same name. The office was... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SPAKE THE LORD TO PAUL. — We note the recurrence of these visions at each great crisis of the Apostle’s life. He had seen the Lord at his conversion (Acts 9:4), he had heard the same voice and seen the same form in his trance in the Temple at Jerusalem (Acts 22:17). Now he saw and heard them on... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I AM WITH THEE. — The command was followed by a promise which met the special trial of the time. Men might be against him, but Christ was with him. The general promise given to the Church at large, “Lo! I am with you always” (Matthew 28:20), received a personal application, “I am with _thee;_” a... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HE CONTINUED THERE A YEAR AND SIX MONTHS. — This obviously gave time not only for founding and organising a Church at Corinth itself, but for work in the neighbouring districts, such as the port of Cenchreæ, where we find in Romans 16:1 a church duly furnished not only with presbyters and deacon... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN GALLIO WAS THE DEPUTY OF ACHAIA. — “Deputy” stands, as before (see Note on Acts 13:7), for “proconsul.” Here, also, St. Luke shows his characteristic accuracy in the use of official titles. Achaia, which included the whole of Greece south of the province of Macedonia, had been an imperial p... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS FELLOW PERSUADETH MEN TO WORSHIP GOD CONTRARY TO THE LAW. — It is obvious that in this appeal to the proconsul the Jews must have meant, not the law of Moses, but that of Rome. Their contention was that though Jews had been banished from Rome as a measure of policy, Judaism as such was still a... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN PAUL WAS NOW ABOUT TO OPEN HIS MOUTH. — The phrase always implies, as has been noticed (see Note on Acts 8:35), the beginning of a set discourse. St. Paul was about to begin a formal _apologia._ This, however, proved to be unnecessary. GALLIO SAID UNTO THE JEWS. — The proconsul could hardly ha... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT IF IT BE A QUESTION OF WORDS AND NAMES, AND OF YOUR LAW. — The second noun is in the singular number in the Greek. St. Paul was known as a speaker, one who preached the _word_ of God, and with that, as distinct from acts, Gallio had nothing to do. The “names” were those which he had probably hea... [ Continue Reading ]
HE DROVE THEM FROM THE JUDGMENT SEAT. — The words imply a magisterial act. The order was given to the lictors to clear the court, and the Jews, who did not immediately retreat were exposed to the ignominy of blows from their rods.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN ALL THE GREEKS TOOK SOSTHENES, THE CHIEF RULER OF THE SYNAGOGUE. — The better MSS. omit the word “Greeks,” which was probably inserted as an explanatory interpolation by some one who thought it more likely that a ruler of the synagogue should have been assaulted by the Greek bystanders than by... [ Continue Reading ]
AND PAUL AFTER THIS TARRIED THERE YET A GOOD WHILE. — Literally, _tarried yet many days,_ the phrase probably covering a period of some months. The fact is noted as following on Gallio’s repression of the enmity of the Jews. The Apostle could stay and work on without molestation. The time of his voy... [ Continue Reading ]
HE CAME TO EPHESUS, AND LEFT THEM THERE. — The better MSS. give, “They came to Ephesus.” What follows seems to imply that he no longer continued to work with them, as at Corinth, but leaving them to establish themselves in their craft, began, under the pressure of his eagerness to reach Jerusalem, a... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEN THEY DESIRED HIM TO TARRY LONGER time with them. — This was, obviously, a hopeful sign, the earnest of the fruitful labours that followed. Nowhere, among the churches that he founded, does St. Paul seem to have found so great a receptivity for spiritual truth. While he looked on the Corinthians... [ Continue Reading ]
I MUST BY ALL MEANS KEEP THIS FEAST THAT COMETH. — Literally, _the coming,_ or, _the next feast._ This was, probably, as has been said, the Feast of Pentecost. (See Note on Acts 18:18.) If he missed that, there would be no other feast till that of Tabernacles; and then, in October, travelling, wheth... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE HAD LANDED AT CÆSAREA. — It is obvious that a great deal is covered by the short record of this verse. In the absence of any _data_ in the Acts for settling the question, we may possibly refer to some casualty in this voyage, one of the three shipwrecks of 2 Corinthians 11:25. At Cæsarea... [ Continue Reading ]
WENT OVER ALL THE COUNTRY OF GALATIA AND PHRYGIA IN ORDER. — It is clear from the Epistle to the Galatians that on this visit he found few traces, or none at all, of the work of the Judaisers. The change came afterwards. Some falling away from their first love, some relapse into old national vices,... [ Continue Reading ]
AND A CERTAIN JEW NAMED APOLLOS, BORN AT ALEXANDRIA. — The name was probably a contraction of Apollonius or Apollodorus. The facts in the New Testament connected with him show that he occupied a prominent position in the history of the Apostolic Church. Conjectures, more or less probable, indicate a... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS MAN WAS INSTRUCTED IN THE WAY OF THE LORD. — Better, _had been instructed._ The verb is the same as that used in Luke 1:1 (where see Note), and was afterwards used technically in the form of _Catechumen_ to describe the status of a convert preparing for baptism. The “way of the Lord” is used in... [ Continue Reading ]
WHOM WHEN AQUILA AND PRISCILLA HAD HEARD... — Many of the best MSS. put Priscilla’s name first, as in Acts 18:18. The fact mentioned is interesting as showing (1) that Aquila and his wife continued to attend the services of the synagogue, and (2) that Apollos appeared there, as St. Paul had done, in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND WHEN HE WAS DISPOSED TO PASS INTO ACHAIA. — In the absence of the name of any city in the province, Corinth naturally suggests itself as the place to which he went. Acts 19:1, and the mention of Apollos in 1 Corinthians 1:12, turns this into a certainty. He felt, we may believe, that his trainin... [ Continue Reading ]
HE MIGHTILY CONVINCED THE JEWS. — The conclusion to which he led the Jews was the same as that which St. Paul urged on them. The process was, perhaps, somewhat different, as the line of argument in the Epistle to the Hebrews differs from that in the Epistle to the Galatians. To lead men on, after th... [ Continue Reading ]