The Acts of the Apostles
Acts 18
Chapter XVIII · Vol. IV, pp. 289–291
3 Paul laboureth with his hands, and preacheth at Corinth to the Gentiles. 9 The Lord encourageth him in a vision. 12 He is accused before Gallio the deputy, but is dismissed. 18 Afterwards passing from city to city, he strengtheneth the disciples. 24 Apollos, being more perfectly instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, 28 preacheth Christ with great efficacy.
2 And found a certain Jew named aAquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart2 from Rome:) and came unto them.
a ver.18,26. Ro.16.3. 2 Ti.4.19. 1 Co.16.19.
A.M. cir. 4060. A.D. cir. 56.
2 On account of their seditious temper.
3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and bwrought: for by their occupation they were tent-makers.3
b ch.20.34. 1 Co.4.12. 2 Co.11.9;12.13. 1 Th.2.9. 2 Th.3.8.
3 See note below.
* It was customary for Jewish parents in all ranks of life to train their children in trades and handicrafts. Paul was taught tent-making. It is a remarkable fact that tent-making was a staple manufacture of Tarsus his native city, and indeed of the whole province of Cilicia. The plain and mountains then abounded, as they still do, in flocks of goats. From their long black hair a strong cloth was woven, which in the markets of the Levant was called cilicium and was generally used throughout the pastoral districts of Asia Minor, Syria, and Arabia, in the making of tents.—P.
4 Andc he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
c ch.13.5,14.1; 17.1-3,11; 19.8. Lu.4.16.
5 And dwhen Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit,4 and etestified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.
d ch.17.14,15. Job 32.18. ch.17.15;20.22. Ro.1.9.
4 Pressed in the spirit. Rather, 'constrained by the Spirit;' not by his own mind or spirit—for such self-originated purposes, or unaccountable impulses, are not countenanced by Scripture;—but by the Spirit of God, to whose special agency all apostolic movements are ordinarily attributed. See ch.1.4,5,8;13.2,4;16.6,7.—C.
6 And gwhen they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, hhe shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads: I am clean: ifrom henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.
g ch.13.45. 1 Pe.4.4. 1 Th.2.14-16. 2 Ti.2.25.
h ch.13.51. Mat.10.14;27.25. Ne.5.13. Le.20.9,11,12. 2 Sa.1.16. Eze.3.18,19;33.4,9. ch.20.26.
i ch.13.46,47;28.28. Mat.21.43;8.11. De.32.21,46.
7 And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one5 that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.
5 A proselyte.
8 Andj Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians khearing, believed, and were baptized.Cited in WSC 95
9 Thenl spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
l ch.16.9;23.11. Je.1.9,17-19. Eze.2.6. Is.58.1;62.1.
10 Forn I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for oI have much people in this city.
12 And when Gallio7 was the deputy of Achaia,8 the Jews pmade insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment-seat,
7 Gallio was elder brother of Seneca the famous philosopher.—C.
8 Achaia. All Greece south of Thessaly was now so called.—C.
p ch.8.1;6.12;13.50;14.2,19;16.20;17.5,13;19.9.
13 Saying, qThis fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.9
q ch.17.7;6.13;24.5,6;25.8.
9 The Mosaic law, which was permitted in the Roman empire, and the permission involved a condemnation of such as would oppose or try to overthrow it.—P.
14 And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, rIf it were a matter of wrong,1 or wicked lewdness,2 O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you:
r ch.25.11;23.29;25.11,18-20. Ro.13.3.
1 Wrong. Injustice to the subject.—C.
2 Wicked lewdness. Most probably any act burlesquing or turning into ridicule some of the Jewish ceremonies. That instances of this kind did occur, Josephus testifies; and it appears that when detected they were severely punished by the Roman magistrates.—C.
15 But if it be a question of words and names,3 and of your law, slook ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.
17 Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes,4 the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio ucared for none of those things.Cited in WLC 130
18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in vCenchrea:5 forw he had a vow.6
A.D. cir. 57.
v Ro.16.1.
5 Cenchrea. A seaport, a dependency of Corinth, on the east side of the isthmus.—C.
w ch.21.24. Nu.6.18. 1 Co.9.20.
6 Whether Paul or Aquila had made the vow is matter of question. The expositors most intimate with the Greek tongue are, however, generally agreed in referring it to Aquila. Whether the vow was that of the Nazarite, or some other vow, is unknown, and conjecture is useless. But as the word of God does not condemn it, it must have been some holy resolution.—C.
19 And he came to xEphesus,7 and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and yreasoned with the Jews.
20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;
21 But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast8 that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, zif God will. And he sailed from Ephesus.
22 And when he had landed at aCæsarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to bAntioch.
a ch.8.40;10.1;12.19;21.8;23.33.
b ch.11.19,26;13.1.
23 And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of cGalatia and Phrygia in order, dstrengthening all the disciples.
24 Ande a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria,9 an eloquent man, and gmighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus.
25 Thish man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, iknowing only the baptism of John.1Cited in WLC 68, 159
h Mat.22.16. Ro.12.11. Ja.5.16. Ps.69.9. Col.1.28,29. 1 Ti.5.17. 2 Ti.4.2.
i ch.19.3;8.16. Mar.1.2-11. Mat.iii. Lu.iii. Jn.1.19-36.
1 He must have been absent from the country from the period of John's preaching, which merely announced the speedy coming of Messiah, and the necessity of baptism as an evidence of faith, and sign and seal of the forgiveness of sins.—C.
26 And he began to speak jboldly in the synagogue: whom when kAquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and lexpounded unto him the way of God more perfectly.Cited in WLC 68
j ch.14.3,29,31;13.46. Ep.6.19,20. Is.58.1.
k ver.2,3. Ro.16.3.
l 1 Co.12.21. Col.3.16. He.6.1. 2 Pe.3.18.
27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren nwrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, ohelped them much which had pbelieved through grace:Cited in WLC 68
28 For he mightily convinced the Jews, and that publicly, qshowing by the scriptures that Jesus was Christ.
q Lu.24.27,44. Jn.5.39. ch.17.3;26.22,23. 1 Co.15.3,4. He.i.-x.
Notes
Ver. 1. Corinth. One of the most illustrious cities of Greece, situated on the isthmus that joins the Peloponnesus, or Morea, to the continent. It is said to have been founded in the year 1514 B.C., and to have been governed by native kings from 1360 till 728 B.C., when it came under the government of an annual magistracy. In 146 B.C. it was pillaged and burned by the Roman consul Mummius, but restored by Julius Cæsar in the year 46 B.C., when it became the finest city in Greece. In this condition of prosperity (but accompanied, alas! with proportionate luxury and proverbial laxity of morals), it was visited by the apostle Paul about A.D. 54. C.
Ver. 10. Great cities are always very hot-beds of sin; yet in the midst of their corruption God often preserves a 'salt of the earth' by which they are preserved from a total moral putrefaction. Nay, where the whole visible mass of society seems utterly hopeless of reformation, God has often 'much people' secretly 'sighing and crying for all the abominations that are round about them, and earnestly inquiring, 'What must we do to be saved?'—Note, Let this statement of the Spirit, who knows the hearts of all men, and who searches and reveals when he will the deep things of God, encourage every effort for the melioration of society through the preaching of the gospel. It is God's means. It succeeded in licentious Corinth, and has never been unsuccessful wherever it has been employed in faith. C.
Reflections.—Happy are those churches where ministers are so hearty in their work that they will rather labour for their own subsistence than prejudice men against the gospel, or give enemies a handle to reproach them as mercenary! But there is need of divine direction when to condescend and when not. Ministers should take great pains in making known Christ, and persuading men to accept of him as their only Saviour, and in defending the great truths of the gospel, till their hearers manifest themselves incorrigibly wicked and obstinate rejecters of it. And, alas! dreadful is their destruction whose blood faithful ministers stand clear of! But while some despise the gospel to their own undoing, it will become powerful to others, even the most unlikely. His own, whether great or small, shall be ever blessed. If ministers have God's direction, promise, presence, comfort, and protection, they need fear nothing. Success shall crown their labours; yea, even heathens, not very attentive to their duty as magistrates, shall refuse to persecute them. And the more success faithful ministers meet with, they are still the more diligent.—It is comely when old experienced Christians are inclined readily to instruct younger ones. And young preachers, who gladly accept instructions from exercised saints, though of the weaker sex, bid fair to be useful, if not famous, in gathering and edifying the church. There is little hope of such as are too wise to learn. And nothing should preachers more study than to have the Scriptures stored up in their memories and deeply written in their hearts, that all they deliver to others may be plainly marked with the authority of God.