Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Acts Kapitel 18

Acts 18:3. And because he was of the same craft,— Aquila and Priscilla seem to have had a house at Corinth; for they had settled so far in that city, as to enter upon their usual employment, which was to make tents and pavilions of linen or of skins; such as in those hot countries they sometimes lived in during the summer season; such as travellers made use of when they had no houses or caravanseras to lodge in; and such as soldiers lodged in when encamped in the field. This was not only a gainful, but, according to Josephus, an honourable employment. St. Paul, having been brought up to this occupation in his younger days, went and lodged and worked with them. It has been frequently observed, that such of the Jews as had the most liberal education, and were the most zealous and diligent students of the law, were likewise very frequently trained up to some handicraft business. Hence one of the rabbies is surnamed the butcher, and another the baker; and this custom still prevails among the easterns. St. Paul's case, therefore, was not peculiar, nor his birth and education less liberal on that account. He might indeed, in his apostolic character, and even by the reasonof things, have expected that such as partook of his spiritual things, should have ministered to him in temporals. But though it was lawful, the apostle would not do it, because it was not always expedient: it might have given occasion for his enemies to say, that he compassed sea and land to make a gain of his converts; and that he sought what theyhad, more than their soul's benefit; and it might likewise have afforded a pretence to the false apostles to have demanded a maintenance; (see 2 Corinthians 11:7-20.) and to the slothful persons who embraced Christianity, to live in idleness, as if diligence and industry in some honest calling was no longer required of them. Whereas, now he could from his own example shew his converts, that such as would not work, when they were able, ought not to eat; at the same time that he cut off all occasion from the false apostles for demanding a maintenance under his example. And finally, by despising the pleasures, profits, and honours of this world, he gave mankind the most convincing proofs, among a thousand others, that he most cordially believed Christianity to be true; and that upon such strong evidences, as could leave no room for any reasonable doubt or hesitation. To this diligence and disinterested behaviour of his, he makes frequent appeals in his epistles, and that with the greatest justice and propriety; for what could more effectually have cleared him from all suspicion of carrying on a sinister and worldly design?

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Acts 18:4. And he reasoned, &c.— Philo informs us, that many Jews inhabited Corinth, and the chief and best parts of Peloponnesus. And St. Luke in this place, as well as St. Paul in his two epistles to the Corinthians, has given plain intimation that there were several Jews in that city; for they had a synagogue there, into which the apostle went, as usual, every sabbath-day, and there he discoursed concerning the Christian doctrine, and laboured to convince— επειθε — both the Jews and devout Gentiles that it was true, and infinitely worthy of their regard. Among them was Epenetus, who was the first convert in Achaia, Rom 16:5 as the household of Stephanus was the first family converted there. The whole family of Stephanus was baptized by the apostle himself, and he also afterwards baptized Crispus and Caius; but he himself baptized no other of the Corinthians; he left that to his assistants, or to some of the first converts of the place; for the business of an apostle was not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, 1Co 14:17 and to plant churches.

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Acts 18:5. And when Silas and Timotheus were come, &c.— St. Paul was at Corinth some time before his two assistants came up to him, and so long he frequented the synagogue; but when Timothy was come from Thessalonica, and Silas from Berea, and they had told him what success they had met with in watering the gospel which he had planted in Macedonia, he was pressed in the spirit, and grieved that he had hitherto preached to the Jews in Corinth with so little success; for which reason he resolved to push the matter in the synagogue there; and therefore, instead of merely reasoning and persuading in a more cautious manner, he asserted in the most bold, pointed, and awakening terms, that Jesus was actually the Messiah; which holy freedom, plainness of spirit, and flaming zeal, presently made the unbelieving Jews discover themselves. See the next verse, and Ezekiel 33:4; Ezekiel 33:8. 1 Kings 2:33.Matthew 27:25; Matthew 27:25. Some explain the phase, which we render pressed in spirit, by "He was borne away by an unusual impulse in his spirit." Compare Acts 18:25; Acts 19:21.Romans 12:11; Romans 12:11.

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Acts 18:6. From henceforth I will go, &c.— That is, "From henceforth I will apply myself to the Gentiles only in this city, and no longer fruitlessly attempt the conversion of you Jews."

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Acts 18:7. Justus,— From the account here given of this Justus, he was a devout Gentile,whomSt. Paul now converted through divine grace to Christianity at Corinth. The Jews had, in some places, houses annexed to their synagogues, for the entertainment of strangers and travellers: the house of Justus was probably of this kind; and it is likely that the apostle preferred the house of Justus to that of Aquila, because it was so nigh the synagogue, that he might give any of the Jews or Greeks an opportunity, if they pleased, to attend upon him more conveniently, or more privately.

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Acts 18:12. When Gallio was the deputy of Achaia,— The proconsul of Achaia,— 'Ανθυπατος. This is another instance of the great accuracy with which St. Luke expresses himself. The provinces of the Roman empire were of two sorts; Caesarean, or such as were subject to the emperor; and proconsular, or such as were subject to the people and the senate. Achaia was a proconsular province under Augustus Caesar. Tiberius, at the request of the Achaians, made it a Caesarean province. About eight years before the event here mentioned, Claudius restored it to the senate; and from that time a proconsul was sent into this country. Gallio was the present proconsul; and, though the country subject to him was all Greece, yet he was by the Romans called proconsul of Achaia. This Gallio was Marcus Annaeus Novatus, elder brother to the famous Lucius Annaeus Seneca, the Stoic philosopher, and Nero's tutor; but having been adopted by Lucius Junius Gallio, he was denominated after him. It was, most probably, by the interest of his brother Seneca that Gallio was made proconsul of Achaia; for Agrippina, who was wife to the emperor Claudius, and mother to Nero, had such an influence over her husband, that almost all things were managed according to her direction; and her son's preceptor would, it is most probable, be readily gratified in such a request for his brother. Seneca has described Gallio as a man of the most mild disposition, composed in himself, and benign and gentle to mankind in general; and his behaviour upon the following occasion, considering him to be a Heathen, agrees very well with the character that his brother has given him.

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Acts 18:14. If it were a matter of wrong, &c.— If it were a matter of injustice, or mischievous licentiousness. Heylin reads the passage, If your accusation were for some act of injustice, or other immorality, I would hear you patiently, as reason requires I should.

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Acts 18:15. But if it be a question of words— But since your dispute is only about words, and names, and your own law, you must decide it yourselves. The truth is, that religious and civil affairs are of an entirely distinct nature; that the latter come under the cognizance of the magistrate; and that it is not his business to interpose in an affair relating to the former, any further than to keep the peace, and to allow all good subjects openly to profess their own religion, and to worship in their own way. Accordingly, when the apostle was going to speak, Gallio would not give him the trouble of making his apology, because he did not look upon him as a criminal: he told his accusers, that he would have nothing to do with their religious opinions, (the subject of which he had heard, no doubt, from the accusation which the Jews brought,) and determined not to concern himself with such things as did not come within his proper province. He therefore, not without threatening, ordered them to depart from the tribunal. "Would to God (says Dr. Benson,) that all princes, judges, and magistrates had always been of Gallio's mind, and discouraged such tumults, by protecting the innocent, and discountenancing persecutors, and so had left every one to judge for himself in matters of religion, which concern only God and man's own conscience!"—A commentator remarks, The names of the Heathen gods were fables and shadows; but the question concerning the name of Jesus is of more importance than all things else under heaven. Yet there is this, among a thousand other singularities in the Christian religion, that mere human reason, curious as it is in all other things, abhors to inquire into it."

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Acts 18:17. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes,— The Jews did not pay a proper regard to Gallio's orders: they had indeed the power of scourging in their synagogues whom they thought proper, of their own nation and religion: but they were at present so enraged and insolent, as to seize upon Sosthenes, who had been one of the chief rulers of their synagogue, but was now, it is most likely, become a convert to Christianity, and tobeat him,— τυπτειν,— even before the tribunal. However, Gallio regarded none of these things; all their insolence could not provoke him to inter-meddle, as long as they beat only one of their own people; and though it was not in the synagogue, but before the tribunal, he chose rather to let it pass, as considering, very probably, the mutinous temper of the Jews, which rather increased by opposition.

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Acts 18:18. Paul after this tarried, &c.— The apostle, thus screened by Gallio, remained at Corinth a good while longer; so that his stay in that city was in all about two years. Considering his unwearied diligence, and that he did not use to stay long in any place, unless he had a prospect of success, we may reasonably suppose that he had gathered a large church there: and from St. Luke's account, and especially from St. Paul's second Epistle to the Corinthians, it appears, that most of that church consisted of converts from among the idolatrous Gentiles. Silas and Timothy seem still to have continued at Corinth; but St. Paul, taking leave of the Christian brethren there, set out for Syria, and along with him Aquila and Priscilla. When they arrived at Cenchrea, the eastern part of the isthmus, St. Paul shaved his head, because he was under the Nazarite's vow (see ch. Acts 21:24.Numbers 6:18; Numbers 6:18.); for to the Jews he became as a Jew, and made all lawful condescensions, in compliance with their prejudices, as we shall see in other instances in the progress of this history.St. Paul seems to have made this vow upon some remarkable deliverance from his enemies; perhaps, upon the account of Gallio's screening him from the fury of the unbelieving Jews; and possiblysome of the Jewish Christians at Corinth might also be in danger of throwing off Christianity itself, if St. Paul had not condescended so far in that or some other instances. It is evident that Judaizers did afterwards make a very great disturbance in that church; but whatever was the particular reason, it appears that St. Paul submitted to that Jewish custom. See particularly the next note. We must not, however, fail to observe here, that some very considerable critics think that this latter clause of the verse refers to Aquila. And for this construction's sake Castalio and Grotius observe, that the sacred writer seems to have named the wife before the husband. But it seems much more probable from the construction, that this clause, as well as the beginning of the next verse, must refer to the same person, that is, to St. Paul. And as to Priscilla's being named first, that is done elsewhere, where there could be no such reason inducing to it. See Romans 16:3. 2 Timothy 4:19. Some have imagined that Mephibosheth's vow during David's exile, 2Sa 19:24 might be something of the same kind with this of St. Paul.

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Acts 18:23. And after he had spent some time there,— After St. Paul had made some stay in Antioch, he set out upon his third apostolic journey, and went through Galatia and Phrygia, καθεξης, from church to church, in that order in which he had founded them. As this would take him up a great deal of time, most commentators very reasonably allow four years for this journey; that is, from the year 54 to 58. Coming to Galatia, he gave those directions concerning charitable contributions referred to 1 Corinthians 16:1-2.

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Acts 18:25. And being fervent in the spirit,— The baptism of John, we find, ch. Act 19:2 was attended with very imperfect instruction or divine illuminations; yet upon that baptism, and the grace he had received, Apollos, being a man of warmth and eloquence, is said to have preached the gospel ακριβως, that is, with a great deal of accuracy, study, and pains, according to the best of his light. It is very probable, that he returned to live at Alexandria soon after he had been baptized with John's baptism; and so had no opportunityof being explicitly acquainted with the doctrines of the gospel, as delivered by Christ and his apostles, till he came to Ephesus, and was taught them by these eminent Christians Aquila and Priscilla, who, in all probability, lodged in their own house, that they might the more familiarly and fully converse with him about them. See Acts 18:26.

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Acts 18:27. Who—helped, &c.— The best comment on the words is what we are told elsewhere, 1 Corinthians 3:6. Paul planted, and Apollos watered; but God gave the increase. It is indeed true, both that the Corinthians had believed through grace, and that through grace Apollos helped them. The latter strongly implies the former, and the original words may possibly speak either. It appears from many passages in St. Paul's Epistles to the Corinthians, that several of the Christians there, charmed with the eloquence of Apollos, were ready to set him up as the head of a party, and to make invidious and foolish comparisons between him and the apostle who had been their father in Christ; and who, though he might have less volubility of speech, was, on the most important accounts, far superior to this eloquent and zealous teacher. See 1Co 1:12; 1Co 3:4 to 1 Corinthians 8:13; 1Co 8:13; 1 Corinthians 4:6. Yet this occasioned no breach between Paul and Apollos; the latter of whom plainly appears to have come to Ephesus when St. Paul returned thither, and to have declined going to Corinth again, even when St. Paul would have persuaded him to it; probably to avoid any the remotest appearance of desiring to countenance any party which might have been formed in his own favour. See 1 Corinthians 16:12.

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