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Acts 18:1-11. Paul goes from Athens to Corinth, labours there with his own hands for his maintenance. He is Encouraged in his preaching by a Vision of the Lord

1. After these things Paul departed] The best authorities omit the name of the Apostle, merely reading “he departed.” So R. V.

came to Corinth] As Athens was the seat of culture, so Corinth was the seat of commerce in the south of Greece. The city, at this time the political capital of Greece and the residence of the Roman pro-consul, stood on the isthmus which united the Peloponnesus to the mainland, and through it all land traffic between the peninsula and the rest of Greece must pass, while its two harbours, one on each side of the neck of land on which Corinth stood, made it the resort of seafaring traders both from east and west. Of Lechæum, the western port, on the Corinthian gulf, we have no mention in the New Testament, but Cenchreæ, the harbour on the Saronic gulf, by which communication with the East was kept up, is mentioned in Acts 18:18. The city was also made famous for its connexion with the Isthmian games, from which St Paul in his Epistles draws frequent illustrations when writing to the Corinthian Church. (See 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, &c.) For further particulars of the history of Corinth see Dict. of Bible, s. v.

2. a certain Jew named Aquila] The name Aquila is a Latin word, and it is not likely that this was the man’s Jewish name, but as the custom was among the Jews, he had probably assumed a Roman name during his dwelling in Italy and in his intercourse with the Gentiles. See above on Acts 13:9. The name is identified, by the Jews, with that of Onkelos, who wrote a Targum on the Pentateuch, and some make that Onkelos to be the same with Aquila who translated the Old Testament into Greek, of which translation part is preserved to us in Origen’s Hexapla.

born in Pontus] Lit. a man of Pontus by race. The provinces of Asia Minor abounded with Jewish families of the Dispersion, as we may see from the whole history in the Acts. In Acts 2:9-10 many of these districts are mentioned as contributing to the number of worshippers who had come to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. Pontus came under Roman sway when its king Mithridates was conquered by Pompey, and this connexion may have led Aquila to leave his native country for Italy. Aquila and his wife are mentioned Romans 16:3 as though they were again in Rome, so that probably they had formed ties there which were only temporarily severed by the Claudian edict mentioned in this verse. (It is however questioned whether the salutations in Romans 16 form part of the Epistle as it was sent to the Romans.) They were with St Paul when he wrote the first Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 16:19), and were so far settled in Ephesus, where that Epistle was written, as to have a house which they could place at the service of the Christians there, as a place to worship in. And if (as is most probable) Timothy was in Ephesus when the second Epistle (2 Timothy 4:19) was addressed to him, they were in that city again at this later date (for Priscilla is only the diminutive form of Prisca as the name of the wife is there written). More than this is not known of their changes of abode.

Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome] The Jews were often objects of persecution in Rome, but this particular occasion is probably that mentioned by Suetonius, Claud. 25, where we read that by reason of Jewish tumults at the instigation of one Christus (or Chrestus) they were driven out of the city. Whether this was the name of some Jew then resident in Rome, or whether it is a reference to some disturbance that had arisen from the Jewish expectation of “the Christ” or Messiah, and the name Christus is mistakenly used by Suetonius as though it were that of some agitator actually present, we cannot tell. Or it may have been some movement of the Jews against the Christians because they taught that the “Christ” was already come. In that case the name “Christus” would come into great prominence, and might give rise to the statement of Suetonius that a person of that name had been the instigator of the disturbances.

3. And because he was of the same craft] Among the Jews every Rabbi deemed it proper to practise some handicraft, and they have a proverb about R. Isaac, who was a smith, “Better is the sentence of the smith (R. Isaac) than that of the smith’s son (R. Jochanan),” thus marking their opinion that the pursuit of a craft was no injury to the teacher’s wisdom (T. B. Sanhedrin, 96a). Thus our Lord is spoken of (Mark 6:3) as “the carpenter.”

he abode with them, and wrought] Some ancient authorities read and they wrought. This change in the number seems awkward. The mention already made of the craft of Aquila and his wife conveys the information that they wrought: what the sentence seems to need is the addition which the singular gives that “he wrought.” In a passage from T. B. Sukkah, 51 b, part of which has already been quoted on Acts 6:9, we read in a description of the Jewish synagogue at Alexandria, “The people did not sit mixed together, but goldsmiths by themselves, and silversmiths by themselves, and ironworkers by themselves, and miners by themselves, and weavers by themselves, and when a poor man came there he recognised the members of his craft, and went there, and from thence was his support, and that of the members of his house.” This may explain how readily Paul found at Corinth some persons who were of his own craft.

by their occupation they were tentmakers] What they made was most probably tent-cloth. This was of goats’ hair, and the plaiting of it into strips and joining these together was a common employment in Cilicia, to such an extent that the district gave name to the material and the articles made of it, a soldier’s and sailor’s rough hair rug being named Cilicium. As the trade was intended in such cases as St Paul’s merely to be used as a resource under circumstances of need which were not likely to come about, we can understand that while complying with Jewish feeling in the matter, a trade would be chosen for the boy which would not consume a large part of his time in learning. Mishnah Qiddushin iv. 14 says “let a person teach his son a trade both clean and easy.” The most common handicraft of Tarsus offered just such a trade in the making of this rough goats’ hair cloth.

4. and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks] There are no articles in the original and they are omitted in the Revised Version. No doubt, as in other Gentile cities, the religion of the Jews in Corinth gained the attention of many among the Gentiles, who as proselytes or inclining thereto would form part of the Sabbath audience in the synagogue. According to his rule St Paul addressed himself to the Jews first.

5. And (But) when Silas and Timotheus were come (came down) from Macedonia] The particle at the beginning of the verse is better regarded as adversative. We have in this verse an account of a change in the character of the Apostle’s preaching after the arrival of Silas and Timothy, who had been left at Berœa (Acts 17:14). It may well be that he had encouragement by their presence in his work, and also that it was not so necessary for him to consume his whole time on his craft because the Philippians had sent a contribution for his support (Php 4:15; 2 Corinthians 11:9).

Paul was pressed in spirit] The best texts read, was constrained by the word (so R. V.) and the Vulg. “instabat verbo” is evidence in its favour. The sense seems to be, he was earnestly occupied in preaching the Word, and felt himself more urged on, and also more able, to preach, because of his freedom from the necessity of constant labour. It was apparently only on the Sabbath that he had reasoned with the people before. The usus loquendi favours the passive meaning. Meyer (3rd ed.) renders “he was apprehended, seized by the word” in the sense of internal pressure of spirit.

testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ] This sentence which is of the participial form in the original intimates the manner in which the greater earnestness of the Apostle was exhibited. He gave in all its fulness his solemn testimony, no doubt confirmed from Scripture and by the narrative of his own miraculous conversion, that this Jesus, whom he had formerly persecuted, was the Christ, the Messiah whom the Jews had long expected.

6. opposed themselves] The word implies very strong opposition, as of a force drawn up in battle array. It was an organized opposition.

and blasphemed] The same word is used in 2 Peter 2:2, “The way of truth shall be evil spoken of.” And the same conduct, though the word is different, is described in the next chapter (Acts 19:9), “speaking evil of the Way before the multitude.”

he shook out his raiment] Figurative of entire renunciation of them. Nothing that pertained to them should cling to him; and in like manner he would cast them off from his thoughts (cp. Acts 13:51). For the action cp. Nehemiah 5:13.

Your blood be upon your own heads] He says “blood” in the sense of “destruction,” using figuratively the language which in Joshua 2:19 is used literally.

I will go unto the Gentiles] i.e. the Gentiles in Corinth. For in future preaching elsewhere (see Acts 19:8) he addressed the Jews and went to the synagogue, as had been his custom from the first.

7. a certain man’s house, named Justus] He used this house for the purposes of teaching and worship. We may suppose that for his own lodging, he still remained with Aquila and Priscilla. Some MSS. give the name Titus Justus to this man, and the double name is adopted in the Revised Version, but there is good authority for the received text.

one that worshipped God] He was a Proselyte. The word is used of religious proselytes (Acts 13:43) and of devout Greeks (Acts 17:4). His house was therefore an appropriate place in which both Jews and Gentiles might meet, and to which Gentiles would be more ready to come than to that of a Jew by birth.

whose house joined hard to the synagogue] It is likely that St Paul, though he came no more to the synagogue at Corinth, chose not to betake himself far away, because he would be ready to receive any of his brethren who might change their feelings and come to him. But we can see how, while his near neighbourhood gave opportunity for this, the meetings of those who came to the synagogue with those who were going to the house of Justus, would be likely to cause bitterness, especially when the number of St Paul’s adherents began to increase, and a ruler of the synagogue was counted among them.

8. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue] It is better to omit “chief” otherwise this part of the word is twice translated. (So R. V.) This Crispus is alluded to, 1 Corinthians 1:14, as one of the few whom St Paul himself baptized. His previous distinguished position among the Jews, and the conversion of his whole family, would make him noticeable among the Christian converts. There may have been more than one synagogue in Corinth. In Acts 18:17 we read of Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue. But it is quite possible that this man may have been appointed immediately after the conversion of Crispus, and may have been desirous to shew his zeal against the Christian teachers by laying an immediate information against Paul before the proconsul.

and many of the Corinthians … were baptized] St Paul mentions that he himself only baptized (in addition to Crispus) Gaius and the household of Stephanas. But Silas and Timothy were now by his side and would care for the admission of the new converts to baptism.