Read or listen The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 18 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

Paul arrives in Corinth - Acts 18:1-4

Paul's missionary work in Europe had not started well from a human perspective. In Philippi, his preaching had led to imprisonment, and Paul had had to flee from Thessalonica and Berea. In Athens, he had been allowed to preach in peace, but the wise men of the city did not accept his message. (Acts 16-17)

It is no wonder that Paul, when he came to Corinth, did not expect much:

"For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."
(1 Cor 2:1-5)

However, Paul’s work in Corinth was successful (Acts 18:8). He spent a year and a half there the first time (2nd missionary journey) (verse 11) and three months the second time (3rd missionary journey) (Acts 20:3). Corinth and Ephesus became the centers of Paul’s missionary work.

Corinth was situated in a truly magnificent location: on the narrow isthmus, with the Ionian Sea and the port city of Lechaion on one side and the Aegean Sea and the port city of Cenchreae on the other (compare Rom 16:1). Since at that time sailing was not desired on the open sea, but close to the coast, Corinth’s position was important, as it connected two important gulfs of the Mediterranean: the Ionian and Aegean seas.

Ships did not have to go around the Peloponnese peninsula, but small ships were towed across the narrow isthmus and the cargo of larger ships was unloaded and loaded onto a ship waiting there in the opposite port. Emperor Claudius planned to build a canal, and construction work began during the reign of Nero, but it was not until 1893 that the canal was finally completed.

The city had a great past, but in 146 BC the Romans literally wiped the city off the map of Rome. The inhabitants who survived the conquest were sold into slavery. Corinth had led the revolt of the Greek cities against Rome and therefore Rome wanted to make Corinth a warning to all rebels. Not even its location on a mountain, which also had a spring, saved Corinth.

The importance of the place is evident from the fact that a century later Julius Caesar re-founded the city as a Roman military colony and in 27 BC it, rather than Athens, was made the capital of the province of Achaia. The city's population may have been around 250,000 in Paul's time.

A nest of vices

Sailors from all over Rome arrived in Corinth. The city also had followers of several Eastern religions. Particularly famous was the temple of Aphrodite, located near the city, on the Acrocorinthian mountain, with a thousand priestesses who also worked as prostitutes. It was no wonder that Corinth was famous for its immoral life. A direct proverb referring to immorality had become: "to live like a Corinthian."

It was not easy for the Christian congregation to break free from the lifestyle that surrounded it. Due to the problems in Corinth, Paul had to write no fewer than four letters there, of which the second (1 Cor) and fourth (2 Cor) have survived.

Interesting details

In this chapter, Luke tells two incidents that help us to date Paul's missionary journeys. The first is the expulsion of the Jews from Rome in verse 2, and the second is the mention of Gallio as proconsul of Achaia in verse 12. I will deal with the first for now, and I will return to the second later.

The Roman historian Suetonius states that the expulsion of the Jews was due to "the fact that they had rebelled under Chrestus." However, Suetonius is apparently slightly mistaken: the cause of the discord was not Chrestus ("Decent", a common name for a slave) but Christ. The writer Orosius states that the expulsion took place in 49 AD.

Apparently not all Jews were expelled from Rome, as Jews made up about 10% of the population of the Roman Empire and there were an extraordinary number of them in the capital. It has been speculated that the expulsion only affected the leaders of the disputes. If so, Aquila and Priscilla were leading figures in the Roman church.

The exile did not last long. It ended no later than 54 AD, when Nero became emperor in place of Claudius.

With this information, we can conclude that Paul probably arrived in Corinth in the summer of 50 AD (compare the "recently" in verse 2). The mention of Gallio as proconsul of Achaia also points to the same time.

Three tentmakers

Aquila (or Aquila, which is the Latin form of the same name for "Eagle") and Prisca (or Priscilla, which is a diminutive of Prisca) were tentmakers by trade. They therefore had the same profession as Paul. For six days they worked together, but on the Sabbath they preached the gospel in the synagogue. Even today, we sometimes speak of "tentmaking missionaries" who earn their living by their own labor and do missionary work "in their spare time."

At that time, tents were made from both goat hair and leather. Scholars have not yet reached a consensus on which material Paul and his two friends used to make their tents.

Jewish rabbinical students were also expected to have a "secular" profession, so it is not surprising that Paul supported himself by his own labor. However, some Corinthians saw this as a sign that Paul was not a true apostle (2 Cor. 11:7-15).

The church grows - Acts 18:5-11

1 Thessalonians 3:1-3 tells us that Timothy had come to Athens, but Paul had sent him back to Thessalonica. From there he now came with Silas, evidently bringing a financial contribution from Philippi (Philippians 4:15) and perhaps from other churches in Macedonia (2 Corinthians 11:8-9). With that support, Paul was able to preach the gospel “full-time,” which was exceptional in his missionary work.

Paul achieved victories, but opposition also arose. Paul himself says that he even baptized Crispus, the presiding officer of the synagogue (1 Cor. 1:14). The baptism was usually performed by Paul's co-workers.

When the gospel was not received in the synagogue, Paul, following Jesus' instruction (Matt. 10:14), shook the dust off his clothes as a warning to the Jews and moved to hold his "meetings" in the neighboring house of Titius Justus. Shaking the dust was a sign of "disassociation": "I have nothing to do with you." At the same time, it was accompanied by a warning: God will also reject you at the last judgment.

The plot of the Jews fails - Acts 18:12-17

An inscription found at Delphi mentions Gallio as proconsul of Achaia in 52 AD. This would mean that Gallio was proconsul from spring 51 AD to spring 52 AD (or from spring 52 to spring 53), since proconsuls were appointed for a year. Gallio was the older brother of the philosopher Seneca.

Apparently in the summer or fall of 51 C.E., the Jews once again tried to get a Roman official to condemn Paul. However, Gallio understood that this was a purely religious dispute. He did not want to interfere in such a matter.

The Lutheran Church teaches the doctrine of two realms of government, or regiments: God has given secular rulers to take care of society, but the church has another realm of government. Society should not dictate to the church, nor should the church dictate to society. Society is governed by law, the church by the gospel.

Throughout the history of the church, this "division of labor" has been under threat. Sometimes the state sought to dictate church affairs, and sometimes - especially in the Middle Ages - the church sought to dictate state affairs as well.

As Christians, we must take our responsibility for the affairs of society, but we do that as members of society, not as a church.

When the Jews failed, the crowd turned on them. Apparently, Sosthenes, the presiding officer of the synagogue, who had been elected to replace Crispus, who had become a Christian, had been leading the Jews. Now the crowd was beating him. This is yet another indication of the general hatred and contempt for the Jews. It did not take much for that hatred to erupt into violence.

The Sosthenes mentioned at 1 Cor 1:1 is probably not the same as the synagogue presiding officer Sosthenes mentioned here.

Visit to Jerusalem and Syria – Acts 18:18-23

In this short passage, Luke tells of Paul's visit to the East and his return to the West. It would be interesting to know more: why and what kind of vow Paul made in Cenchreae, what he discussed in Jerusalem and Antioch, etc. It is often assumed that Paul made a Nazirite vow in Cenchreae (Numbers 6:5-21), but we cannot say for sure. Luke simply does not tell the story accurately enough.

Did Paul set out in the summer of 51 AD or not until the spring of 52 AD? The fact that Gallio began his term in office in the spring would support the former option. The Jews tried to take advantage of the new governor. The latter is supported by an addition that was made early in some manuscripts: Paul tried to get to Jerusalem for the feast, which was probably the Passover.

In verse 22 ("he went up"), the Greek text does not mention Jerusalem, but some translations add “to Jerusalem” as a clarification.

You could see a contradiction between verses 18 and 19 if you wanted to. Verse 18 says "sailed to Syria" and verse 19 says "arrived at Ephesus." Of course there is no contradiction, for Paul sailed to Syria via Ephesus. This little detail is a reminder to us that the Bible should not be read as a logic textbook, but with understanding. You can raise contradictions in any text if you want to.

Apollos – Acts 18:24-28

Luke has inserted a small fragment between the descriptions of Paul, in which we are introduced to another Christian from Africa (the first was the Ethiopian courtier Acts 8:26-40).

Although there were significant early Christian congregations in North Africa, we only find two African Christians in the Acts of the Apostles. This is mainly because Luke wanted to tell the story of the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Europe, especially Rome. He therefore left other areas to less attention.

Apollos was from Alexandria, Egypt, the second largest city in the Roman Empire. There was a large Jewish colony there. At the same time, the city was also influenced by the Jewish philosopher Philo, who wanted to make Judaism understandable to the Greeks. He did this by initiating an allegorical, or symbolic, interpretation of the Old Testament.

Whether Apollos was familiar with Philo's ideas and teachings is anyone's guess, but what is certain is that Apollos was acquainted with the disciples of John the Baptist. Christian tradition tells us that John's disciples were influential for decades after John's death.

Apollos was "an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures," but he was not familiar with the life of Jesus and the events after Pentecost. The Scriptures, of course, meant the Old Testament. So Aquila and Priscilla taught him. Such "constructive criticism" would often be needed today. Often we just criticize and do not try to improve things.

After receiving instruction, Apollos was ready to go to Achaia (i.e. 1 Corinthians 19:1). He became the successor of Paul:

"I planted, Apollos watered"
(1 Corinthians 3:6)

That's all we know about Apollos. The Reformer Martin Luther thought that Apollos wrote the Epistle to the Hebrews. This may well be the case, but it is impossible to be certain.