Chapter 18
Paul Arrives in Corinth
1 After these things, Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth.
2 And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to them,
3 and because he practiced the same trade, he stayed with them and they worked together — for they were tentmakers by trade.
4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath, trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.
Translator’s Notes — vv. 1–4:
Corinth was nothing like Athens. If Athens was the university town, Corinth was the commercial boomtown. Destroyed by Rome in 146 BC and refounded by Julius Caesar in 44 BC as a Roman colony, it was a young, diverse, ambitious, nouveau-riche city straddling the narrow isthmus connecting mainland Greece and the Peloponnese. It controlled two harbors — Lechaeum on the west (toward Italy) and Cenchreae on the east (toward Asia) — and virtually all east-west trade in the Mediterranean had to pass through it. The city was famous for its wealth, its cosmopolitan mix of peoples, and its moral looseness. The Greek verb “korinthiazesthai” (“to live like a Corinthian”) was slang for sexual immorality.
v.2: The expulsion of Jews from Rome by Emperor Claudius is confirmed by the Roman historian Suetonius, who writes that Claudius expelled the Jews because they were “continually making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus.” Most scholars believe “Chrestus” is a garbled reference to “Christus” (Christ), suggesting that disputes between Jews and Jewish Christians in Rome had become so disruptive that the emperor expelled them all. This is one of the few events in Acts that can be independently dated — the expulsion is generally placed around AD 49, giving us a fixed point in Pauline chronology.
σκηνοποιοί (skēnopoioi) — v.3: Usually translated “tentmakers,” but the term may be broader — it could mean “leatherworkers” generally. The word literally means “makers of skēnē” (tents/booths/shelters). In rabbinic tradition, every teacher was expected to have a manual trade. Paul’s willingness to work with his hands was culturally important — in Corinth especially, it allowed him to preach without being seen as another traveling philosopher looking for a patron and a paycheck.
v.2: Luke names Priscilla and Aquila together, and in four of the six times this couple appears in the New Testament, Priscilla’s name comes first — unusual in the ancient world and generally taken to indicate that she was the more prominent of the two, whether in social standing, in the church, or both.
Paul’s Ministry Intensifies
5 Now when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was wholly absorbed by the word, solemnly testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus.
6 But when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”
7 And leaving there, he went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God, whose house was right next door to the synagogue.
8 And Crispus, the synagogue leader, believed in the Lord together with his entire household; and many of the Corinthians who heard were believing and being baptized.
Translator’s Notes — vv. 5–8:
συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ (syneicheto tō logō) — v.5: Literally “was being pressed/constrained by the word.” The verb συνέχω means to press together, to be gripped by something. The arrival of Silas and Timothy (likely bringing financial support from the Macedonian churches — see Philippians 4:15 and 2 Corinthians 11:9) freed Paul from tentmaking and allowed him to devote himself entirely to preaching. I’ve rendered it “wholly absorbed.”
ἐκτιναξάμενος τὰ ἱμάτια (ektinaxamenos ta himatia) — v.6: “Shaking out his garments” is a prophetic gesture drawn from the Old Testament (Nehemiah 5:13). It symbolizes the complete severance of responsibility — as if to say, “I’m shaking off even the dust of your rejection.” The accompanying declaration “your blood be on your own heads” echoes Ezekiel 33:1–6, the watchman passage: once the watchman has sounded the warning, the blood of those who don’t listen is on their own heads, not his.
v.6: “From now on I will go to the Gentiles” — Paul makes this declaration three times in Acts (13:46, 18:6, 28:28), and each time he still returns to the synagogue in the next city. This is not a permanent, absolute break with Jewish evangelism but a local, dramatic turning point. In each city the pattern resets.
v.7: The detail that Titius Justus’s house was “right next door” (συνομοροῦσα) to the synagogue is loaded with irony and tension. Paul hasn’t retreated — he’s set up a rival operation on the adjacent property. Imagine the synagogue leadership watching their own members walk next door every week.
v.7: “Titius Justus” bears a fully Roman name (some manuscripts read “Titus Justus”). As a “worshiper of God” (σεβόμενος τὸν θεόν), he was a Roman God-fearer — one of those Gentile synagogue attendees we met in chapter 17. His house becomes the first meeting place of what will become one of the most important (and most troubled) churches Paul founded.
v.8: The conversion of Crispus, the synagogue leader (ἀρχισυνάγωγος), was a body blow to the opposition. This was the chief official of the synagogue — responsible for organizing worship, selecting readers, and maintaining order. His defection, along with his whole household, would have been deeply destabilizing. Paul mentions Crispus by name in 1 Corinthians 1:14 as one of the few people he personally baptized.
The Lord’s Encouragement
9 And the Lord said to Paul in a vision during the night: “Do not be afraid; keep speaking and do not be silent,
10 because I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, because I have many people in this city.”
11 So he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.
Translator’s Notes — vv. 9–11:
vv.9–10: The fact that Paul receives a vision telling him not to be afraid implies that he was afraid. This is significant — after being run out of Thessalonica, chased out of Berea, and achieving only modest results in Athens, Paul arrives in Corinth apparently shaken. He may be alluding to this in 1 Corinthians 2:3 when he writes, “I came to you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.”
v.10: “I have many people in this city” (λαός ἐστί μοι πολὺς) — the word λαός (laos) is the word normally used for “the people of God” (Israel). God is saying he already has a people in this pagan city — they just haven’t heard yet. The assurance is that the harvest is already determined; Paul’s job is just to bring it in.
v.11: Eighteen months is Paul’s longest recorded stay in any city except Ephesus. During this period he almost certainly wrote 1 Thessalonians (and possibly 2 Thessalonians) — among the earliest surviving Christian documents and the oldest books in the New Testament.
Paul Before Gallio
12 But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat,
13 saying, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.”
14 But just as Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If this were some matter of wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you.
15 But since these are disputes about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not intend to be a judge of these matters.”
16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat.
17 Then they all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And none of this was of any concern to Gallio.
Translator’s Notes — vv. 12–17:
v.12: This is one of the most historically important passages in Acts. Gallio was the brother of the famous philosopher Seneca and the uncle of the poet Lucan. An inscription discovered at Delphi (the “Gallio Inscription”) dates his proconsulship of Achaia to approximately AD 51–52. This provides the single most important fixed date in all of Pauline chronology — virtually the entire timeline of Paul’s missionary journeys is calculated from this reference point.
βῆμα (bēma) — v.12: The “judgment seat” (bēma) in Corinth has been archaeologically identified — it was a large, raised stone platform in the center of the agora (marketplace), from which officials addressed the public and rendered judgments. You can still see its remains today. When Paul later writes to the Corinthians about standing before “the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10), he is using an image his readers would have known from their own city center.
παρὰ τὸν νόμον (para ton nomon) — v.13: “Contrary to the law” is deliberately ambiguous — the accusers may mean Jewish law (Torah) or Roman law. They’re hoping Gallio will hear it as a violation of Roman law. But Gallio sees through the strategy instantly.
vv.14–15: Gallio’s ruling is a landmark moment for the early church, even if he doesn’t realize it. By dismissing the case as an internal Jewish religious dispute, he effectively establishes a precedent: Christianity, as far as Rome is concerned, is a subset of Judaism. Since Judaism was a legally recognized religion (religio licita) in the empire, this ruling gave Christianity informal legal protection. A ruling against Paul here could have set a very different precedent, potentially making Christianity illegal across the empire.
v.16: “He drove them away” (ἀπήλασεν) — the verb suggests forceful dismissal. Gallio isn’t politely declining jurisdiction; he’s impatiently clearing his court. His annoyance is palpable in the Greek: the phrase “put up with you” (ἀνεσχόμην) already implies that dealing with them is an act of sufferance.
v.17: Who is beating Sosthenes, and why? The text is ambiguous. Some read “they all” as the Greek bystanders in the crowd, who may have seized the opportunity to rough up a Jewish leader after seeing Gallio’s dismissive attitude (anti-Jewish sentiment was common). Others read it as the Jewish crowd itself, turning on their own leader for failing to secure a conviction. Either way, Gallio’s indifference is striking — a beating is happening at the foot of his own judgment seat and he doesn’t intervene.
v.17: An intriguing detail: Paul later addresses 1 Corinthians to the church “together with Sosthenes our brother” (1 Corinthians 1:1). If this is the same Sosthenes, then the synagogue leader who replaced Crispus eventually became a Christian himself — the second consecutive synagogue leader in Corinth to convert.
Paul’s Departure
18 Paul, having remained many days longer, said farewell to the brothers and sailed away to Syria, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. He had his hair cut in Cenchreae, for he had taken a vow.
19 And they arrived at Ephesus, and he left them there. He himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.
20 When they asked him to stay for a longer time, he did not consent,
21 but saying farewell and telling them, “I will return to you again, God willing,” he set sail from Ephesus.
22 And when he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch.
Translator’s Notes — vv. 18–22:
κειράμενος τὴν κεφαλήν (keiramenos tēn kephalēn) — v.18: “Having cut his hair” — this almost certainly refers to the completion (or possibly the beginning) of a Nazirite vow (Numbers 6:1–21). This vow involved abstaining from wine, avoiding contact with the dead, and letting one’s hair grow uncut for the duration, then cutting it at the end. The detail is significant because it shows Paul still observing Jewish religious practices — the apostle to the Gentiles is still a practicing Jew. This complicates any simple picture of Paul as someone who “left Judaism.”
v.18: The grammar of the Greek is debated — some argue it was Aquila, not Paul, who cut his hair, since Aquila’s name is closer to the participle. But the majority view is that Paul is the subject, since he is the main character of the narrative and Luke typically attaches such details to the principal actor.
v.18: Cenchreae was Corinth’s eastern port, facing toward the Aegean and Asia. It later had its own church — Romans 16:1 mentions Phoebe, a deaconess of the church at Cenchreae.
v.22: “Went up and greeted the church” — the phrase “went up” (ἀναβάς) without naming the destination is a standard way of saying “went up to Jerusalem” in Jewish Greek, since Jerusalem sits on a hill and you always “go up” to it. Similarly, “went down to Antioch” (κατέβη) uses the standard verb for leaving Jerusalem. Luke’s readers would understand the destination without it being named. This marks the end of Paul’s second missionary journey.
Apollos in Ephesus
23 And having spent some time there, he departed and traveled through the Galatian region and Phrygia in sequence, strengthening all the disciples.
24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, arrived in Ephesus — an eloquent man who was powerful in the Scriptures.
25 This man had been instructed in the Way of the Lord, and being fervent in spirit, he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John.
26 He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately.
27 And when he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,
28 for he was vigorously refuting the Jews in public, demonstrating through the Scriptures that the Messiah was Jesus.
Translator’s Notes — vv. 23–28:
ἀνὴρ λόγιος (anēr logios) — v.24: This can mean either “eloquent” (a skilled speaker) or “learned” (well-educated). Given that Apollos is from Alexandria — the intellectual capital of the ancient world, home to the famous Library and the center of Jewish allegorical scholarship under Philo — both senses are probably in play. He was both educated and articulate.
v.24: Alexandria in Egypt had the largest Jewish community outside of Palestine and was home to a distinctive intellectual tradition that read Scripture through the lens of Greek philosophy. The famous Jewish philosopher Philo of Alexandria was active there within living memory. An Alexandrian Jew would have brought a very different interpretive toolkit than a Pharisee trained in Jerusalem like Paul.
ζέων τῷ πνεύματι (zeōn tō pneumati) — v.25: Literally “boiling in spirit.” The verb ζέω means to boil or seethe. Whether “spirit” here means his own human spirit or the Holy Spirit is debated. I’ve left it as “fervent in spirit,” which preserves the ambiguity.
v.25: The puzzle of Apollos “knowing only the baptism of John” is one of the most debated problems in Acts. How could someone teach “accurately the things concerning Jesus” and yet know only John’s baptism? The most likely explanation is that Apollos had received early, incomplete information about Jesus — perhaps from disciples who had heard Jesus during his public ministry but left Palestine before the crucifixion, resurrection, and Pentecost. He had the story but not the ending.
v.26: Notice that it is Priscilla and Aquila — with Priscilla named first — who correct and complete the theology of this brilliant Alexandrian scholar. They don’t do it publicly (they “took him aside,” προσελάβοντο), showing both discretion and respect. And Apollos, for all his learning and eloquence, accepts their correction — a mark of genuine character.
εὐτόνως (eutonōs) — v.28: “Vigorously” — this adverb means “with full stretch,” like a bow drawn taut. It conveys intensity and forcefulness. Combined with “in public” (δημοσίᾳ), the image is of someone who debates powerfully and isn’t afraid to do it in front of an audience.
διακατελέγχομαι (diakatelegchomai) — v.28: An extremely rare, compound verb — δια- (thoroughly) + κατα- (down) + ἐλέγχω (to refute/convict). It means something like “to utterly refute” or “to demolish an argument completely.” The triple-compound construction emphasizes the total, devastating nature of his argumentation.
v.27: Apollos goes on to become a major figure in the Corinthian church — so much so that factions develop around him (1 Corinthians 1:12; 3:4–6). Paul discusses this rivalry without bitterness, calling himself the planter and Apollos the waterer. But the seeds of the Corinthian divisions are being planted in this chapter, as this gifted Alexandrian rhetor follows Paul into a city that prized eloquent speech.
General Notes on the Chapter
Acts 18 is dense with historically verifiable detail. The Claudius expulsion, Gallio’s proconsulship, the bēma in Corinth, the title “proconsul” (correct for Achaia, which was a senatorial province) — these details have been confirmed by archaeology and external sources. Whatever one’s view of Luke as a theologian, his credentials as a historian are on strong ground in this chapter.
The chapter also marks a turning point in Paul’s strategy. Corinth becomes the base for an extended, stable ministry (18 months) rather than the hit-and-run visits forced on him in Thessalonica and Berea. The vision in vv.9–10 is the pivot: God tells Paul to dig in, and he does. The result is one of the most important churches in the New Testament — and certainly the one we know the most about, thanks to Paul’s extensive correspondence.
The Gallio episode is arguably the most consequential legal event in early Christian history. A guilty verdict could have set a precedent making Christian preaching illegal throughout the empire. Instead, Gallio’s dismissal effectively told other Roman officials that Christianity was not their problem. This informal protection lasted for roughly a decade, giving the church critical breathing room during the period of its most rapid expansion.
The Apollos episode at the end of the chapter raises fascinating questions about how incomplete and fragmented the early Christian message was as it spread across the Mediterranean. Information traveled slowly and unevenly. There were apparently people in Ephesus who knew about Jesus but not about the full significance of his death and resurrection. The early church was not a monolithic, fully informed movement — it was a network of communities at different stages of understanding, gradually being connected and corrected.