Acts 18

Paul moves on to Corinth, where he works alongside Aquila and Priscilla, preaches to Jews and Greeks, and is encouraged by the Lord in a vision. After eighteen months there he is brought before the Roman proconsul Gallio, who dismisses the case. Paul then travels on through Ephesus, Jerusalem and Antioch, and the chapter closes with the eloquent Apollos being taught more fully by Priscilla and Aquila.

Acts 18:1

Paul leaves Athens, where his message had met mixed reactions, and walks into Corinth. This was a busy, wealthy port city known for its trade and its loose morals. God sends his messenger into one of the least promising places.

Acts 18:2

Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla, Jewish believers who had been expelled from Rome when Emperor Claudius ordered the Jews out. Their hardship became the doorway to a lifelong friendship. God uses even unwelcome upheavals to bring his people together.

BSA: ordered (“commanded, decreed”): This was a formal imperial decree, not a passing rumor, and it uprooted whole families.

See also: Romans 16:3-4.

Acts 18:3

Paul shared their trade, so he lived and worked with them. The apostle earned his own keep with his hands rather than depend on the new believers. Ordinary daily work and gospel ministry sat side by side in his life.

Greek: σκηνοποιοί (skēnopoioi, G4635) — “tentmakers.” The word literally means makers of tents. It probably covered working in leather or tough cloth, a hard and humble craft.

See also: 1 Thessalonians 2:9.

Acts 18:4

Each Sabbath Paul went to the synagogue and talked things through with Jews and with Greeks who worshiped there. He did not simply announce his message. He explained, answered questions, and tried to win people by honest argument from the Scriptures.

Greek: διελέγετο (dielegeto, G1256) — “he reasoned, he discussed.” This is the word for give-and-take conversation. The tense suggests Paul did it again and again, week after week.

Acts 18:5

When Silas and Timothy arrived with news and, it seems, support from Macedonia, Paul could give himself wholly to preaching. His central message was simple: Jesus is the promised Christ, the Messiah Israel had waited for.

BSA: devoted himself fully (“was constrained, compelled”): Paul felt gripped from within, pressed by the message so that he could do nothing else.

Greek: συνείχετο (suneicheto, G4912) — “was gripped, pressed, held tightly.” The word pictures being held in a firm grip. Paul was pressed by the message, so this was not mere duty.

Acts 18:6

When the synagogue turned abusive, Paul shook out his clothes as a sign that he was finished with them. He had given them every fair chance and was now free of blame for what followed. He turned to the Gentiles, though he kept caring for his own people.

BSA: insulted (“blasphemed, spoke evil of”): Their abuse was aimed at the very message about Jesus, not only at Paul.

Greek: ἐκτιναξάμενος (ektinaxamenos, G1621) — “having shaken out.” This is a deliberate, dramatic gesture, like shaking dust off, a public sign of ending the appeal.

See also: Ezekiel 33:4-5; Acts 20:26.

Acts 18:7

Paul moved right next door to the house of Titus Justus, a Gentile who already worshiped the God of Israel. The new gathering stood in plain sight of the old one. The gospel found a home just a few steps from the place that rejected it.

Acts 18:8

Even the leader of the synagogue, Crispus, believed with his whole household, and many Corinthians followed, being baptized. Hearing the message led to trusting the Lord, and trust was shown in baptism. The door that seemed closed opened wide.

See also: 1 Corinthians 1:14.

Acts 18:9-10

In a night vision the Lord tells Paul not to be afraid and not to stop speaking. He promises his presence and protection, and says he already has many people in the city. Paul had reason to feel anxious, and Christ gave him courage.

BSA: silent (“refrain from speaking”): The Lord rules out any retreat into quiet caution. people (“believers, followers”): These are people God already counts as his own, even before they have believed.

Greek: λαός (laos, G2992) — “people.” This is the word usually used for God’s own people. The Lord claims Corinth’s future believers as his before they come.

See also: Joshua 1:9; Isaiah 43:5.

Acts 18:11

Strengthened by the promise, Paul stays eighteen months, steadily teaching God’s word. This is the longest stay recorded on his journeys so far. Out of it grew the church to which he later wrote his letters to the Corinthians.

Acts 18:12-13

Gallio was the Roman governor of the province of Achaia. The Jewish leaders united against Paul and dragged him to the judgment seat. They claimed he was teaching worship that broke the law, hoping Rome would treat him as a lawbreaker.

BSA: coordinated (“united, made an insurrection”): The opponents rose up together in one planned move against Paul.

Greek: βῆμα (bēma, G968) — “judgment seat, raised platform.” This was the raised platform where a Roman official sat to hear cases. Corinth had one in its public square.

Acts 18:14-15

Before Paul can even answer, Gallio rules. He sees no crime, only an argument over words, names and Jewish law. He will not act as judge of such matters. Without meaning to, he shows that Paul’s message was not a threat to public order.

BSA: settle it yourselves (“look to it, attend to it”): Gallio hands the matter back to them with a shrug and refuses to decide.

Acts 18:16-17

Gallio has the accusers removed. The crowd then turns on Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, and beats him, while Gallio ignores it. Paul walks away unharmed, just as the Lord had promised in the vision.

See also: Acts 18:10.

Acts 18:18

After a good while more in Corinth, Paul says goodbye and sails for Syria with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchrea, Corinth’s eastern harbor, he has his head shaved because of a vow. The text does not say what the vow was. It shows a man giving thanks to God.

BSA: vow (“a prayer or promise to God”): It was a personal promise made before God, kept faithfully.

Greek: κειράμενος (keiramenos, G2751) — “having had his hair cut.” The word says the hair was cut or shorn. Shaving the head marked the end of a vow period.

See also: Numbers 6:18.

Acts 18:19-21

At Ephesus Paul leaves his friends and goes to the synagogue. The people want him to stay, but he moves on, promising to return if God is willing. His plans are firm yet held loosely, always open to God’s direction.

See also: James 4:15.

Acts 18:22

Paul lands at Caesarea, goes up to greet the church at Jerusalem, and then goes down to Antioch, his home base. The brief visit keeps him in touch with the believers who sent and supported him. It is a quiet end to his second journey.

Acts 18:23

After some time in Antioch, Paul sets out again across Galatia and Phrygia. His aim is to strengthen the disciples already made. Winning people is not enough. They need to be built up and settled in the faith.

Acts 18:24

Apollos arrives in Ephesus from Alexandria, a great center of learning in Egypt. He was a gifted speaker with a deep knowledge of the Scriptures. God is able to use skill and learning, and he can also deepen them.

Acts 18:25

Apollos knew the Lord’s way and taught about Jesus carefully and with passion. Yet he knew only John’s baptism, so his understanding was incomplete. Zeal and ability are good, but he still needed to learn more.

BSA: fervent (“zealous, passionate”): His heart burned with real energy for the Lord. accurately (“exactly, carefully”): What he taught was true as far as it went, and he took care over it.

Greek: ζέων (zeōn, G2204) — “boiling, bubbling over.” The word pictures water at a boil. Apollos was spiritually on fire.

See also: Acts 19:1-7.

Acts 18:26

Apollos spoke boldly in the synagogue. Priscilla and Aquila heard him and drew him aside privately rather than correct him in public. They gently filled in what was missing. Humble teachers can still be taught, and wise friends help them.

BSA: took him in (“received, accepted him”): They welcomed him warmly and did not shame him.

Greek: προσελάβοντο (proselabonto, G4355) — “took to themselves, took aside.” The word carries the sense of drawing someone alongside as a friend, not pushing them away.

Acts 18:27

Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, and the believers in Ephesus encouraged him and wrote ahead to introduce him. Once there he greatly helped those who had believed by grace. Their faith was a gift of God’s kindness from first to last.

BSA: grace (“divine influence, unmerited favor”): Believing was not their own achievement but the result of God’s undeserved kindness.

See also: 1 Corinthians 3:6.

Acts 18:28

In public debate Apollos answered the Jewish opponents with strength, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. The same Scriptures they trusted pointed to Jesus. Paul had begun the work in Corinth and Apollos carried it further.

BSA: refuted (“convinced, proved wrong”): His arguments left the opposition without an answer. powerfully (“mightily, with great vehemence”): He argued with strength and intensity, not timidly.

Greek: διακατηλέγχετο (diakatēlencheto, G1246) — “he thoroughly refuted.” This is a long, strong word that piles up prefixes. It means he argued them down completely and publicly.

See also: Acts 9:22.