Acts 18

and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. ### CHAP. XVIII.

Chap. XVIII. ver. 1. — came to Corinth.] This famous city was at this time the residence of the proconsul of Achaia. It was commodiously situated, not only for trade, but for the command of all Greece, lying at the bottom of the isthmus that joins the Mores, anciently called the Peloponnesus, to the main land. The inhabitants were chiefly given to trading, which rendered them very wealthy; here were also several orators and philosophers residing. Dr. Wells.

— was pressed in the spirit.] Meaning, that either his own spirit, or the Holy Spirit, so powerfully urged him, that he could not refrain from speaking. Dr. Whitby. The tidings brought by Silas and Timothy of the great proficiency and piety of the churches of Macedonia, 1 Thess. iii. 6, appear to have incited him, and made him more earnest to gain the Jews at Corinth. Dr. Lightfoot.

Acts 18:2

2. — a certain Jew] This man and his wife were afterwards assistants of St. Paul, and had a church in their house, Rom. xvi. 3—5; 1 Cor. xvi. 19. Bp. Pearce.

— (because that Claudius &c.] The Roman historian Suetonius, in his life of Claudius, mentions the fact of that emperor having expelled the Jews from Rome for tumultuous conduct. Abp. Newcome. Dio indeed says, that he did not expel them, but forbade all their religious assemblies. This was in effect an expulsion: if he would not permit them to assemble on their sabbaths, and the other days enjoined by their law, they could no longer live there as Jews. Biscoe.

Acts 18:3

3. — he abode with them, and wrought: &c.] It was the custom of the Jews, even of such as had received a better education than ordinary, which was St. Paul’s case, chap. xxii. 3, to learn some trade, in order that, wheresoever they were, they might the better provide for themselves in case of necessity. And, though St. Paul in some places lived on the bounty of his converts, yet he chose not to do so at Corinth and some other places, for a reason which he gives at 2 Cor. xi. 12. While he was at Corinth, he was supplied, when his own labour did not procure him a sufficiency, by the brethren which came to him there from Macedonia, 2 Cor. xi. 9. Bp. Pearce. There was a maxim among the Jews, that he, who teaches not his son a trade, teaches him to be a thief. Bp. Tomline.

Acts 18:5

5. — when Silas and Timotheus] These two now returned from Thessalonica in Macedonia. It is not directly asserted, but it is fully implied, in the history of

craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tent makers.

Acts 18:6

6. — he shook his raiment.] In case of great emotion and anxiety, the Jews used to throw open the upper garment, and shake it at the person with whom they were displeased, chap. xxii. 23. Bp. Mann.

— Your blood be &c.] Or, “your blood is upon your own heads,” that is, your guilt, or the punishment of it: I am clean from your blood, not polluted with it. St. Paul means, that the guilt of rejecting his doctrine, and the punishment due to it, was theirs only, as he had done his duty with regard to them. Bp. Pearce.

— I will go unto the Gentiles.] See note at chap. xiii. 46. He only means, that he would no longer preach to the Jews at that place. Dr. Whitby.

Acts 18:7

7. — entered into a certain man’s house, &c.] It seems probable that this Justus had a large room in his house, fit for St. Paul’s preaching to his disciples when he left the synagogue. Bp. Pearce.

Paul is accused before Gallio. He strengtheneth the disciples. Anno DOMINI 54. the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.

Acts 18:10

10. — I have much people in this city.] So they are called, because Christ saw that they were disposed to believe, and by faith become His people. Dr. Whitby.

Acts 18:12

12. — Gallio] This Gallio was the elder brother of Seneca, the famous Roman philosopher, by whom he is praised for his great mildness of disposition. Bp. Pearce. — was the deputy of Achaia.] At the time when this was written, the Romans comprehended under the name of Achaia all that part of Greece which lay south of Thessaly. Gallio was the deputy-governor of this province: the Romans called such officer by the title of proconsul. Bp. Pearce.

Acts 18:13

13. — contrary to the law.] Meaning, contrary to their law, the law of Moses. Bp. Pearce.

Acts 18:15

15. — of words and names.] Of doctrine and of names, as whether Jesus be the Christ, &c. Abp. Newcome.

Acts 18:17

17. — Sosthenes.] He is mentioned at 1 Cor. i. 1. — And Gallio cared for none of those things.] It does not appear from hence, as some have thought, that Gallio was indifferent to all religion; he seems only to have determined not to make himself a judge, to decide upon the points of variance between the Jews and Christians. Bp. Pearce.

Acts 18:18

18. — Cenchrea:] Or, Cenchrea, a seaport near to Corinth. — for he had a vow.] This was either a vow of Nazaritism, (see Numb. vi,) which St. Paul had made to accommodate himself to the Jews, or some other vow which he had made, perhaps to express his gratitude for the Divine goodness. Beausobre.

Acts 18:19

19. — came to Ephesus.] Ephesus was a famous city, the metropolis of Proconsular Asia, situated on the river Cayster, not far from the sea. It was particularly celebrated by heathen writers for its temple of Diana, which for size, furniture, and workmanship, was esteemed one of the seven wonders of the world. Dr. Wells.

Acts 18:21

21. — this feast] The feast of the passover. Bp. Pearce.

Acts 18:22

22. — and gone up, &c.] Gone up to Jerusalem, and saluted the church there. This was his fourth journey thither, about twenty-one years after his conversion, and he was now present at the passover. Bp. Pearce.

Acts 18:24

24. — at Alexandria.] A city in Egypt built by Alexander the Great.

Acts 18:25

25. — instructed in the way of the Lord:] That is, in the doctrine taught by St. John the Baptist, which was to prepare the way of the Lord, Luke iii. 4. — and taught diligently the things &c.] That is, taught with exactness, as far as his instruction had enabled him; for, by knowing only St. John’s baptism, he only knew, that men were to receive “the baptism of The Holy Ghost is conferred by Paul. Anno DOMINI 64.

Acts 18:27

27.—through grace.] Through the favour of God in vouchsafing to them the knowledge of it. Dr. Whitby.

Chap. XIX. ver. 1.—having passed through the upper coasts came &c.] Having passed through those parts of Asia Minor, which lay to the north of Ephesus, namely, Galatia and Phrygia, chap. xviii. 23, he came to Ephesus, as he had promised in chap. xviii. 21. Bp. Pearce.