18:1 After this 1 Paul 2 departed from 3 Athens 4 and went to Corinth. 5 18:2 There he 6 found 7 a Jew named Aquila, 8 a native of Pontus, 9 who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius 10 had ordered all the Jews to depart from 11 Rome. 12 Paul approached 13 them, 18:3 and because he worked at the same trade, he stayed with them and worked with them 14 (for they were tentmakers 15 by trade). 16 18:4 He addressed 17 both Jews and Greeks in the synagogue 18 every Sabbath, attempting to persuade 19 them.
18:5 Now when Silas and Timothy arrived 20 from Macedonia, 21 Paul became wholly absorbed with proclaiming 22 the word, testifying 23 to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 24 18:6 When they opposed him 25 and reviled him, 26 he protested by shaking out his clothes 27 and said to them, “Your blood 28 be on your own heads! I am guiltless! 29 From now on I will go to the Gentiles!”
1 tn Grk “After these things.”
2 tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
3 tn Or “Paul left.”
4 map For location see JP1-C2; JP2-C2; JP3-C2; JP4-C2.
5 sn Corinth was the capital city of the senatorial province of Achaia and the seat of the Roman proconsul. It was located 55 mi (88 km) west of Athens. Corinth was a major rival to Athens and was the largest city in Greece at the time.
6 tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here. The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
7 tn Grk “finding.” The participle εὑρών (Jeurwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
8 sn On Aquila and his wife Priscilla see also Acts 18:18, 26; Rom 16:3-4; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. This author uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.
9 sn Pontus was a region in the northeastern part of Asia Minor. It was a Roman province.
10 sn Claudius refers to the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, known as Claudius, who ruled from
11 tn Or “to leave.”
12 map For location see JP4-A1.
13 tn Or “went to.”
14 tn The prepositional phrase “with them” occurs only once in the Greek text, but since it occurs between the two finite verbs (ἔμενεν, emenen, and ἠργάζετο, hrgazeto) it relates (by implication) to both of them.
15 tn On the term translated “tentmakers,” see BDAG 928-29 s.v. σκνηοποιός. Paul apparently manufactured tents. In contrast to the Cynic philosophers, Paul at times labored to support himself (see also v. 5).
16 sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.
17 tn Although the word διελέξατο (dielexato; from διαλέγομαι, dialegomai) is frequently translated “reasoned,” “disputed,” or “argued,” this sense comes from its classical meaning where it was used of philosophical disputation, including the Socratic method of questions and answers. However, there does not seem to be contextual evidence for this kind of debate in Acts 18:4. As G. Schrenk (TDNT 2:94-95) points out, “What is at issue is the address which any qualified member of a synagogue might give.” Other examples of this may be found in the NT in Matt 4:23 and Mark 1:21.
18 sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.
19 tn Grk “Addressing in the synagogue every Sabbath, he was attempting to persuade both Jews and Greeks.” Because in English the verb “address” is not used absolutely but normally has an object specified, the direct objects of the verb ἔπειθεν (epeiqen) have been moved forward as the objects of the English verb “addressed,” and the pronoun “them” repeated in the translation as the object of ἔπειθεν. The verb ἔπειθεν has been translated as a conative imperfect.
20 tn Grk “came down.”
21 sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.
22 tn BDAG 971 s.v. συνέχω 6 states, “συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ (Paul) was wholly absorbed in preaching Ac 18:5…in contrast to the activity cited in vs. 3.” The imperfect συνείχετο (suneiceto) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“became wholly absorbed…”), stressing the change in Paul’s activity once Silas and Timothy arrived. At this point Paul apparently began to work less and preach more.
23 tn BDAG 233 s.v. διαμαρτύρομαι 2 has “testify of, bear witness to solemnly (orig. under oath)…W. acc. and inf. foll. Ac 18:5.”
24 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
25 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
26 tn The participle βλασφημούντων (blasfhmountwn) has been taken temporally. The direct object (“him”) is implied rather than expressed and could be impersonal (“it,” referring to what Paul was saying rather than Paul himself), but the verb occurs more often in contexts involving defamation or slander against personal beings (not always God). For a very similar context to this one, compare Acts 13:45. The translation “blaspheme” is not used because in contemporary English its meaning is more narrowly defined and normally refers to blasphemy against God (not what Paul’s opponents were doing here). What they were doing was more like slander or defamation of character.
27 tn Grk “shaking out his clothes, he said to them.” L&N 16:8 translates Acts 18:6 “when they opposed him and said evil things about him, he protested by shaking the dust from his clothes.” The addition of the verb “protested by” in the translation is necessary to clarify for the modern reader that this is a symbolic action. It is similar but not identical to the phrase in Acts 13:51, where the dust from the feet is shaken off. The participle ἐκτιναξάμενος (ektinaxameno") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
28 sn Your blood be on your own heads! By invoking this epithet Paul declared himself not responsible for their actions in rejecting Jesus whom Paul preached (cf. Ezek 33:4; 3:6-21; Matt 23:35; 27:25).
29 tn Or “innocent.” BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a has “guiltless Ac 18:6.”