Acts 18:1-11

Paul at Corinth

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!” 18:7 Then Paul ³⁰  left ³¹  the synagogue ³²  and went to the house of a person named Titius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God, ³³  whose house was next door to the synagogue. 18:8 Crispus, the president of the synagogue, ³⁴  believed in the Lord together with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard about it ³⁵  believed and were baptized. 18:9 The Lord said to Paul by a vision ³⁶  in the night, ³⁷  “Do not be afraid, ³⁸  but speak and do not be silent, 18:10 because I am with you, and no one will assault ³⁹  you to harm ⁴⁰  you, because I have many people in this city.” 18:11 So he stayed there ⁴¹  a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. ⁴² 

Acts 18:1

Paul at Corinth

18:1 After this ⁴³  Paul ⁴⁴  departed from ⁴⁵  Athens ⁴⁶  and went to Corinth. ⁴⁷ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁴⁸  brothers and sisters ⁴⁹  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁵⁰  from God our Father! ⁵¹ 

[18:1]  ¹ tn Grk “After these things.”

[18:1]  ² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ³ tn Or “Paul left.”

[18:1]  ⁴ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[18:1]  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.

[18:2]  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.

[18:2]  ⁷ tn Grk “finding.” The participle εὑρών (Jeurwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:2]  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.

[18:2]  ⁹ sn Pontus was a region in the northeastern part of Asia Minor. It was a Roman province.

[18:2]  ¹⁰ sn Claudius refers to the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, known as Claudius, who ruled from a.d. 41-54. The edict expelling the Jews from Rome was issued in a.d. 49 (Suetonius, Claudius 25.4).

[18:2]  ¹¹ tn Or “to leave.”

[18:2]  ¹² map For location see JP4 A1.

[18:2]  ¹³ tn Or “went to.”

[18:3]  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.

[18:3]  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).

[18:3]  ¹⁶ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[18:4]  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.

[18:4]  ¹⁸ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[18:4]  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.

[18:5]  ²⁰ tn Grk “came down.”

[18:5]  ²¹ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

[18:5]  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.

[18:5]  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.”

[18:5]  ²⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[18:6]  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.

[18:6]  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.

[18:6]  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.

[18:6]  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).

[18:6]  ²⁹ tn Or “innocent.” BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a has “guiltless Ac 18:6.”

[18:7]  ³⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:7]  ³¹ tn Grk “Then leaving from there he went.” The participle μεταβάς (metabas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:7]  ³² tn Grk “from there”; the referent (the synagogue) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:7]  ³³ tn Grk “a worshiper of God.” The clarifying phrase “a Gentile” has been supplied for clarity, and is indicated by the context, since Paul had parted company with the Jews in the previous verse. The participle σεβομένου (sebomenou) is practically a technical term for the category called God-fearers, Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 743-44.

[18:8]  ³⁴ tn That is, “the official in charge of the synagogue”; ἀρχισυνάγωγος (arcisunagwgo") refers to the “leader/president of a synagogue” (so BDAG 139 s.v. and L&N 53.93).

[18:8]  ³⁵ tn Or “who heard him,” or “who heard Paul.” The ambiguity here results from the tendency of Greek to omit direct objects, which must be supplied from the context. The problem is that no less than three different ones may be supplied here: (1) “him,” referring to Crispus, but this is not likely because there is no indication in the context that Crispus began to speak out about the Lord; this is certainly possible and even likely, but more than the text here affirms; (2) “Paul,” who had been speaking in the synagogue and presumably, now that he had moved to Titius Justus’ house, continued speaking to the Gentiles; or (3) “about it,” that is, the Corinthians who heard about Crispus’ conversion became believers. In the immediate context this last is most probable, since the two incidents are juxtaposed. Other, less obvious direct objects could also be supplied, such as “heard the word of God,” “heard the word of the Lord,” etc., but none of these are obvious in the immediate context.

[18:9]  ³⁶ sn Frequently in Acts such a vision will tell the reader where events are headed. See Acts 10:9-16 and 16:9-10 for other accounts of visions.

[18:9]  ³⁷ tn BDAG 682 s.v. νύξ 1.c has “W. prep. ἐν ν. at night, in the night…Ac 18:9.”

[18:9]  ³⁸ tn The present imperative here (with negation) is used (as it normally is) of a general condition (BDF §335).

[18:10]  ³⁹ tn BDAG 384 s.v. ἐπιτίθημι 2 has “to set upon, attack, lay a hand on” here, but “assault” is a contemporary English equivalent very close to the meaning of the original.

[18:10]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “injure.”

[18:11]  ⁴¹ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[18:11]  ⁴² tn See BDAG 326-27 s.v. ἐν 1.d. However, it is also possible that ἐν (en) followed by the dative here stands for the ordinary dative (“to them”).

[18:1]  ⁴³ tn Grk “After these things.”

[18:1]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Paul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[18:1]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “Paul left.”

[18:1]  ⁴⁶ map For location see JP1 C2; JP2 C2; JP3 C2; JP4 C2.

[18:1]  ⁴⁷ 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.

[1:2]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ⁵⁰ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁵¹ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.