1 After these things, departing from Athens, he came to Corinth. 2 And finding a certain Jew, named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with Priscilla his wife, (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome,) he came to them. 3 And because he was of the same trade, he remained with them, and wrought; (now they were tentmakers by trade.) 4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, bringing in the name of the Lord Jesus; and he persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5 And when Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia, Paul was earnest in preaching, testifying to the Jews, that Jesus is the Christ. 6 But they gainsaying and blaspheming, he shook his garments, and said to them: Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. 7 And departing thence, he entered into the house of a certain man, named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house was adjoining to the synagogue. 8 And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing, believed, and were baptized. 9 And the Lord said to Paul in the nights, by a vision: Do not fear, but speak; and hold not thy peace, 10 Because I am with thee: and no man shall set upon thee, to hurt thee; for I have much people in this city. 11 And he stayed there a year and six months, teaching among them the word of God. 12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, 13 Saying: This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14 And when Paul was beginning to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews: If it were some matter of injustice, or an heinous deed, O Jews, I should with reason bear with you. 15 But if they be questions of word and names, and of your law, look you to it: I will not be judge of such things. 16 And he drove them from the judgment seat. 17 And all laying hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, beat him before the judgment seat; and Gallio cared for none of those things. 18 But Paul, when he had stayed yet many days, taking his leave of the brethren, sailed thence into Syria (and with him Priscilla and Aquila), having shorn his head in Cenchrae: for he had a vow. 19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there. But he himself entering into the synagogue, disputed with the Jews. 20 And when they desired him, that he would tarry a longer time, he consented not; 21 But taking his leave, and saying: I will return to you again, God willing, he departed from Ephesus. 22 And going down to Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalem, and saluted the church, and so came down to Antioch. 23 And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went through the country of Galatia and Phrygia, in order, confirming all the disciples. 24 Now a certain Jew, named Apollo, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus, one mighty in the scriptures. 25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, spoke, and taught diligently the things that are of Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John. 26 This man therefore began to speak boldly in the synagogue. Whom when Priscilla and Aquila had heard, they took him to them, and expounded to him the way of the Lord more diligently. 27 And whereas he was desirous to go to Achaia, the brethren exhorting, wrote to the disciples to receive him. Who, when he was come, helped them much who had believed. 28 For with much vigour he convinced the Jews openly, shewing by the scriptures, that Jesus is the Christ.
Acts · Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Acts 18 Douay-Rheims (Challoner), American Edition 1899
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Aquila
A Jew from Pontus, a tentmaker expelled from Rome under Claudius, who worked with Paul at Corinth and later taught Apollos with his wife Priscilla.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:2; Acts 18:26; Romans 16:3
Claudius
The emperor in whose reign the great famine predicted by Agabus occurred; he ordered all Jews to leave Rome, which brought Aquila and Priscilla to Corinth.
Cited in the guide: Acts 11:28; Acts 18:2
Crispus
The leader of the synagogue at Corinth who believed in the Lord with his whole household and was baptized by Paul.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:14
Gallio
The proconsul of Achaia who refused to judge Paul and dismissed the Jews' charges against him as a matter of their own law.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:12; Acts 18:14; Acts 18:17
Priscilla
Aquila's wife, also called Prisca, who with him hosted a church in her house and risked her neck for Paul's life.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:2; Acts 18:26; Romans 16:3
Sosthenes
The synagogue leader seized and beaten before Gallio's tribunal at Corinth; a Sosthenes is named as co-sender of 1 Corinthians, probably the same man.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:17; 1 Corinthians 1:1
Titius Justus
A God-fearing man whose house next to the synagogue became Paul's base in Corinth.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:7
Places
Antioch (Syrian)
The empire's third-largest city and the first major Gentile church — the launching base for Paul's journeys. (Distinct from Pisidian Antioch.)
Cited in the guide: Acts 11:26; Acts 13:1-3; Galatians 2:11
Athens
The philosophical center of the Greco-Roman world. Paul engaged Stoic and Epicurean thinkers on Mars Hill (the Areopagus), reasoning toward the resurrection.
Cited in the guide: Acts 17:16; Acts 17:22
Caesarea Maritima
The Roman administrative capital of Judea. Peter brought the gospel to the Gentile Cornelius here, and Paul was imprisoned before appealing his case to Caesar.
Cited in the guide: Acts 10:1; Acts 23:23; Acts 25:11
Corinth
Corinth straddled the isthmus linking mainland Greece to the Peloponnese — a hub of commerce and immorality. Paul founded the church here; a Roman bema traditionally linked to his hearing before…
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1
Ephesus
The chief city of Roman Asia, famed for the temple of Artemis. Paul's long ministry sparked the silversmiths' riot; the city is also the first addressed in Revelation.
Cited in the guide: Acts 19:1; Acts 19:28; Revelation 2:1
Jerusalem
Set high in the Judean hills (~2,500 ft), Jerusalem was David's royal city, the site of the First and Second Temples, and the stage for Jesus' passion and the church's birth at Pentecost.
Cited in the guide: 2 Samuel 5:6-9; Luke 19:41; Acts 1:8
Cross references (28)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Timothy 4:20; Acts 19:1; 2 Corinthians 1:1; Acts 17:32–33
- 2 2 Timothy 4:19; 1 Corinthians 16:19; Romans 16:3–4; Acts 11:28; Acts 18:26
- 3 1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Corinthians 4:12; 2 Corinthians 11:9; 2 Thessalonians 3:8–9; 2 Corinthians 11:7
- 4 2 Corinthians 5:11; Acts 28:23; Acts 17:17; Acts 19:8; Acts 13:14–14:1
- 5 2 Corinthians 5:14; Acts 18:28; Acts 20:21; Acts 9:22; Acts 17:3
- 6 Ezekiel 33:4; 2 Samuel 1:16; Ezekiel 33:8–9; Ezekiel 18:13; Nehemiah 5:13
- 7 Acts 16:14; Colossians 4:11; Acts 10:22; Acts 17:4; Acts 13:42
- 8 1 Corinthians 1:13–17; Romans 10:14–17; Mark 16:15–16; Acts 11:14; Acts 8:12
- 9 Acts 23:11; Ephesians 6:19–20; Ezekiel 2:6–8; Acts 27:23–25; Micah 3:8
- 10 2 Corinthians 12:9; Exodus 4:12; Matthew 28:20; Isaiah 41:10; Romans 8:31
- 11 Acts 19:10; Acts 14:3; Acts 20:31
- 12 Acts 13:50; Acts 13:7; Acts 18:27; 1 Corinthians 16:15; 2 Corinthians 1:1
- 13 Acts 24:5–6; Acts 25:8; Acts 6:13; Acts 21:28; Acts 18:4
- 14 1 Peter 3:14–15; Romans 13:3; Acts 13:18; Acts 25:18–20; Mark 9:19
- 15 Acts 23:29; Acts 25:19; 1 Timothy 6:4; Acts 25:11; 1 Timothy 1:4
- 16 Revelation 12:16; Psalm 76:10; Romans 13:3–4
- 17 1 Corinthians 1:1; Amos 6:6; 1 Corinthians 1:23; Acts 17:32
- 18 Acts 21:24; Numbers 6:18; Acts 18:2; Romans 16:1; Numbers 6:5–9
- 19 2 Timothy 1:18; 1 Timothy 1:3; Ephesians 1:1; Acts 20:16; Acts 19:1
- 20 Acts 20:16; 1 Corinthians 16:12; Mark 1:37–38; Acts 21:13–14
- 21 James 4:15; 1 Corinthians 4:19; Romans 15:32; Hebrews 6:3; Acts 20:16
- 22 Acts 8:40; Acts 25:1; Acts 11:19–27; Acts 15:4; Acts 10:1
- 23 Acts 14:22; Acts 16:6; Acts 15:41; Acts 15:32; Galatians 4:14
- 24 1 Corinthians 4:6; Titus 3:13; 1 Corinthians 3:5–6; 1 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 16:12
- 25 Romans 12:11; Acts 19:3; Hosea 14:9; Acts 9:2; Acts 19:23
- 26 Ephesians 6:19–20; 1 Corinthians 12:21; Acts 14:3; Acts 18:25; Hebrews 6:1
- 27 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14; James 1:16–18; Ephesians 2:8–10; Acts 18:18; Colossians 4:10
- 28 Acts 18:5; 1 Corinthians 15:3–4; Acts 9:22; Acts 26:22–23; Luke 24:44
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
See how the Law was breaking up; see how they were bound by conscience. This, namely, was a Jewish custom, to shear their heads agreeably with a vow. But then there ought to be also a sacrifice (ch. xxi. 26), which was not the case here. --"Having yet tarried:" after the beating of Sosthenes.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 11 (1889)