1 After these things Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. 2 There he met a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to them, 3 and because he worked at the same trade, he stayed with them and worked, for they were tentmakers by trade. 4 So Paul reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath. He persuaded both Jews and Greeks. 5 But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit to testify to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6 When the Jews opposed and insulted him, Paul shook out his garment at them and said to them, “May your blood be upon your own heads; I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 Then he left from there and went to the house of Titius Justus, a man who worshiped God. His house was next to the synagogue. 8 Crispus, the leader of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with all those who lived in his house; and many of the Corinthians who heard about it believed and were baptized. 9 The Lord said to Paul in the night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent. 10 For I am with you, and no one will try to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 Paul lived there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 But when Gallio became governor of Achaia, the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat; 13 they said, “This man persuades people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 Yet when Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “You Jews, if indeed it were a matter of wrong or a crime, it would be reasonable to deal with you. 15 But since these are questions about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.” 16 Gallio made them leave the judgment seat. 17 So they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But Gallio did not care what they did. 18 Paul, after staying there for many more days, left the brothers and sailed for Syria with Priscilla and Aquila. Before he left the seaport, Cenchrea, he had his hair cut off because of a vow he had taken. 19 When they came to Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila there, but he himself went into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they asked Paul to stay a longer time, he declined. 21 But taking his leave of them, he said, “I will return again to you if it is God's will.” He then set sail from Ephesus. 22 When Paul had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the Jerusalem church and then went down to Antioch. 23 After having spent some time there, Paul departed and went through the regions of Galatia and Phrygia and strengthened all the disciples. 24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, came to Ephesus. He was eloquent in speech and mighty in the scriptures. 25 Apollos had been instructed in the teachings of the Lord. Being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, but he knew only the baptism of John. 26 Apollos began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 When he desired to pass over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples in Achaia to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who believed by grace. 28 Apollos powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate, showing by the scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.
Acts 18 Unlocked Literal Bible
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
Apollos
An eloquent Alexandrian Jew, mighty in the Scriptures, who was taught more accurately by Priscilla and Aquila and then ministered in Achaia and at Corinth.
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:24; 1 Corinthians 1:12; 1 Corinthians 3:6
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)