Acts 18

Paul establishes a church in the culturally diverse and challenging city of Corinth, enduring opposition and finding support among Aquila, Priscilla, and eventually the Gentiles, before returning to Syria and witnessing the rise of Apollos' ministry.

• Paul settles in Corinth, laboring as a tentmaker with fellow believers Aquila and Priscilla.
• Paul preaches in the synagogue until opposition forces him to turn toward the Gentiles.
• The Lord encourages Paul with a vision of safety and success, leading him to stay in Corinth for eighteen months.
• Gallio, the proconsul, dismisses the Jews' legal charges against Paul as mere internal religious disputes.
• Paul departs for Ephesus and Syria, while Apollos arrives in Ephesus, where he is mentored by Aquila and Priscilla.

• Corinth
• Aquila and Priscilla
• Tentmakers
• Gallio (proconsul)
• Sosthenes
• Cenchrea (vow)
• Apollos
• Baptism of John

This chapter documents the expansion of the mission to the Gentiles in a major urban center and demonstrates the vital role of co-workers (Aquila/Priscilla) in supporting the apostle and refining the theology of subsequent teachers like Apollos.

The Gospel advances through humble labor, persistent proclamation, and divine sovereignty, even amidst intense opposition and secular indifference.

The chapter functions as a narrative transition between Paul's established mission and the emergence of new leaders like Apollos, organized around the contrast between rejection by Jewish religious leaders and acceptance by Gentiles.

• I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. (Acts 18:10)

• Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace. (Acts 18:9)

• Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. (Acts 18:6)

• The expulsion of Jews from Rome under Emperor Claudius (referred to in Suetonius' 'Life of Claudius') provides a specific time marker (AD 49-50) for the arrival of Aquila and Priscilla in Corinth.
• Gallio served as proconsul of Achaia; his administration is a key chronological marker for the mid-first century.

• Corinth was a cosmopolitan, economically prosperous, and morally permissive city. It was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia.
• The trade of tentmaking (σκηνοποιός - skēnopoiós) indicates Paul's manual labor was typical of the era, where teachers and artisans often practiced a trade to support their itinerant ministries.

• Acts 18 concludes the second missionary journey and initiates the transition into the third, establishing Ephesus as a major future base for Paul.

• The account of Apollos (v24-28) highlights the transition from the Old Covenant expectation (baptism of John) to the full revelation of the New Covenant in Jesus, pointing forward to the fuller instruction provided in Acts 19:1-7.
• Matthew Henry, commenting on verse 10 ('I have much people in this city'), notes the encouragement given to the apostle. Regarding the theological interpretation of 'I have much people,' there is a historical interpretive tension: Reformed perspectives often see this as a reference to God's sovereign election of individuals not yet converted, while others view it as a prophetic foresight of the responsiveness of the populace at that time.

• The phrase 'Be not afraid, but speak' (v9) echoes prophetic commissioning language found in the Old Testament, such as Jeremiah 1:8, 17, and Isaiah 41:10, emphasizing the continuity of God's commission for His servants.

• σκηνοποιός (skēnopoiós) [G4635]: Often translated as 'tentmaker,' though it can refer to a worker in leather or other materials used for portable coverings.
• διαλέγομαι (dialégomai) [G1256]: 'Reasoned' suggests active dialogue, argumentation, and discourse rather than passive monologuing.
• προσφάτως (prosphátōs) [G4373]: 'Recently,' emphasizing the freshness of the expulsion from Rome which brought Aquila and Priscilla to Paul.

• Gallio's reaction ('cared for none of those things') reveals a common Roman administrative indifference to 'religious disputes' unless they directly breached civil law.
• The shift of the ministry from the synagogue to the house of Justus (v7) highlights how the rejection by the Jewish leadership directly accelerated the spread of the Gospel to the wider community.

• The nature of Paul's vow in Cenchrea (v18) is debated; while likely a temporary Nazirite vow (Numbers 6), the text provides insufficient detail to be certain.
• The extent of Apollos' knowledge regarding 'the baptism of John' (v25) remains a point of scholarly discussion regarding how much 'Gospel' information had permeated outside of the apostolic circle.