when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue, And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 1o for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 5. Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia. They brought him (1) good news of the Church of Thessalonica, which induced him at once to write I Thessalonians; (2) a contribution of money from Philippi, which relieved him of working, and enabled him to preach constantly. He was now, therefore, greatly encouraged. Was pressed in the spirit... R.V. reading a different word, 'was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ', i.e. the Messiah. 6. Your blood be upon your own heads. St. Paul means that he is not now responsible; they had voluntarily rejected eternal life. The Jews said the same (St. Matt. xxvii. 25). I will go unto the Gentiles: i.e. the Gentiles pure and simple who had nothing to do with the synagogue. He had already preached to the God-fearing Greeks (v. 4). 7. Justus. Called 'Titus Justus' in R. V. 8. The chief ruler of the synagogue. See note on xiii. 14. Crispus and his household were baptized by St. Paul himself. We hear of another chief ruler', Sosthenes, in v. 17. Many of the Corinthians. And not only of the Corinthians, but of the whole of Achaia'. Amongst those whom St. Paul mentions in his Epistles are Stephanas, 'the first-fruits of Achaia', Gaius, Fortunatus, Achaicus, Chloë, etc. Most of them bear Latin names. 9. Be not afraid. St. Paul's grounds for fear were many. (1) The Gentiles expected some more striking eloquence than simply 'Jesus Christ, and Him crucified'. (2) They despised his bodily presence. (3) They called in question his apostleship. Hence the vision to reassure him. (m) St. Paul and Gallio (12–17) 12 And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, 13 saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15 but if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. 16 And he drave them from the judgment seat. 17Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things. (m) St. Paul and Gallio. 12. Gallio was a well-known man. His brother was Seneca, the Stoic philosopher and tutor of the Emperor Nero, and his nephew the poet Lucan. He is spoken of in the writings of his brother and others as the 'sweet Gallio', because of his amiable character. Deputy: .e. proconsul,' R. V., of Achaia. The proconsul was the ruler of a senatorial province. St. Luke here shows his usual accuracy, for Achaia had been (1) a senatorial province, (2) an imperial, (3) senatorial again, shortly before this. Gallio was probably made proconsul in A. D. 49, very shortly before this. He is the second proconsul before whom St. Paul came, the first being Sergius Paulus (xiii. 7). Made insurrection. R. V., With one accord rose up against Paul', i.e. they concerted a general rising of the whole Jewish quarter. The judgment-seat would be in the 'agora', or 'forum'. 13. Contrary to the law: i.e. the Jewish law. They wish to prove that St. Paul was a heretic Jew. The Jews' religion was recognised by Rome, but only that according to their law. 14. Lewdness. R. V., 'villany'. Such would come under Roman law. 16. Drave them: i.e. ordered the lictors to clear the court. 17. All the Greeks took Sosthenes... Either (1) the Greeks who were standing by took Sosthenes, who had been the spokesman of the Jews against St. Paul, and 'baited' him; (2) if with R.V. we omit 'the Greeks,' the Jews all took Sosthenes, their spokesman, and beat him because of his ill-success. Gallio cared for none of these things. These words have passed into a proverb for indifference to spiritual things. Probably, however, 'these things' really refer only to the beating of Sosthenes. One text at all events has instead of these words, 'Gallio pretended that he did not see'. (x) Journey from Corinth to Antioch in Syria, by Ephesus, and Jerusalem (18-22) 18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow. 19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not: 21 but bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. 22 And when he had landed at Cæsarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch. (n) Journey from Corinth to Antioch in Syria, by Ephesus, and Jerusalem. 18. Tarried there yet a good while. He could do so safely after the acquittal before Gallio. But just as at Philippi (xvi. 40) he preferred to go elsewhere. Having shorn his head at Cenchrea. Cenchrea was the port of Corinth on the east side, on the Ægean Sea. St. Paul had taken a 'Nazirite' vow, probably in thankfulness for deliverance from the Jews at Corinth-for this was usually the reason for such vows. In the case of such a vow the hair was allowed to grow long, and then burnt in the Temple at Jerusalem. He therefore either (a) had his head shorn in order to carry the hair up to Jerusalem, which was permissible if a Jew was abroad when the vow expired; or (b) most probably had 'his hair cut' that it might grow long whilst he was on the way to Jerusalem. The Greek word refers rather to 'cutting' that to 'shaving'. Notice his compliance with Jewish customs. 19. Ephesus. See note on xix. 1. He left them there. Aquila and Priscilla were at Ephesus when he returned there on the third journey (v. 26). 21. I must by all means. Jerusalem. These words are all omitted in R.V. They give a different explanation of his reason for going quickly to Jerusalem from that in verse 18. The Feast' would be that of Pentecost, as there was no other till Tabernacles, when travelling by sea was dangerous. 22. When he had gone up and saluted the church: i.e. gone up to Jerusalem, and saluted the church there, by an official call on the Apostles who were there. St. Paul's Third Missionary Journey. (a) Galatia and Phrygia (23) 23 And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. [Apollos (24-28)] 24 And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. 26 And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue: whom when Aquila and Priscilla had heard, they took him unto them, and expounded unto him the way of God more perfectly. 27 And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was St. Paul's third Missionary Journey. (a) Galatia and Phrygia. 23. He departed. From Antioch for the third and last time. Strictly speaking, there is no fresh beginning at this verse. The title 'third missionary journey' has been retained above because it is usually so termed. Properly it is part of the second. Galatia and Phrygia. According to the view given in the general note on chapters xiii., xiv., this means the churches of South Galatia, viz. Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch of Pisidia. Strengthening all the disciples. What great need there was for this is shown by the Epistle to the Galatians, written probably shortly after this visit. Some of the party 'of the circumcision' had come down to 'Galatia', had undermined St. Paul's authority, and preached a gospel of works instead of St. Paul's justification by faith', and the foolish Galatians' had been 'bewitched' by this teaching. [Apollos.] 24. Apollos. No doubt he is mentioned here as his history gives a companion picture to the 'disciples of John the Baptist' in xix. 1-7. Neither they nor he were fully instructed in the Christian faith. There were very many Jews at Alexandria who were like Apollos, eloquent', or 'learned', R. V., and knew the O.T. 'scriptures' well. He had received John's baptism, and had been (orally) 'instructed' in the facts concerning Jesus; .e. His ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection. But he had not heard of the giving of the Holy Spirit, etc. 25. Taught diligently. Better, 'carefully', R. V., ' accurately', 'the things concerning Jesus'. 27. The brethren wrote R.V., 'the brethren encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him '. |