Acts 18 Footnotes

18:3 A “tentmaker” worked with leather; Paul may have worked with a variety of materials, including goats’ haircloth made in Cilicia, his home region. Later rabbinic writing confirms the importance of a teacher having a trade or other means of support. In Greco-Roman circles, trades and trade associations were deemed important.

18:4 An inscription reading “synagogue of the Hebrews” (i.e., Jews) was found in Corinth. Scholars believe it postdates Paul’s time.

18:12 The date of Gallio’s time as proconsul of Achaia, over which Corinth was capital, is a firm one in NT chronology. An inscription dated to AD 52 refers to him when he was no longer proconsul. Thus, Gallio was installed as proconsul in early AD 51, and Paul appeared before him later that year. Gallio noted nothing that defied Rome’s tolerant religious laws.

18:18 Paul’s going to Jerusalem (chap. 22) may have included completing the Nazirite vow, giving his cut hair as an offering. Although making such a vow seems unusual for Paul, especially outside of Judea (21:26), doing so was consistent with Paul as a faithful Jew in the midst of Gentile missionary efforts.

18:19-20 Paul’s visit probably lasted less than a week. His initial visit to the synagogue in Ephesus was apparently without incident. The discussions he had with the Jews showed promise. They urged him to stay. He promised to return if God willed. Paul would stay in Ephesus (19:10) longer than in most other cities. The work there would impact not only Ephesus itself but the entire province of Asia. Paul had been prevented from staying in Asia earlier (16:6). He gave evidence of having envisioned an extensive work in Ephesus because of its strategic location. Paul planned and strategized but was under the authority and guidance of the Holy Spirit. He would return to Ephesus on God’s timetable.

18:22-23 Paul greeted the Jerusalem church, having gone down from there to Antioch. This marks the second missionary journey’s end and the third journey’s beginning (see note on v. 22).

18:24-26 Being from Alexandria (the most important city of letters in the Greco-Roman world), Apollos is depicted as learned and eloquent. Christianity had already reached Alexandria by this time. Similar to the situation Paul encounters in chap. 19, here Apollos found his own knowledge deficient; he knew only John’s baptism and had not yet received the Spirit or been baptized into Christ. Apollos was then given more accurate instruction.