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Acts 18

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In Corinth Paul makes tents with Aquila and Priscilla, a couple Emperor Claudius had thrown out of Rome. The Lord tells Paul in a vision, Do not be afraid, and he stays a year and a half. The Jewish leaders drag Paul before the governor Gallio, who refuses to hear the case.

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In this chapterField Notes · ArchaeologyClaudius Throws the Jews Out of Rome · after verse 2 Field Notes · ArchaeologyThe Gallio Inscription · after verse 14 MapPaul's Third Trip · after verse 23

Paul Ministers in Corinth// 1 Corinthians 1:1–3; 2 Corinthians 1:1–2

¹After this, Paul left Athens and went to Corinth. ²There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to leave Rome. Paul went to visit them, ³and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.

ACTS 18:2[FIELD NOTES]A Roman writer mentions this order too. See the Claudius Throws the Jews Out of Rome Field Notes page.

Field Notes · Archaeology

Claudius Throws the Jews Out of Rome

Acts 18:1 to 3

Marble head of Emperor Claudius in the Vatican Museums.

WHAT IT IS: One sentence by the Roman writer Suetonius in his life of Emperor Claudius. In plain English: Because the Jews kept making trouble stirred up by Chrestus, he threw them out of Rome.
HOW OLD IT IS: Suetonius wrote it about AD 121. Orosius, a Christian writer in AD 417, says it happened in Claudius' ninth year, AD 49. Paul likely reached Corinth about AD 50, so Aquila and Priscilla had recently come from Italy, just as Luke says.
WHAT IT CONFIRMS: A real Roman writer says Claudius ordered Jews out of Rome, matching Acts 18:2. Many scholars think Chrestus is a misspelling of Christus, Christ, and that arguments in Rome's synagogues over Jesus led to the order. Aquila and Priscilla may have been Jewish believers caught up in it.
THE HONEST SIDE: Chrestus was also a common name, so Suetonius may mean some other troublemaker. Another Roman writer, Dio Cassius, says Claudius did not throw the Jews out but stopped their meetings, maybe in AD 41. That may be a different, earlier event.
SEE ALSO: Suetonius is one of the witnesses in Exhibit A, Jesus in History.

CONFIDENCE: MEDIUM

⁴Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike. ⁵And when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself fully to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ. ⁶But when they opposed and insulted him, he shook out his garments and told them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

⁷So Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titus Justus, a worshiper of God. ⁸Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his whole household believed in the Lord. And many of the Corinthians who heard the message believed and were baptized.

⁹One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking; do not be silent. ¹⁰For I am with you and no one will lay a hand on you, because I have many people in this city.” ¹¹So Paul stayed for a year and a half, teaching the word of God among the Corinthians.

ACTS 18:9[MIRACLE]The Lord tells Paul in a vision not to be afraid

Paul before Gallio

¹²While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat. ¹³“This man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law,” they said.

ACTS 18:12[ARCHAEOLOGY]Stone letter dating Gallio's time as governor of Achaia to about AD 51 to 52

¹⁴But just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio told the Jews, “If this matter involved a wrongdoing or vicious crime, O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to hear your complaint. ¹⁵But since it is a dispute about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.” ¹⁶And he drove them away from the judgment seat.

Field Notes · Archaeology

The Gallio Inscription

Acts 18:12 to 17

One of the pieces of the Gallio Inscription at Delphi. The blue box marks Gallio's name. Photo by Gérard, CC BY SA 4.0.

WHAT IT IS: Pieces of a stone letter from Emperor Claudius to the city of Delphi in Greece. It names Lucius Junius Gallio, my friend and proconsul. That is the governor who threw out the case against Paul in Corinth.
HOW OLD IT IS: The letter is dated by the number of times Claudius had been hailed as a victorious general, which puts it in AD 52. Governors served one year starting in summer, so Gallio ruled Achaia about AD 51 to 52.
WHERE AND WHEN FOUND: Found in pieces at Delphi. The first ones were published in 1905, and more pieces were added in 1970.
WHERE IT IS TODAY: In the Delphi Archaeological Museum in Greece.
WHY IT MATTERS: This is one of the most important dates in the New Testament. Since Paul stood before Gallio, he was in Corinth about AD 50 to 52. Scholars count forward and backward from here to date Paul's other trips and letters. Gallio was the brother of the famous Roman writer Seneca.
WHO GALLIO WAS: He was born Annaeus Novatus and took the name Lucius Junius Gallio when a friend of his father adopted him. His younger brother Seneca was Rome's famous thinker and Nero's teacher. Seneca wrote that no one was as sweet to anyone as Gallio was to everyone.
SICK IN GREECE: Seneca also wrote that Gallio caught a fever while he was in Achaia and took a ship away, saying the sickness came from the place, not from his body, Letters 104.1.
THE JUDGMENT SEAT: The judgment seat in 18:12 is the bema. A large stone speaking platform still stands in the middle of the old forum at Corinth, and many think Paul stood before Gallio there.
WHAT IT DOES NOT PROVE: It does not mention Paul. It shows Luke had the right governor in the right city at the right time.

CONFIDENCE: HIGH

¹⁷At this, the crowd seized Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.

Paul Returns to Antioch

¹⁸Paul remained in Corinth for quite some time before saying goodbye to the brothers. He had his head shaved in Cenchrea to keep a vow he had made, and then he sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila.

¹⁹When they reached Ephesus, Paul left Priscilla and Aquila. He himself went into the synagogue there and reasoned with the Jews. ²⁰When they asked him to stay for a while longer, he declined. ²¹But as he left, he said, “I will come back to you if God is willing.” And he set sail from Ephesus.

²²When Paul had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the church at Jerusalem. Then he went down to Antioch.

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey Begins// Acts 13:1–3; Acts 15:36–41

²³After Paul had spent some time in Antioch, he traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

²⁴Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was an eloquent man, well versed in the Scriptures. ²⁵He had been instructed in the way of the Lord and was fervent in spirit. He spoke and taught accurately about Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. ²⁶And he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.

²⁷When Apollos resolved to cross over to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On his arrival, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. ²⁸For he powerfully refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.

Acts 18

Paul Ministers in Corinth// 1 Corinthians 1:1–3; 2 Corinthians 1:1–2

Paul before Gallio

Paul Returns to Antioch

Paul’s Third Missionary Journey Begins// Acts 13:1–3; Acts 15:36–41

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