Acts 18.1-28 will tell us about Paul in Corinth; the end of his second missionary journey and the beginning of the third.
v1…After these things (at the Areopagus) he left Athens and went to Corinth.
v 2…And he found a certain Jew named Aquila (‘eagle”), a native of Portus (eastern portion of Asia Minor near the Black Sea), having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla (“ancient, to be respected”), because Claudius (Caesar) had commanded all Jews to leave Rome (around 49 AD-why is uncertain).
v 3…And because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working; for by trade they were tent-makers (fabricators or weavers of cloth).
v 4…And he was reasoning in the synagogue (to the Jew first) every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Gentiles (the God-fearers; sebemenoi and phobemenoi; non-Jews who went to the synagogues and believed in Yehovah and followed the Torah as it applied to them).
v 5…But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word (Torah), solemnly testifying to the Jews that Yeshua was the Messiah.
v 6…And when they resisted and blasphemed, he shook out his garments (as a testimony against them that he was done-Matt 10.14) and said to them, your blood be upon your heads (they will be the author of their own ruin)! I am clean (cleared of any responsibility-Ezek 33.4). From now on I shall go to the Gentiles (in that synagogue or city-Acts 13.46).
v 7…And he departed from there and went to the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God (a sebemenoi-a non-Jew who followed Yehovah and the Torah as it applied), whose house was next to the synagogue.
v 8…And Crispus, the leader (nasi) of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his household (who were influenced by the Spirit-Acts 16.31), and many of the Corinthians when they heard were believing and being immersed (into the benefits and purposes of the kingdom of G0d-Luke 7.30).
v 9…And the Lord said to Paul by a night vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent;
v 10…for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you (in opposition), for I have many people in this city (those elected and chosen in him before the foundation of the world-Acts 13.48; Eph 1.4).
v 11…And he settled (there) a year and six months (in Corinth), teaching the word of God among them (the Tanak-the only scripture that existed).
v 12…But while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (he was the brother of Seneca who was put to death by Nero), the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul brought him before the judgment seat (“bema” a platform of Roman law to offer a defense),
v 13…saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law (probably the oral law or 18 Edicts of Beit Shammai concerning ritual circumcision of non-Jews).
v 14…But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of wrong of a vicious crime (against Roman law), O Jews, it would be reasonable for me to put up with you; but if there were questions about words (of Scripture, the traditions of the elders, their oral law, etc) and names (titles like Yeshua being the “Messiah” or a “prophet” or “God” or not) and your own law (Law of Moses, oral, law, 18 Edicts of Shammai), look after it yourselves. I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.
v 16…And he drove them away from the judgment seat.
v 17…And they (the Greeks/God-fearers) took hold of Sosthenes (who took over after Crispus believed), the leader (nasi) of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And Gallio was not concerned about any of these things (he had an ill opinion of the Jews-tensions were already building that would lead to the first Jewish War in 70 AD).
v 18…And Paul, having remained many days longer (after he was released), took leave of the brethren and put out to sea for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. In Cenchrea he (Paul) had his hair cut, for he was keeping a vow (Paul was a Torah observant Jew and he was coming out of a Nazarite vow-Num 6.1-9; Acts 21.23-26).
v 19…And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there (Aquila and Priscilla worked with those there). Now he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews (using the readings from the Torah and the Prophets).
v 20…And when they asked him to stay a little longer, he did not consent,
v 21…but took leave of them saying, “I must by all means keep the coming at Jerusalem (Shavuot-20.16); but I will return to you again if God wills,” he set sail for Ephesus.
v 22…And when he landed at Caesarea, he went up (to Jerusalem for a quick visit-he will complete his Nazarite vow in Acts 21.15-26) and greeted the kahal (assembly; not a Christian “church” because they did not exist) and went down (from Jerusalem) to Antioch (where he started).
v 23…And having spent some time there, he departed and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the talmidim (a detour to Galatia on his way to Ephesus).
v 24…Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian (Jew) by birth), an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures (Paul wanted Apollos to come to him in Titus 3.13); there was a large Jewish population in Alexandria who were Hellenistic and Torah observant).
v 25…This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord (Torah); being fervent in spirit (passionate desires for God), he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning the Lord, being acquainted only with the immersion of John (one of repentance waiting for the Messiah; he had not heard about Yeshua yet).
v 26…and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him (they listened to him and knew he was a believer-Deut 13.1-5), they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately (the benefits and purpose of God in Yeshua-he didn’t know the kingdom of God had come).
v 27…And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brethren (in Ephesus) encouraged him and wrote (letters of commendation) to the talmidim to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he helped greatly those who had believed through grace (to believe; the source of all blessings starts there);
v 28…for he powerfully refuted (he vigorously argued) the Jews in public, demonstrating by the Scriptures that Yeshua was the Messiah (what Priscilla and Aquila taught him “more accurately.” We don’t believe that one should go out and share Yeshua as Messiah until you see the real Yeshua in the Scriptures and you are unbiased; you should be able to defend your Torah-based faith and not be involved in replacement theology Christianity).
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