NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Book of Acts - Flipbook - Page 57
A cts 1 8 : 1 2
2013
18:5
Acts 17:3; 18:28
18:6
Ezek 33:39
Matt 10:14
Acts 13:4546; 20:26
18:8
1 Cor 1:14
a pisteuo- (4100)
Rom
1:17
18:910
Isa 41:10
Jer 1:18
gogue, trying to convince the Jews and
Greeks alike. 5 And after Silas and Timothy
came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all
his time preaching the word. He testified
to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But
when they opposed and insulted him, Paul
shook the dust from his clothes and said,
“Your blood is upon your own heads—I am
innocent. From now on I will go preach to the
Gentiles.”
7 Then he left and went to the home of Ti
tius Justus, a Gentile who worshiped God and
lived next door to the synagogue. 8 Crispus,
the leader of the synagogue, and everyone in
his household a believed in the Lord. Many
others in Corinth also heard Paul, became
a believers, and were baptized.
9 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vi
sion and told him, “Don’t be afraid! Speak
out! Don’t be silent! 10 For I am with you, and
no one will attack and harm you, for many
people in this city belong to me.” 11 So Paul
stayed there for the next year and a half,
teaching the word of God.
12 But when Gallio became governor of
Achaia, some Jews rose up together against
PROFILE
PRISCILLA AND AQUILA Hospitable Christian Workers
Acts 18:13
Acts 18:1819,
2428
Rom 16:35
1 Cor 16:19
2 Tim 4:19
Priscilla and Aquila were a Christian couple with whom Paul lived and worked during his
early days in Corinth. They were later active in Christian ministry and instrumental in bring
ing Apollos to a true understanding of Christ. They made a habit of opening their home in
hospitality to other Christians.
Paul first met Priscilla and Aquila in Corinth, where they had newly arrived as a result of
Claudius Caesar’s deportation of all Jews from Rome (ad 49). Paul became acquainted with
them and, because they were tentmakers (or possibly leatherworkers) like he was, Paul lived
and worked with them during his first year and a half in Corinth (ad 50–52; 18:13).
When Paul left Corinth, he took Priscilla and Aquila with him and left them in Ephesus
(18:1819) while he returned to Jerusalem and Antioch. When Apollos came through Ephesus
later, enthusiastically preaching about Jesus in the synagogues, Priscilla and Aquila took him
aside and explained to him more fully the truth of Christ. As a result of their training, Apollos
went on to become a powerful evangelist and Christian apologist (18:2428).
Later, Paul speaks of their home as a meeting place for Christians in Ephesus, and he sends
their greeting with his own to the church in Corinth (1 Cor 16:19; cp. 2 Tim 4:19). Still later,
it seems they returned to Rome (presumably after the relaxation of Claudius’s edict), for they
are the first of many to whom Paul sends his greetings when he writes to the church in Rome
(Rom 16:35). Here, too, their home became a meeting place. It is clear that Paul felt a close
bond of friendship with them and that he regarded their work for Christ h
ighly—he speaks
of them as “my co-workers in the ministry of Christ,” and he refers to a time when they even
risked their lives for him.
Priscilla and Aquila are examples of early Christians who, in the course of their daily work,
were bold in bearing witness to Christ and active in ministering to his p
eople—in this case,
as a married couple dedicated to the service of Christ. The fact that Priscilla’s name often
occurs first (unusual for the time) might say something about the strong role she played in
the couple’s witness and ministry.
with them during his year and a half in
Corinth (18:11; see Rom 16:34; 1 Cor
16:19). • just as he was: Paul would
have been trained as a tentmaker as a
young man. It was Jewish custom to pro
vide sons with a manual trade, including
young men who intended to become
rabbis or other professionals.
18:46 Once again Paul followed his
custom of preaching to the Jews first,
and then reaching out to Gentiles after
he met with rejection and opposition
(13:4249; see 3:2526; 26:20; Rom 1:16;
2:10; 3:29, 30; 4:912). • Paul probably
wrote his letters to the Thessalonian
PROPHETS OF ISRAEL
Christians after Silas and Timothy came
down from Macedonia with a report
of how things were going there (see
1 Thes 3:6; 2 Thessalonians Introduc
tion, “Setting”).
18:7 Titius Justus (“Titus the Just”) was
a Gentile who worshiped God (a “God-
fearer”; see note on 10:2). Because Titus
was a common Roman name, Justus dif
ferentiates him from the better-known
Titus, Paul’s co-worker (2 Cor 2:13; 7:6,
13; 8:6, 16, 23; Titus).
18:910 Paul had experienced real
opposition in Corinth (18:6) and
GOSPELS & ACTS
apparently was afraid of being attacked
again, so the divine message was a
comfort to him (cp. 23:11; Ps 34:4, 7, 19;
Matt 28:20), encouraging him to persist
in his public ministry and promising
God’s protection (cp. Ps 91:11; 2 Tim
4:17).
18:1213 The governor of Achaia, Junio
Gallio, was the older brother of the
Roman philosopher Seneca (Seneca was
a tutor to Emperor Nero). An inscription
indicating that he was governor around
ad 51–52 helps to date Paul’s visit in
Corinth to about that time.
L E T T E R S O F PAU L
OTHER LET TERS
