Acts 18:10 - Printer Friendly

ESV: for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people."

NIV: For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city."

NASB: for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.'

CSB: For I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to hurt you, because I have many people in this city."

NLT: For I am with you, and no one will attack and harm you, for many people in this city belong to me.'

KJV: For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

NKJV: for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city.”

Paul is in Corinth with Silas and Timothy. For what is likely several weeks, , he spends every Sabbath at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth is their Messiah. As in every other town, some believe but the Jewish community largely rejects his message, which means rejecting Jesus. Eventually, they "oppose and revile him" (Acts 18:6), and he takes the few who believe and moves next door to the home of a Gentile God-fearer who also believes (Acts 18:7).

Around this time in most other synagogues Paul has visited, the dissenting Jews would be stirring up the Gentiles of the city, convincing them that Paul was a menace to good order. He would leave town and sneak back in later to build up the church. In Corinth, however, God has other plans. He tells Paul, "Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent" (Acts 18:9).

Paul will later tell the Corinthians, "For if I preach the gospel, that gives me no ground for boasting. For necessity is laid upon me. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!" (1 Corinthians 9:16). The promise that he will be safe is new. In a later letter, Paul will tell the Corinthian church how much he has suffered during his ministry:

Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. (2 Corinthians 11:24–28)

God tells Paul to stay, protected, because in this vile, sinful, pagan city are many people who belong to Him. The church in Corinth will give Paul reasons for stress for years to come. But their example proves God doesn't choose the wise, He chooses the foolish of the world. By redeeming those who seem to least deserve His love, He shows how great His love is (1 Corinthians 2:6–16).

Acts 18:5–11 describes Paul in Corinth, making tents with Priscilla and Aquila. He is waiting for Silas and Timothy to arrive from Macedonia (Acts 18:1–3). Once they come, Paul can spend more time teaching about Jesus. As usual, the synagogue eventually rejects him, and he moves to the home of a Gentile God-fearer to continue his work. Despite the harassment of the unbelieving Jews, Jesus gives Paul a message that he is to stay in Corinth, which he does for eighteen months. Even when the Jews bring him to court, the proconsul will reject their charges as irrelevant religious squabbles (Acts 18:12–17).

Acts 18 recounts the end of Paul's second missionary journey. He leaves Athens for Corinth, in southern Greece, and works with Priscilla and Aquila as a tentmaker until Silas and Timothy rejoin him. The team stays eighteen months with no significant pressure. Eventually, Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila sail east to Ephesus. Paul leaves a short time later for Judea and Syrian Antioch before returning to Galatia for his third missionary journey. Meanwhile, Priscilla and Aquilla host the church in Ephesus and train a talented speaker named Apollos to be a minister of Christ.

Acts 18 covers the last half of Paul's second missionary journey and the first part of the third. He and his team have traveled down the east coast of Macedonia and Greece to Corinth (Acts 17) where they will spend eighteen months. Paul will stop briefly in Ephesus on their way back to Judea before visiting Jerusalem and Syrian Antioch. From there, Paul will return to Galatia in modern-day Asia Minor before returning to Ephesus for an extended stay (Acts 19). He will revisit the churches in Macedonia and Greece before facing arrest in Jerusalem (Acts 21).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.