Acts 18:17 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of this.

NIV: Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul; and Gallio showed no concern whatever.

NASB: But they all took hold of Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him in front of the judgment seat. And yet Gallio was not concerned about any of these things.

CSB: And they all seized Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal, but none of these things mattered to Gallio.

NLT: The crowd then grabbed Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and beat him right there in the courtroom. But Gallio paid no attention.

KJV: Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.

NKJV: Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. But Gallio took no notice of these things.

It's rare for Paul to spend much time in the cities and towns where he plants churches. Corinth is different. Not only does God tell him to stay, He also tells him he would not come to harm. God has chosen to save many people in Corinth and Paul needs time to reach them. In fact, Paul winds up staying a year and a half (Acts 18:9–11).

Paul is used to local Jews and Gentiles driving him out of town, beating him, and even stoning him (Acts 13:45–51; 14:5–7, 19). But then synagogue leadership brings him before the proconsul Gallio, charging him with encouraging the worship of a foreign god. Gallio judges that the issue is one of religion, not civil law, and dismisses the charges (Acts 18:12–16).

When the Jews in the synagogue drove Paul out, after several weeks of showing Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, the synagogue ruler Crispus followed him (Acts 18:8). Sosthenes is apparently Crispus' replacement and the head of the group that brings Paul to trial. It's unclear who "they all" are—presumably Gallio's guards who want to make sure the Jews understand not to waste the proconsul's time.

In Paul's introduction to his letter to the Corinthian church, he writes, "Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes" (1 Corinthians 1:1). There's no way we can know for certain, but it appears the Jewish synagogue leader so irritated with Paul that he brought him before a Roman court eventually becomes a Christ-follower. If so, there's no doubt Paul thought his tense encounter with Gallio was well worth it.

Acts 18:12–17 describes the relatively mild resistance Paul meets as he builds the church in Corinth. Paul spends eighteen months in Corinth teaching about Jesus' offer of forgiveness and establishing the church. The Jews who reject his message bring him to court and accuse him of teaching a new religion that isn't authorized by the Roman government. Gallio, the proconsul, doesn't see any socially relevant difference between the Jews and the Jesus-followers. So, he dismisses the charges. A crowd responds by seizing the leader of the synagogue and beating him, but Gallio does not give it any attention.

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.