Acts 18:27 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And when he wished to cross to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed,

NIV: When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers and sisters encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

NASB: And when he wanted to go across to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him; and when he had arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace,

CSB: When he wanted to cross over to Achaia, the brothers and sisters wrote to the disciples to welcome him. After he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.

NLT: Apollos had been thinking about going to Achaia, and the brothers and sisters in Ephesus encouraged him to go. They wrote to the believers in Achaia, asking them to welcome him. When he arrived there, he proved to be of great benefit to those who, by God’s grace, had believed.

KJV: And when he was disposed to pass into Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him: who, when he was come, helped them much which had believed through grace:

NKJV: And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;

All things considered, the Jesus-followers in Ephesus work quickly. On his way home from his second missionary journey, it appears Paul spent only one day in the synagogue, explaining how Jesus of Nazareth fits the prophecies of the Jewish Messiah. He leaves behind Priscilla and Aquila and continues on his way (Acts 18:19–21). While worshiping in the synagogue, Priscilla and Aquila hear Apollos preach. A Jew from the academic city of Alexandria, Apollos, knows John the Baptist's message of repentance and some about Jesus, but he doesn't seem to fully understand how Jesus offers reconciliation with God. Priscilla and Aquila pull him aside and show him (Acts 18:24–26).

Now, Apollos is ready to move on and spread the story of Jesus. He decides he needs to go to Corinth to continue the work Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila started. The church in Corinth welcomes him, some even trying to turn him into a sect leader (1 Corinthians 1:12). Paul considers him a fellow worker (1 Corinthians 3:9). Apollos builds up those who came to Christ during Paul's eighteen-month stay and continues to try to convince the Jews in the synagogue that Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 18:11, 28).

Achaia is the province that includes the large island-like mass connected to southern Greece by a narrow isthmus. Corinth is the capital of Achaia. The "brothers" are those Jews and Gentile God-fearers who accepted Jesus as their Savior either when Paul was there or through the teaching of Priscilla and Aquila.

Acts 18:24–28 records a short interlude featuring Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos. Priscilla and Aquila became fast friends with Paul in Corinth (Acts 18:1–3). When Paul left Corinth, he brought the couple along and stationed them in Ephesus. Apollos is a Jewish teacher from Alexandria who preaches the baptism of repentance that John the Baptist taught (Mark 1:2–8). Apollos knows some about Jesus, but after Priscilla and Aquila explain how He is the Messiah who offers salvation, Apollos becomes a powerful evangelist and continues Paul's work in Corinth.

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.