Acts 18:4 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and tried to persuade Jews and Greeks.

NIV: Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

NASB: And Paul was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade Jews and Greeks.

CSB: He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and tried to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

NLT: Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.

KJV: And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

NKJV: And he reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded both Jews and Greeks.

Although Paul arrived in Corinth alone, he has settled into a routine. Silas and Timothy are in Macedonia and will join him before too long (Acts 18:5). Until then, Paul has met Priscilla and Aquila and joined their tentmaking business (Acts 18:2–3). On the Sabbath, Paul goes to the local synagogue.

Paul's modus operandi when entering a new city is to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath and wait to be asked to teach. He will then open to the prophets and show how Jesus of Nazareth fulfills the prophecies of the Messiah. His hope is that all the Jews, as one body, will come to faith in Jesus. Usually, however, some Jews and a larger number of God-fearing Gentiles will believe him, he'll get kicked out of the synagogue, he'll find a place outside the synagogue to teach, a lot of Gentiles will join, and the non-believing Jews will harass him until he leaves the city.

Paul finds the same cycle here in Corinth. After Silas and Timothy finally arrive, the Jewish leaders in the synagogue harass Paul to the point that he leaves. Fortunately, one of the Gentile God-fearers lives next door and invites Paul to teach from his home; the leader of the synagogue follows. Despite the harassment, God tells Paul He will protect him. Paul and his team stay for a year and a half, building the church (Acts 18:6–11).

Acts 18:1–4 sees Paul arriving in Corinth. He has traveled across modern-day Asia Minor and down the eastern coast of Macedonia and Greece. From Athens, he heads west across the isthmus to the large Greek city. There, he will meet Aquila and Priscilla, refugees from Claudius' persecutions in Rome. The couple will be a great support to him, providing him with a means of living until Silas and Timothy reach him. Priscilla and Aquila will also follow Paul to Ephesus and train Apollos, a passionate speaker who only needs to know the story of Jesus to be a great preacher (Acts 18:24–28).

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.