Acts 18:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus.

NIV: When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

NASB: But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began devoting himself completely to the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.

CSB: When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself to preaching the word and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Messiah.

NLT: 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.

KJV: And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ.

NKJV: When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

Paul has been in Corinth without his team for a while, but he hasn't been alone. He left Timothy and Silas in Berea while he fled from angry Jewish Thessalonians to Athens (Acts 17:13–14). At first, he wanted his two partners to follow, but later changed his mind (Acts 17:15; 1 Thessalonians 3:6). After Athens, he went west to Corinth and met Priscilla and Aquila, two fellow tentmakers, and joined their business (Acts 18:1–3).

Each Sabbath, Paul has gone to the synagogue, "reasoning" with the Jews and Gentle God-fearers that Jesus is the Messiah promised in the Hebrew Scriptures (Acts 18:4). Luke recorded one representative version of Paul's preaching (Acts 13:16–41) which is very close to the witness Stephen gave before his murder (Acts 7:1–53). Even though Paul is the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13), he always starts with the Jews: God's chosen people through whom the Savior of the world came (Romans 1:16). Some, like the leader of the synagogue, believe (Acts 18:8). Many others don't, and Paul leaves the synagogue, moving next door to the home of Titius Justus, a Gentile God-fearer who finds salvation in Jesus (Acts 18:6–7).

Paul and his team had been run out of both Thessalonica and Berea by Jews in Thessalonica, but Paul cared about the fledgling church and sent Timothy back (Acts 17:1–14; 1 Thessalonians 3:6). Timothy brings good news. Despite the fact the unbelieving Jews had dragged some of the Jesus-followers to the city authorities (Acts 17:6–9), and continued to persecute them after Paul left, they stand strong in the faith (1 Thessalonians 3:7–10). Paul will find the churches in Thessalonica and Corinth very different. The Thessalonians' strong faith and spiritual maturity will lead to questions about Christ's return (1 Thessalonians 4:13—5:11). The incredibly immoral sexual culture of Corinth will lead Paul to remind them of seemingly obvious boundaries: such as not sleeping with their stepmothers (1 Corinthians 5).

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.