Acts 18:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of these things.”

NIV: But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law--settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.'

NASB: but if there are questions about teaching and persons and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am unwilling to be a judge of these matters.'

CSB: But if these are questions about words, names, and your own law, see to it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things."

NLT: But since it is merely a question of words and names and your Jewish law, take care of it yourselves. I refuse to judge such matters.'

KJV: But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters.

NKJV: But if it is a question of words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; for I do not want to be a judge of such matters.”

In the Roman Empire, there was no such thing as separation between church and state. Emperor worship bound every resident to a common religion. All gods were to be pre-approved by the Roman government. It was not legal even to privately worship a foreign god, as noted in Cicero's De Legibus, ii.8. So, when Jews from the synagogue in Corinth accuse Paul of encouraging worship of a strange deity, they think they've found a way to convince the proconsul to throw him out of town.

Paul's heart and habits have protected him. He is the apostle to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13), but his affections will always first be for the Jews (Romans 9:1–5). To that end, whenever he enters a new town, he first looks for where the Jews meet to worship; in Corinth, as in most large cities, that is the synagogue. After teaching there for several weeks, trying to convince the Jews and Gentile God-fearers that Jesus is the Messiah, the unbelieving Jews are so disrespectful he leaves. But some believe, including Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue (Acts 18:4–8).

Paul, a Jew, teaches in the Jewish synagogue, then teaches next door at the home of Titius Justus with Crispus, the Jewish ruler of the Jewish synagogue. It's little wonder Gallio concludes the argument is over religious interpretations, not any direct matters of civil law. The tribune in Jerusalem and Festus will have the same reaction (Acts 23:29; 25:18–19). Other sources say Gallio had health problems during the end of his installment as proconsul. He eventually left thinking Corinth was making him sick. But it was God who orchestrated Paul's relatively peaceful, lengthy stay in Corinth (Acts 18:9–10).

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.