also his offspring.

29 Forasmuch then as we are the

a

b

Rom. 25.

47. Tit. ii.
11, 12. 1 Pet.

iv. 3. Rom. 11. 16:

c ch. x. 42.

xiv. 10.

offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead Isa. xl. 18. is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. 30 And the times of this ignorance God. ₫ winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. 32 And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33e So Paul departed from among them.

and believed

d

34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

XVIII. 1 After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2 and found a certain Jew named

d ch. ii. 24.

a Rom. xvi. 3.

2 Tim. iv. 19.

a Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his 1 Cor. xvi. 19. d render, overlooked.

head like to the works of his (man's) hands. certain of your own poets] viz. Aratus, in the opening lines of the poem called "the Phænomena:" Cleanthes also in his hymn to Zeus (Jupiter), has the same words. Aratus was a native of Tarsus, about 270 B.C., and wrote astronomical poems, of which two remain. Cleanthes was born at Assos, in Troas, about 300 B.C. The Apostle, by the plural, seems to have both poets in his mind.The his refers to Zeus (Jupiter) in both cases, the admission being taken as a portion of truth regarding the Supreme God, which even heathen poets confessed. 30. God overlooked] The rendering of the A.V. bears the same meaning, but is to our ears in these days objectionable. In this assurance lie treasures of mercy for those who lived in the times of ignorance. God overlooked them: i. e. corrected not this ignorance itself as a sin, but the abuses even of this, by which the heathen sunk into deeper degradation. The same argument is treated more at length in Rom. i. ii.

31. in righteousness] Righteousness is the character of the judginent,-the element of which it shall consist. whereof he hath given assurance] "As the thing asserted was hardly credible, he gives a distinguished proof of it." Grotius.

32. some mocked: and others said...] VOL. I.

render, [And] thus.

We must not allot these two parties, as some have done, the former to the Epicureans, the latter to the Stoicks: the description is general. The words, we will hear thee again of this matter, need not be taken as ironical. The hearing not having taken place is no proof that it was not intended at the time and the distinction between these and the mockers seems to imply that these were in earnest. 33. thus] i. e.

in this state of the popular mind:' (with an expectation of being heard again?) The "so" of the A. V. does not give this forcibly enough, but looks like a mere particle of transition. 34. Dionysius

the Areopagite] Nothing more is known of him. Eusebius relates that he was bishop of Athens, and Nicephorus, that he died a martyr. The writings which go by his name are undoubtedly spurious.

CHAP. XVIII. 1.] Corinth was at this time a colony (see note, ch. xvi. 12), the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, and the residence of the proconsul. For further particulars, see Introduction to 1 Cor. § 2. 2. a certain Jew] It appears that Aquila and Priscilla were not Christians at this time: it is the similarity of employment only which draws them to St. Paul, and their conversion is left to be inferred as taking place in consequence: see ver. 26. born in Pontus] literally,

3 E

b ch. xx. 34.

1 Cor. iv. 12. 1 Thess. ii. 9.

wife Priscilla; because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome: and came unto them. 3 And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, band wrought: for by their occupation they were tent4 c And he reasoned in the synagogue every 2 Thess. iii. 8. makers. sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5 ↑ And d when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was 8 pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews

e ch. xvii. 2.

d ch. xvii. 14, 15.

e Job xxxii. 18. ch. xvii. 3. ver. 28.

¤ read and render, earnestly occupied in discoursing, testifying

a Pontian by race.

It is remarkable, that Pontius Aquila is a name found in the Pontian gens at Rome more than once in the days of the Republic, whence some have supposed that this may have been a freedman of a Pontius Aquila, and that the words "a Pontian by race may have been an inference from his name. But besides that St. Luke's acquaintance with the real origin of Aquila could hardly but have been accurate,-Aquila, the translator of the Old Test. into Greek, was also a native of Pontus. From the notices of Aquila and Priscilla in the Epistles, they appear to have travelled, fixing their abode by turns in different principal cities for the sake of their business. In ver. 19, we have them left at Ephesus (see also ver. 26): in 1 Cor. xvi. 19, still there; in Rom. xvi. 3 ff., again at Rome; in 2 Tim. iv. 19, again at Ephe

sus.

because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome...] Suetonius says, "The Jews, who at the instigation of Chrestus were continually exciting tumults, he expelled from Rome," but as he gives this without any fixed note of time, as the words "at the instigation of Chrestus" may be taken in three ways (as indicative eitber (1) of an actual leader of that name, or (2) of some tumult connected with the expectations of a Messiah, or (3) of some dispute about Christianity),

Neander well observes that after all which has been said on it, no secure historical inference respecting the date of the event, or its connexion with any Christian church at Rome, can be drawn. It was as a Jew that Aquila was driven from Rome: and there is not a word of Christians here. See more in my Greek Test. The edicts soon became invalid, or the prohibition was taken off: we find Aquila at Rome, Rom. xvi. 3, and many Jews resident there, ch. xxviii. 17 ff. 3. wrought]

The Jewish Rabbis having no state pay, it was their practice to teach their children a trade. What is commanded of a father

towards his son ?' asks a Talmudic writer,
'To circumcise him, to teach him the law,
to teach him a trade.' Rabbi Judah saith,
He that teacheth not his son a trade,
doth the same as if he taught him to be a
thief:' and Rabban Gamaliel saith, 'He
that hath a trade in his hand, to what is
he like? He is like a vineyard that is
fenced."" Conybeare and Howson, i. p.
58. The places where St. Paul refers to
his supporting himself by his own manual
labour are,―ch. xx. 34 (Ephesus):-1 Cor.
ix. 12 ff.; 2 Cor. vii. 2 (Corinth) :-1 Thess.
ii. 9; 2 Thess. iii. 8 (Thessalonica).- In
2 Cor. xi. 9, we learn that supplies were
also brought to him at Corinth from Mace-
donia, i. e. Philippi: see Phil. iv. 15.
tent-makers] The general opinion now is,
that St. Paul was a maker of tents from the
cilicium,' or hair-cloth of Cilician goats.
If it be objected, that he would hardly
find the raw material for this work in cities
far from Cilicia, it may be answered, that
this would not be required in the fabri-
cation of tents from the hair-cloth, which
doubtless itself would be an article of
commerce in the markets of Greece.-
Chrysostom calls Paul sometimes a leather-
cutter, imagining that the tents were made
of leather.
5.] See ch. xvii. 15;

1 Thess. iii. 6. The meaning is, that
'when Silas and Timotheus returned from
Macedonia, they found Paul anxiously
occupied in discoursing to the Jews.' It
seems to be implied, that they found him
in a state of more than ordinary anxiety,
more than usually absorbed in the work of
testifying to the Jews:-a crisis in the
work being imminent, which resulted in
their rejection of the word of life. (On the
whole character of his early preaching at
Corinth, see notes, 1 Cor. ii. 1-5.) Thus
only, the but in ver. 5 and that in ver. 6
will both be satisfied: he discoursed in
the synagogue, &c. . . but when Silas
and Timotheus returned, he was earnestly
occupied in discoursing, &c. But, as they

that Jesus was h Christ.

7 And
man's i

g

1 Pet. iv. 4. Neh. v. 18.

Matt. x. 14. h Lev. xx. 9, 11, 16. Ezek.

ch. xiii. 51.

11

12. 2 Sam. i.

xviii. 13: xxxiii. 4.

Ezek. iii. 18,

19: xxxiii. 9. ch. xx. 26.

ch. xiii. 46:

xxviii. 28.

Cor. i. 14.

6f And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he i shook his raiment, and said unto them, h Your blood be upon your own heads; ik I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. he departed thence, and entered into a certain house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. 81 And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 91 Then spake the Lord to Paul in m ch. xxiii. 11. the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace : 10 n for I am with thee, and no man shall n Jer. i. 18, 19, set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 11 And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12 And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrec

h render, the Christ.

m

i render, shook out.

Matt. xxviii.

20.

k better perhaps, I shall henceforth with a clear conscience go unto the Gentiles.

1 render, And the Lord spake. opposed themselves and blasphemed, &c. 6.] The term blood is used as in ch. xx. 26. The image and nearly the words, are from Ezek. xxxiii. 4. from henceforth] Not absolutely, only at Corinth for ver. 19 we find him arguing with the Jews again in the synagogue at Ephesus. The difference in the readings of the last clause in the verse is matter of punctuation. Probably there should be no stop at clean, and then it will read as in the margin, I shall henceforth with a clear conscience go to the Gentiles. 7.] In order to shew that he henceforth separated himself from the Jews, he, on leaving the synagogue, went no longer to the house of the Jew Aquila (who appears afterwards to have been converted), but to the house of a Gentile proselyte of the gate, close to the synagogue: in the sight of all the congregation in the synagogue: for this seems to be the object in mentioning the circumstance. 8.] On this, a schism took place among the Jews. The ruler of the synagogue attached himself to Paul, and was, together with Gaius, baptized by the Apostle himself (1 Cor. i. 14): and with him many of the Corinthians (Jews and Gentiles, it being the house of a proselyte), probably Aquila and Priscilla also, believed and were baptized.

See

for solemnity's sake, we have an affirmation
and negation combined, John i. 3.
also Isa. lviii. 1.
10. I have much
people] See John x. 16. As our Lord
forewarned Paul in Jerusalem that they
would not receive his testimony concerning
Him, so here He encourages him, by a
promise of much success in Corinth. The
word people, the express title beforetime
of the Jews, is still used now, notwith-
standing their secession.
11.] The

year and a half may extend either to his
departure, or to the incident in ver. 12 ff.
Meyer would confine it to the latter, taking
the verb in the sense of remained in
quiet but it will hardly bear such em-
phasis: and seeing that the incident in
vv. 12 ff. was a notable fulfilment of the
promise,-for though they set on him,
they could not hurt him,-I should be
disposed to take the other view, and regard
that which is related ver. 12 to ver. 18, as
having happened during this time.
12. Gallio] His original name was Marcus
Annæus Novatus: but, having been adopted
into the family of the rhetorician Lucius
Junius Gallio, he took the name of Junius
Annæus Gallio. He was brother of Lucius
Annæus Seneca, the philosopher, whose
character of him is in exact accordance
with that which we may infer from this
narrative: "No man on earth is so pleasant

9. speak, and hold not thy peace] So,

tion with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, 13 saying, This [m fellow] persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14 And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the o ch. xxiii. 20: Jews, ° If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15 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. 16 And he drave them from the judgment seat. 17 Then Pall the Greeks took P Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And

XXV. 11, 19.

p 1 Cor. i. 1.

m not expressed in the original: better, This man.
n read, questions.

P read, all [the people].

to me, as this man is to all."
"Gallio, my
brother, whom there is none that does not
love a little, even those who have not the
power of loving more." He is called "the
pleasant Gallio" by Statius. He appears
to have given up the province of Achaia
from ill health. He was spared after the
execution of his brother: but Dio Cassius
adds, that Seneca's brothers were put to
death afterwards, and Eusebius in his
Chronicle, on A.D. 66, says that he put an
end to himself after his brother's death.

the deputy] See note on ch. xiii. 7.
Achaia was originally a senatorial province,
but was temporarily made an imperial one
by Tiberius. of Achaia] The Roman
province of Achaia contained Hellas and
the Peloponnesus, and, with Macedonia,
embraced all their Grecian dominions.
"The judgment seat is mentioned three
times in the course of this narrative (see
vv. 16, 17). It was of two kinds: (1)
fixed in some public and open place: (2)
moveable, and taken by the Roman magis-
trates to be placed wherever they might
sit in a judicial character. Probably here
and in the case of Pilate (John xix. 13),
the former kind of seat is intended. See
Smith's Dict. of Antiquities, under 'Sella.'
See also some remarks on the tribunal,-
the indispensable symbol of the Roman
judgment seat,' in the Edinburgh Review
for Jan. 1847, p. 151." Conybeare and
Howson, vol. i. 494. 13. contrary to
the law] Against the Mosaic law :-the
exercise of which, as a lawful religion,'
was allowed to the Jews.

15. ques

tions] The plural expresses contempt: If it is questions, &c.: as we should say, 'a parcel of questions.' See ch. xxiii. 29. names] Paul asserted Jesus to be the

• omit.

Christ, which the Jews denied. This, to a
Roman, would be a question of names.

So Lysias (ch. xxiii. 29) declined to decide Paul's case, and Festus (ch. xxv. 20) though he did not altogether put the enquiry by, wished to judge it at Jernsalem, where he might have the counsel of those learned in the Jewish law.

17.

all (the people)] Apparently, all the mob, i.e. the Gentile population present. Sosthenes, as the ruler of the synagogue (either the ruler, or one of the rulers; perhaps he had succeeded Crispus), had been the chief of the complainant Jews, and therefore, on their cause being rejected, and themselves ignominiously dismissed, was roughly treated by the mob. From this, certainly the right explanation, has arisen the explanatory gloss, "the Greeks.” Another explanatory gloss, "the Jews," is given: and has sprung from the notion that this Sosthenes was the same person with the Sosthenes of 1 Cor. i. 1, a Christian and a companion of Paul. But, not to insist on the improbability of the party driven from the tribunal having beaten one of their antagonists in front of the tribunal,-why did they not beat Paul himself?-there is no ground for supposing the two persons to be the same, Sosthenes being no uncommon name. If they were, this man must have been converted afterwards; but he is not among those who accompanied Paul into Asia, either in ver. 18, or ch. xx. 4.-The carelessness of Gallio about the matter clearly seems to be a further instance of his contempt for the Jews, and indisposition to favour them or their persecution of Paul. Had this been otherwise meant, certainly and would not have been the copula. So little did the

Gallio cared for none of those things. 18 And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having a shorn his head in Cen- Numb. vi. 18. chrea; for he had a vow. 19 And he came to Ephesus,

and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20 When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not; 21 but bade them farewell, saying, [ 9 I must by all sch. xix. 21, means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem; but] I will

¶ omitted by most of our oldest authorities.