When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul began to occupy himself totally with preaching the word, testifying to the Jews that the Messiah was Jesus. 6 When they opposed him and reviled him, he shook out his garments and said to them, “Your blood be on your heads! I am clear of responsibility. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7 So he left there and went to a house belonging to a man named Titus Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next to a synagogue. 8 Crispus, the synagogue official, came to believe in the Lord along with his entire household, and many of the Corinthians who heard believed and were baptized. 9 One night in a vision the Lord said to Paul, “Do not be afraid. Go on speaking, and do not be silent, 10 for I am with you. No one will attack and harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 He settled there for a year and a half and taught the word of God among them.
12 But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews rose up together against Paul and brought him to the tribunal, 13 saying, “This man is inducing people to worship God contrary to the law.” 14 When Paul was about to reply, Gallio spoke to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud, I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews; 15 but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of such matters.” 16 And he drove them away from the tribunal. 17 They all seized Sosthenes, the synagogue official, and beat him in full view of the tribunal. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.
18 Paul remained for quite some time, and after saying farewell to the brothers he sailed for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut because he had taken a vow.
After departing Athens, Paul travels west to Corinth, a thriving commercial hub in southern Greece (Achaia) with a significant Jewish population. Here Paul meets Aquila and Priscilla, Jewish Christians recently expelled from Rome by the edict of Emperor Claudius (cf. Suetonius, Claudius 25.4; Acts 18:2). Like Paul, they were tentmakers by trade, and he stayed and worked with them, reasoning each Sabbath in the synagogue to persuade both Jews and Greeks (Acts 18:4). This collaboration anticipates their future service to the Gospel (cf. Rom 16:3; 1 Cor 16:19).
When Silas and Timothy arrive from Macedonia (v. 5), they likely bring financial support (cf. 2 Cor 11:9; Phil 4:15), allowing Paul to devote himself more fully to preaching. He testifies to the Jews that “the Messiah is Jesus” (cf. Acts 2:36), but is met with resistance and even blasphemy. Following the prophetic pattern (cf. Ezek. 3:7; Mt 10:14), Paul declares he will now go to the Gentiles, symbolically shaking out his garments in protest (v. 6).
He moves next door to the synagogue into the house of Titus Justus, described as a worshiper of God (v. 7). This term typically refers to Gentiles who attended synagogue services and revered the God of Israel without fully converting through circumcision—commonly known as God-fearers (cf. Acts 10:2). Thus, Titus Justus was likely a Gentile closely associated with the Jewish community, open to the message of Christ.
In verse 8, Crispus, “the synagogue official”, becomes a believer along with his household. As synagogue ruler, he would have had responsibilities such as organizing worship, overseeing readings, and maintaining order—a respected position within the Jewish community (cf. Mk 5:22; Lk 8:41).
Paul is then reassured in a vision by the Lord: “Do not be afraid... for I am with you” (v. 9–10), echoing promises given to Moses (Ex 3:12), Jeremiah (Jer 1:8), and fulfilled in Christ’s commission to the apostles (Mt 28:20). Strengthened by this divine encouragement, Paul remains in Corinth for eighteen months, teaching the word of God (v. 11).
Tensions eventually rise when Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia, takes office (v. 12). The proconsul was the chief magistrate of a senatorial province, holding both administrative and judicial authority delegated by the Roman Senate. The Jews bring Paul before the tribunal, a public judgment seat often located in the civic forum, accusing him of persuading people to worship God contrary to the law (likely referring to Jewish religious law, not Roman civil law). Gallio dismisses the case, asserting that it concerns internal religious disputes, not matters of criminal conduct—a decision that, for a time, indirectly shielded Christian preaching under the legal umbrella of Judaism (vv. 14–16).
Verse 17 describes an enigmatic episode: Sosthenes, now the synagogue official, is beaten in front of the tribunal. The text is ambiguous about who inflicted the beating—some scholars suggest Greek bystanders, frustrated with Jewish accusations, while others propose disaffected Jews punishing their leader for failing to convict Paul. The name appears again in 1 Corinthians 1:1 as a Christian brother, possibly the same individual, now converted and reconciled with Paul—a testament to the transforming power of grace, even for those once aligned with opposition.
Almighty God, give us the courage of Paul to speak Your truth with love, trusting that You are always with us. This we pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Bless those who walk by faith and not by sight
Sources
- McSorley, Joseph. An Outline History of the Church by Centuries (From St. Peter to Pius XII). 2nd ed., B. Herder Book Co., 1944.
- Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.
- Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: New Testament Expanded Edition. Four Courts / Scepter, 2008.
- Faculty of the University of Navarre. The Navarre Bible: The Pentateuch. Four Courts Press, 2017
- Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Prentice Hall, 1990.
- Charpentier, Etienne. How to Read the Old Testament. Translated by John Bowden, 1981.
- Komonchak, Joseph, et al., editors. The New Dictionary of Theology.
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