Bible Commentaries

Corinth was another of the most celebrated cities of Greece.

Claudius; the Roman emperor.

And when Silas and Timotheus were come, &c., as directed by Paul. (Acts 17:15.)

Acts 18:9,10. Paul seems to allude to the anxiety and fear which he suffered on this occasion in his first letter to the Corinthian Christians. (1 Corinthians 2:1-3.)

The deputy of Achaia; the magistrate appointed by the Romans to the government of the province of Achaia, of which Corinth was the capital.--Made insurrection; raised a tumult.

Sosthenes; he having been probably a prominent actor in the tumult. It is a remarkable instance of the revolutions in personal character and position, which Christianity often effects, that Sosthenes, who appears on this occasion as the representative of so violent a hostility to the Christian name, and who, we should have supposed, would have been rendered, by this public beating, exasperate and irreconcilable, afterwards has his name joined with that of Paul, in one of the Epistles, as his fellow-Christian, companion, and friend. (1 Corinthians 1:1.)

He had a vow. For the regulations respecting such a vow, see Numbers 6:1-27. Paul, being a Jew, continued himself to conform to the usages of the Jewish law, though the Gentile converts were not required to submit to them.

Ephesus; is; a large and wealthy city, on the western coast of Asia Minor.

This feast; probably the passover. The occasion would bring together a large concourse, both of Christians and also of Jews, many of whom might be disposed to listen to the preaching of the gospel.

The church; at Jerusalem.

Ephesus; where Paul had left Aquila and Priscilla, as stated Acts 18:19.

Into Achaia; to the city of Corinth. There are frequent allusions to Apollos in Paul's 1 Corinthians 1:12,3:4,5,6,22,4:6,16:12.