Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From: ACTS #30 - 18:1-23)
F. 18:1-23 THE LORD BUILDS A CHURCH AT CORINTH
1. 18:1-4 NORMAL PATTERN OF BEGINNING
a. 18:1 After these thingshe departed from :Athens, andcame to Corinth.
MeTA TAUta chorisTHEIS [5563]ek ton A-theNON, Elthen eis KOrin-thon.
b. 18:2-3 PROVIDENTIAL FINDING OF AQUILA AND PRISCILLA
kai heuRON ti-na IouDAIon oNOma-ti A-KUlan, Pon-tiKON toGEnei,
And he found a certain Jew Aquila by name, Pontian by :race,
prosPHAtos [4373]e-le-luTHOta aPO tes I-taLIas, kai PRIskil-lan guNAIka auTOU,
lately come from :Italy, and his wife Priscilla,
diA to di-a-te-taCHEnai [1299] KLAUdi-on choRIzes-thai PANtas tous IouDAIous
because Claudius had commanded all the Jews
aPO tes 'ROmes: proSELthen auTOIS;
to depart from :Rome: andhe came to them;
kai diA to hoMOtech-non [3673] EInai, Eme-nen par' auTOIS,
3and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them,
kai erGAzon-to [2038]; Esan gar ske-no-poiOI [4635]te TECHne[5078].
and they wrought; for by theirtrade they were tentmakers.
c. 18:4 And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and was persuading both Jews and Greeks.
di-eLEge-to [1256] de en te su-na-goGEkaTA pan SABba-ton, EpeiTHEN [3982]te IouDAIous kai HELle-nas.
2. 18:5-11 BOLD GOSPEL PRESENTATION PRODUCES CONFLICT
a. 18:5 REINFORCEMENTS INCREASE BOLD WITNESS!
Hos de kaTELthon aPO tes Ma-ke-doNIas HO te SIlas kai ho TiMOthe-os,
But when both :Silas and :Timothy came down from :Macedonia,
suNEIche-to [4912] toLOgo ho PAUlos, di-a-mar-tuROme-nos tois IouDAIois EInai ton ChrisTON IeSOUN.
:Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ.
b. 18:6 REJECTION LEADS TO DEPARTURE
an-ti-tas-soMEnon de auTON kai blas-pheMOUNton, ek-ti-naXAme-nos ta hiMAti-a EIpen pros auTOUS,
And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his:raiment and said unto them,
To HAIma huMON ePI ten ke-phaLEN huMON: ka-thaROS eGO: aPO tou nun eis ta ETHnepoREUso-mai.
Your :blood be upon your :heads: I amclean: from now on I will go unto the nations.
c. 18:7 GOD PROVIDENTIALLY OPENS A NEW DOOR
kai me-taBAS eKEIthen, ELthen eis oiKIan tiNOS
And he departed from there, andwent into the house of a certain man
oNOma-ti TiTIou IOUstou, se-boMEnou [4576] ton TheON, hou he oiKIa en su-no-moROUsa tesu-na-goGE.
Titius Justus by name, one that worshiped :God, whose :house joined hard to the synagogue.
d. 18:8 GREATER RESULTS FROM THE NEW MOVE
KRISpos de, ho ar-chi-suNAgo-gos [752], ePIsteu-sen toKuRIo sun HOloto OIkoauTOU;
And Crispus, the synagogue ruler, believed inthe Lord with all his :house;
kai polLOI ton Ko-rinTHIon aKOUon-tes ePIsteu-on, kai e-bapTIzon-to [907].
and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized.
e. 18:9-10 ENCOURAGEMENT FROM THE LORD
EIpen de ho KUri-os en nukTI di' hoRAma-tos [3571] toPAUlo,
And the Lord said to :Paul at night by a vision,
MephoBOU, alLA LAlei kai mesi-oPEses [4623]:
Be not afraid, but speak and hold not yourpeace:
di HOti eGOei-mi meTA sou, kai ouDEIS e-piTHEseTAI [2007]soi tou kaKO-SAI [2559]se:
10because I am with you, and no manshall set on you to harm you:
di' HOti laOS esTI moi poLUS en te POlei TAUte.
because I have much people in this :city.
f. 18:11 And he dwelt therea year and six months, teaching the word of :God among them.
eKAthi-sen de e-ni-auTON kai MEnas hex, diDAskon en auTOIS ton LOgon tou TheOU.
3. 18:12-17 GOD CONFIRMS HIS VISION TO PAUL
a. 18:12-13 OPPOSITION BY THE JEWS
GalLIo-nos de an-thuPAtou ONtos tes A-CHAIas, katePEste-san hoi IouDAIoi ho-mo-thu-maDON toPAUlo
But when Gallio was proconsul of :Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against :Paul
kai Ega-gon auTON ePI to BEma [968],
and brought him before the judgment-seat,
LEgon-tes [HOti], PaRA NOmon a-naPEItho [374]HOUtos tous anTHROpous SEbes-thai [4576]ton TheON.
13saying [that], this manpersuades :men to worship :God contrary to the law.
b. 18:14-15 GALLIO: A JUDGE OF WRONG, NOT OF RELIGION
MELlon-tos de tou PAUlou aNOIgein [455] to STOma, EIpen ho GalLIon pros tous IouDAIous,
But when :Paul was about to open his:mouth, :Gallio said unto the Jews,
Ei men en aDIkeMA [92] ti e 'ra-diOURge-ma [4467] po-neRON,
If indeed it were some wrong or a wicked villainy,
OIouDAIoi, kaTA LOgon an a-neSCHOmen [430]huMON:
O youJews, reason would that I should bear with you:
ei de zeTEmaTA [2213] es-tin peRI LOgou kai o-noMAton
15 but if thequestions are about wordsand names
kai NOmou tou kath' huMAS, Opses-the [3700] auTOI; kriTES [2923] eGO TOUton ou BOUlo-mai EInai.
and your own :law, look to ityourselves; I intend not to be a judge of these.
c. 18:16 And he drove them from the judgment-seat.
kai aPEla-sen auTOUS aPO tou BEma-tos.
d. 18:17a And all laid hold on Sosthenes, the synagogue-ruler, andbeat him before the judgment-seat.
e-pi-laBOme-noi de PANtes SosTHEnen, ton ar-chi-suNAgo-gon [752], Etup-ton EMpros-then tou BEma-tos.
e. 18:17b And Gallio cared for none of these things.
kai ouDEN TOUton toGalLIo-ni Eme-len.
4. 18:18-23 FORMER CHURCHES NOT FORGOTTEN
a. 18:18 PAUL LEAVES CORINTH
Ho de PAUlos, Eti prosMEInas heMEras hi-kaNAS,
And :Paul, after staying over many days,
tois a-delPHOIS a-po-taXAme-nos [657], eXEplei eis ten SuRI-an, kai sun auTO PRISkil-la kai A-KUlas:
took leave of the brethren, andsailed from there for :Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila:
keiRAme-nos [2751] en Ken-chreAIS ten ke-phaLEN; EIchen gar euCHEN [2171].
having shaved his:head in Cenchreae; for he had a vow.
b. 18:19 AT EPHESUS
kaTENte-san [2658]de eis Ephe-son, ka' 'KEInous kaTEli-pen auTOU:
And they came to Ephesus, and he left those there:
auTOS de ei-selTHON eis ten su-na-goGEN, di-eLExa-to [1256] tois IouDAIois.
but he himself entered into the synagogue, andreasoned with the Jews.
c. 18:20-21 PAUL DEPARTS FROM EPHESUS
e-roTONton [2065] de auTON ePI PLEIo-na CHROnon MEInai, ouk ePEneu-sen [1962];
And when they asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not;
alLA a-po-taXAme-nos [657], kai eiPON,
21but taking leave of them, and saying,
PAlin a-naKAMpso [344] pros huMAS tou TheOU THElon-tos, aNECHthe [321] aPO tes E-PHEsou.
I will return again unto you :God willing, he set sail from :Ephesus.
d. 18:22 And having landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the Church, andwent down to Antioch.
kai ka-telTHON [2718]eis Kai-saRIan, a-naBAS kai a-spaSAme-nos ten ek-kleSIan, kaTEbeeis An-tiOchei-an.
e. 18:23 FRUIT OF FIRST MISSIONARY TRIP CONSOLIDATED
kai poiEsas CHROnon tiNA, eXELthen,
And having spent some time there, he departed,
di-erCHOme-nos [1330] ka-theXES [2517] ten Ga-la-tiKEN CHOran, kai PhruGIan,
andwent through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia,
steRIzon [4741] PANtas tous ma-theTAS.
in order, establishing all the disciples.
NOTE: The book of Acts written by Luke, is a key to understand the order and significance of the 21 following letters written by James, Peter, John, Jude and Paul. It is a necessary, historical book fitting this part of the New Testament together. It picks up from the Gospel of Jesus written by Luke to Theophilus. Those in the know, say that the New Testament KOIneGreek of Luke is the high mark of this language in the New Testament. I like to put the various New Testament books in a framework of modern day schooling: The 4 Gospels as Elementary School; Acts as Junior High; James through Jude as Senior High; Paul's letters from Romans to Thessalonians as College; Hebrews as a Master's degree; Timothy, Titus and Philemon as a Doctorate degree; and Revelation as a Post-graduate course.
Note that the order of the New Testament epistles is not the same as the historical order that Luke gives them in the Acts of the Holy Spirit through the apostles. The historical background of the Church of Corinth as Luke gives it here, is a great help when we read 1 & 2 Corinthians.
It was in Corinth that Paul first met up with Aquila and Priscilla. As has been noted in other places, this couple are mentioned together but six times in the New Testament. Three times they are associated with a church in their home: Rome, Corinth and Ephesus. In the Authorized King James version, three times Aquila is mentioned first, and three times Priscilla. But in Panin's Bible Numeric Version, Aquila is mentioned first but twice, and Priscilla four times. When Eldership is the chief emphasis, it is Aquila and Priscilla; but when the strong manifestation of the Spirit is in the lead, it is Priscilla and Aquila. Women need never fear concerning God's appraisal of these things, nor of rewards in heaven. Sometimes it may be difficult for them down here - but in heaven there is neither male nor female nor marriage - but we then are like the angels, said Jesus. Blessed the women who understand this down here, and the men who walk in 1 Peter 2:1-7 and Ephesians 5.
It is important to recognize that Bible Numerics establishes sentence and paragraph structure for the sake of contexts. I have summarized each of the New Testament sentences - gathered them up into sub-divisions, paragraphs, sections and books. I leave a space above each summary, so that readers may cross out mine if they wish, and substitute their own. Mine are not inspired, only the Bible text. This settles the various problems facing the Textual Critics. 60% of their commentaries deal with an attempt to establish the original text and the contexts. They admit that this is impossible even from their human standpoint. As a result their are 3000 alternate Greek readings at the bottom of the pages of the major Greek texts, from their examination of the 7 major Greek manuscripts and the 1000's of partial fragments. To understand and accept what God has done in allowing Ivan Panin to discover the Bible Numeric Phenomenon in 1890, and give us his Greek and English Bible Numeric texts - is an extraordinary boon. The Interlinear Greek New Testament I am in the last legs of preparing for Laymen, I believe is God's appointment for these last days prior to the return of His Son - our Lord Jesus Christ. For further insights on the above, visit our Website www.2rbetter.org, and click on “Interlinear”. The “Introduction” explains the transliteration of the Greek text and other features, that should explain and answer many questions. J.A.W.