Sha’ul’s Second Missionary Journey ~ Part 12

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We continue our ongoing story of Sha’ul’s Second Missionary Journey beginning in Acts 18:1

Sha’ul Goes to Corinth

Sha’ul moved on from Athens and spent 18 months in Corinth. Corinth is located about 40 miles west of Athens; Corinth was the capital of the Roman province Achaia and a major seaport.

Sha’ul Meets Aquila & Priscilla

18: ¹ After this, Sha’ul left Athens and went to Corinth, ² where he met a Jewish man named Aquila, originally from Pontus but having recently come with his wife Priscilla from Italy, because Claudius had issued a decree expelling all the Jews from Rome. Sha’ul went to see them;

Claudius had issued a decree expelling all the Jews from Rome in 49 CE. The expulsion is usually connected with the remark of Suetonius, “Since the Jews were continually making disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [Claudius] expelled them from Rome” (Claudius 25:4). It is presumed that the pagan Suetonius was speaking not of some otherwise unknown Chrestus but of Christos (“Christ”) and misspelled the word. ^[1]

³ and because he had the same trade as them, making tents, he stayed on with them, and they worked together.

Sha’ul earned his living, even though he taught that those who proclaim the Good News are entitled to be supported by their fellow Believers (1 Corinthians 9:14). In observing the Mishnaic warning, “Do not make of the Torah … a spade with which to dig” (which means, don’t use your knowledge of spiritual things as a means of getting rich), he went beyond the call of duty.

⁴ Sha’ul also began carrying on discussions every Shabbat in the synagogue, where he tried to convince both Jews and Greeks.

Unbelieving Jews

 ⁵ But after Sila and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Sha’ul felt pressed by the urgency of the message and testified in depth to the Jews that Yeshua is the Messiah. ⁶ However, when they set themselves against him and began hurling insults, he shook out his clothes and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! For my part, I am clean; from now on, I will go to the Goyim!”

Your blood be on your own heads (see Mattityahu 27:25). For my part, I am clean. In Ezekiel 18:16–19, God tells the prophet that he will be blameworthy if he fails to warn the wicked person to leave his wicked ways, but if he does warn him, he will be guiltless. Sha’ul is, in effect, applying the passage to himself and saying, “I have done what I could to bring you the message of salvation; you choose to reject it at your peril, but I have discharged my responsibility. I would not leave you and go to the Goyim if you were responsive, but you leave me no other choice. The Gospel is for you especially, but it will also save them” (Romans 1:16).

⁷ So he left them and went into the home of a “God-fearer” named Titius Justus, whose house was right next door to the synagogue.

Whose house was right next door to the synagogue. This is an aggressive tactic. Sha’ul had no intention of being intimidated or dropping out of sight. He still intended his and the Gospel’s presence to be visible in the Jewish community. Believers today should consider following his example and making the saving message of Yeshua evident to Jewish people. The wisdom of Sha’ul’s policy is shown in the following verse, as well as the reassurance of vv. 9–10.

Unbelieving Jews

⁸ Crispus, the president of the synagogue, came to trust in the Lord, along with his whole household; also, many of the Corinthians who heard trusted and were immersed.

Crispus, the president of the synagogue, or: “the synagogue-ruler,” meaning one of several (see v. 17). Sha’ul himself immersed Crispus (1 Corinthians 1:14).

⁹ One night, in a vision, the Lord said to Sha’ul, “Don’t be afraid, but speak right up, and don’t stop, ¹⁰ because I am with you. No one will succeed in harming you, for I have many people in this city.” ¹¹ So Sha’ul stayed there for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. ^[2]

In our next post, we pause our exploration of Shaul’s Second Missionary Journey when Sha’ul writes his two letters in Corinth to the Believers back in Thessalonica.

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^[1] David Stern, Jewish New Testament Commentary.

^[2] Acts 18:1-11.