Sha’ul’s Secondary Missionary Journey ~ Part 13

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As I mentioned in my last post, we return to the Book of Acts. The historical record continues with Sha’ul being persecuted in Corinthian, beginning in Acts 18:12.

Charges Before Gallio

¹² But when Gallio became the Roman governor of Achaia, the unbelieving Jews made a concerted attack on Sha’ul and took him to court,

Gallio was proconsul ^[1] of Achaia between 51 and 53 CE, according to an inscription from Delphi; this is an essential factual landmark in determining the chronology of Sha’ul’s travels.

¹³ saying, “This man is trying to persuade people to worship God in ways that violate the Torah.”

It seems that Jewish complainants believed Sha’ul was violating the Torah; moreover, Gallio takes it this way and acts accordingly (v. 15).

¹⁴ Sha’ul was just about to open his mouth when Gallio said to the Jews, “Listen, you Jews, if this were a case of inflicted injury or a serious crime, I could reasonably be expected to hear you out patiently. ¹⁵ But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law, then you must deal with it yourselves. I flatly refuse to judge such matters.” ¹⁶ And he had them ejected from the court. ¹⁷ They all grabbed Sosthenes, the president of the synagogue, and gave him a beating in full view of the bench, but Gallio showed no concern whatever.

Gallio seemed both perceptive (I flatly refuse to judge such matters) and negligent (the beating of Sosthenes did not concern him). Keeping order in a multi-ethnic provincial town heavily involved in trade and travel was difficult. Gallio preferred the hands-off approach.

Sosthenes, the synagogue president, was probably the new president after Crispus, the former president, became a Messianic Jew (Acts 18:8). But it is not impossible that Crispus and Sosthenes were both “synagogue rulers,” two among several, and that Crispus continued to hold office even after becoming Messianic. This Sosthenes may be the same as the one in 1 Corinthians 1:1 – which would mean that he later became Messianic himself, perhaps because of this incident.

Return to Antioch

¹⁸ Sha’ul remained for some time, then said goodbye to the brothers and sailed off to Syria after having his hair cut short in Cenchrea because he had taken a vow; with him were Priscilla and Aquila.

Sha’ul remained for some time. Except where his life was in immediate peril, Sha’ul never left during a crisis or under duress. Having his hair cut short in Cenchrea because he had taken a vow, and with him were Priscilla and Aquila. Priscilla is mentioned first; she may have been the more notable of the couple.

Yeshua rules out oaths for Messianic Believers (Mattityahu 5:33–37) but not vows, although the distinction between them is unclear. The Greek word for vow occurs only here and at 21:23. What kind of vow did Sha’ul take, and what did cutting his hair have to do with it? Nothing is said of what he vowed to do, but Numbers 6:1–21 describes the Nazirite vow, which involves allowing the hair to grow during the days of the vow. However, this cannot have been a Nazirite vow, for if it had been, Sha’ul would not have been shaved in Cenchrea but would have waited till he arrived in Yerushalayim (v. 22) to shave his head and offer the obligatory sacrifice at the Temple (compare Acts 21:23–24).

No matter the details of Sha’ul’s vow, this verse proves that he did not abandon the Torah; on the contrary, even when he became a “Gentile” among Gentiles, he continued to observe Jewish practices.

¹⁹ They came to Ephesus, and he left them there, but he himself went into the synagogue and held dialogue with the Jews. ²⁰ When they asked him to stay with them longer, he declined; ²¹ however, in his farewell, he said, “God willing, I will come back to you.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

Sha’ul promises to return to Ephesus if God wills, as indeed he did (Acts 19:1). Sha’ul saw his ministry and life as being in God’s service and control.

²² After landing at Caesarea, he went up to Yerushalayim and greeted the Messianic community. Then he came down to Antioch. ^[2]

We know it was the Yerushalayim church that Sha’ul greeted since he went down from there (Yerushalayim is at a higher elevation) to Antioch. His arrival back in Antioch marks the completion of his second missionary journey.

In our next post, we will begin to explore Sha’ul’s Third Missionary Journey beginning in Acts 18:23.

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^[1] The chief Roman government official in a senatorial province who presided over Roman court hearings.

^[2] Acts 18:18–22.