Acts 18:14

And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: AND WHEN PAUL WAS NOW ABOUT TO OPEN HIS MOUTH, GALLIO SAID UNTO THE JEWS, IF IT WERE A MATTER OF WRONG OR WICKED LEWDNESS - `had it been any wrong or villany,' that is, any offence punishable by the magistrate, REASON WOULD THAT I SHOULD BEAR - `I should in reason have borne' WITH YOU....

12-17 Paul was about to show that he did not teach men to worship God contrary to law; but the judge would not allow the Jews to complain to him of what was not within his office. It was right in Gallio that he left the Jews to themselves in matters relating to their religion, but yet would not let them, under pretence of that, persecute another. But it was wrong to speak slightly of a law and religion which he might have known to be of God, and which he ought to have acquainted himself with. In what way God is to be worshipped, whether Jesus be the Messiah, and whether the gospel be a Divine revelation, are not questions of words and names, they are questions of vast importance. Gallio spoke as if he boasted of his ignorance of the Scriptures, as if the law of God was beneath his notice. Gallio cared for none of these things. If he cared not for the affronts of bad men, it was commenda...

Verse Acts 18:14. _PAUL WAS NOW ABOUT TO OPEN_ HIS _MOUTH_] He was about to enter on his defense; but Gallio, perceiving that the prosecution was through envy and malice, would not put Paul to any farther trouble, but determined the matter as follows. _IF IT WERE A MATTER OF WRONG_] αδικημα, Of _injustice_; any thing contrary to the _rights_ of the subject. _OR WICKED LEWDNESS_] ραδιουργημα πονηρον, _Destructive mischief_. (Acts 13:10, where the word is explained.) Something by which the subject is grievously _wronged_; were it any crime against _society_ or against the _state_. _REASON WOULD THAT I SHOULD BEAR WITH YOU._] κατα λογον αν ηνεσχομην υμων, According to reason

ABOUT TO OPEN HIS MOUTH - In self-defense, ever ready to vindicate his conduct. A MATTER OF WRONG - Injustice, or crime, such as could be properly brought before a court of justice. OR WICKED LEWDNESS - Any flagrant and gross offence. The word used here occurs nowhere else in the New Testament. It denotes properly an act committed by him who is skilled, facile, or an adept in iniquity an act of a veteran offender. Such crimes Gallio was willing to take cognizance of. REASON WOULD ... - Greek: “I would bear with you according to reason.” There would be propriety or fitness in my hearing and trying the case. Thai is, it would fall within the sphere of my duty, as appointed to guard the peace, and to punish crimes....

EXPOSITION ACTS 18:1 _He _for _Paul, _A.V. and T.R. AFTER THESE THINGS, etc. No hint is given by St. Luke as to the length of Paul's sojourn at Athens. But as the double journey of the Beroeans, who accompanied him to Athens, back to Beraea, and of Timothy from Beraea to Athens, amounted to above five hundred miles, we cannot suppose it to have been less than a month; and it may have been a good deal more. His reasonings in the synagogue with the Jews and devout Greeks, apparently on successive sabbaths, his daily disputations in the Agora, apparently not begun till after he had "waited" some time for Silas and Timothy, the knowledge he had acquired of the numerous temples and altars at Athens, and the phrase with which this chapter begins, all indicate a stay of some length. CAME TO CORINTH. If by land, a forty

AND WHEN PAUL WAS NOW ABOUT TO OPEN HIS MOUTH,.... In his own defence, and plead his own cause, and answer to the charge exhibited against him: GALLIO SAID UNTO THE JEWS, IF IT WAS MATTER OF WRONG; of injury to any man's person or property, as murder, theft, c. OR WICKED LEWDNESS as fraud, forgery, perjury, treason, c. O YE JEWS, REASON WOULD THAT I SHOULD BEAR WITH YOU: his sense is, that it would be according to right reason, and agreeably to his office as a judge, to admit them and their cause, and try it, and hear them patiently, and what was to be said on both sides of the question, what the charges were, and the proof of them, and what the defendant had to say for himself. The Vulgate Latin version reads, "O men Jews" and so Beza's ancient copy....

Paul had been preaching the gospel at Athens to the most famous men of that city gathered at Areopagus. Acts 18:1. _After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth:_ Another most important city of Greece, where he struck at the very center of the country by preaching the gospel, since these were the centers of commerce, and also of literature. Acts 18:2. _And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them._ Lodged with them. Acts 18:3. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their

CHAPTER 18 _ 1. In Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla. His Testimony and Separation from the Jews (Acts 18:1)._ 2. Encouragement from the Lord in a vision (Acts 18:9). 3. Paul and Gallio (Acts 18:12). 4. From Corinth to Ephesus and Antioch. The second journey ended (Acts 18:18). 5. Establishing disciples in Galatia and Phrygia (Acts 18:23). 6. Apollos, the Alexandrian (Acts 18:24). Aquila and Priscilla are mentioned here for the first time.

GALLIO AND PAUL. Gallio's proconsulship is fixed by an inscription at Delphi which came to light in 1905; and gives an absolute date in Pauline chronology (p. 655). He had not been proconsul when Paul came to Corinth (Acts 18:12); his arrival in Achaia is found to have been after midsummer (A.D. 51), while Paul came there early in 50. Gallio was the brother of the philosopher Seneca, who describes him as sweet (_dulcis),_ and was a man of the highest culture. After his arrival the Jews brought Paul before him on the same charge as that made at Philippi (Acts 16:21) and at Thessalonica (Acts 17:7), that he preached an illegal religion. Gallio at once decides that as no punishable act is alleged, he will not enter on discussion as to

PREACHING IN CORINTH (Acts 18:1-11) Its very position made Corinth (G2882) a key city of Greece. Greece is almost cut in two by the sea. On one side is the Saronic Gulf with its port of Cenchrea and on the other is the Corinthian Gulf with its port of Lechaeum. Between the two there is a neck of land less than five miles across and on that isthmus stood Corinth. All north and south traffic in Greece had to pass through Corinth because there was no other way, Men called her "The Bridge of Greece." But the voyage round the southern extremity of Greece was a voyage of great peril. The southernmost cape was Cape Malea and to round it was the equivalent of rounding Cape Horn. The Greeks had a proverb, "Let him who thinks of sailing round Malea make his will." Consequently the east to west trade of the Mediterranean also passed through Corinth, for men