Acts 18:23

And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples. AND AFTER HE HAD SPENT SOME TIME THERE (BUT PROBABLY NOT LONG), HE DEPARTED - little thinking he was never more to return, AND WENT OVER (OR 'THROUGH') [ALL] THE COUNTRY OF GALATIA AND PHRYGIA. Galatia, being the region that would first be come to-proceeding in a northwesterly direction from Antioch-is here mentioned before Phrygia; whereas in Acts 16:6, as Phrygia would be first entered, the order is the reverse. IN ORDER - meaning, probably, in the order in which the churches lay [ kathexees (G2517) = 150: efexees, an exclusively Lucan word, being u...

18-23 While Paul found he laboured not in vain, he continued labouring. Our times are in God's hand; we purpose, but he disposes; therefore we must make all promises with submission to the will of God; not only if providence permits, but if God does not otherwise direct our motions. A very good refreshment it is to a faithful minister, to have for awhile the society of his brethren. Disciples are compassed about with infirmity; ministers must do what they can to strengthen them, by directing them to Christ, who is their Strength. Let us earnestly seek, in our several places, to promote the cause of Christ, forming plans that appear to us most proper, but relying on the Lord to bring them to pass if he sees good....

Verse Acts 18:23. _WENT OVER_ ALL _THE COUNTRY OF GALATIA AND PHRYGIA_] Both were provinces of Asia Minor: Acts 2:10. _IN ORDER_] καθεξης, A word peculiar to St. Luke; see his Gospel, Luke 1:3; Luke 8:1; and his history of the Acts, Acts 3:24; Acts 11:4, and the place above; the only places where this word occurs in the New Testament. It properly signifies, _in order, distinctly,_ _particularly_; from κατα, _according to_, and εξη, _order_,

THE COUNTRY OF GALATIA AND PHRYGIA - He had been over these regions before, preaching the gospel, Acts 16:6. STRENGTHENING - Establishing them by exhortation and counsel. See the notes on Acts 14:22....

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 AFTER HE HAD SPENT SOME TIME THERE,.... At Antioch: HE DEPARTED; from thence: AND WENT OVER ALL THE COUNTRY OF GALATIA AND PHRYGIA IN ORDER, STRENGTHENING ALL THE DISCIPLES; that were in those parts, confirming them in the faith of Christ, and fortifying their minds against the temptations of Satan, and encouraging them to bear the reproaches and persecutions of men; which shows the affection, diligence, and industry of the apostle: it seems there were disciples in these countries of Galatia and Phrygia, which very likely were made by the apostle, when he passed trough those places, Acts 16:6 and who were the beginning of Gospel churches in these places, which continued for ages after: certain it is, there were churches in Galatia in the apostle's time, of whom he makes mention, and to whom he wrote,...

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.

JOURNEY TO SYRIA. No special object, is stated; the facts are placed before us abruptly, and some are hard to understand. An apostle is by his office a traveller who does not give himself to any one church, and Paul had been the best part of two years at Corinth when he bade the brethren there farewell and sailed for Syria. It was Aquila, not Paul, who had a vow and terminated it at Cenchreæ. For the hair sacrifice, see *Numbers 6,,; cf. Numbers 21:24 below; it would refer here to an escape from some danger of which we know nothing Acts 18:19. At Ephesus Paul addresses, as elsewhere, the Jews in the synagogue, and is well received, but he will not stay there. With a promise to return he sets off on the voyage. He lands at Cæ sarea, and goes up and greets the church. Jerusalem is not mentioned, nor

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