Acts 18:5

And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. AND WHEN SILAS AND TIMOTHEUS WERE COME FROM MACEDONIA - that is, from Thessalonica, where Silas had probably accompanied Timothy when sent back from Athens (see the note at Acts 17:15), PAUL WAS PRESSED IN THE SPIRIT - but the true reading is, 'pressed by the word.' [ too (G3588) logoo (G3056) is supported by most manuscripts, and these the oldest; 'Aleph (') A B D E, etc., with the Vulgate, and all the best versions: too (G3588)...

1-6 Though Paul was entitled to support from the churches he planted, and from the people to whom he preached, yet he worked at his calling. An honest trade, by which a man may get his bread, is not to be looked upon with contempt by any. It was the custom of the Jews to bring up their children to some trade, though they gave them learning or estates. Paul was careful to prevent prejudices, even the most unreasonable. The love of Christ is the best bond of the saints; and the communings of the saints with each other, sweeten labour, contempt, and even persecution. Most of the Jews persisted in contradicting the gospel of Christ, and blasphemed. They would not believe themselves, and did all they could to keep others from believing. Paul hereupon left them. He did not give over his work; for though Israel be not gathered, Christ and his gospel shall be glorious. The Jews could not compla...

Verse Acts 18:5. _WHEN SILAS AND TIMOTHEUS WERE COME_] We have seen, Acts 17:13, that when Paul was obliged to leave Berea, because of the persecution raised up against him in that place, he left Silas and Timotheus behind; to whom he afterwards sent word to rejoin him at Athens with all speed. It appears, from 1 Thessalonians 3:10, that, on Timothy's coming to Athens, Paul immediately sent him, and probably Silas with him, to comfort and establish the Church at Thessalonica. How long they laboured here is uncertain, but they did not rejoin him till some time after he came to Corinth. It appears that he was greatly rejoiced at the account which Timothy brought of the Church at Thessalonica; and it must have been...

AND WHEN SILAS AND TIMOTHEUS ... - They came to Paul according to the request which he had sent by the brethren who accompanied him from Thessalonica, Acts 17:15. PAUL WAS PRESSED - Was urged; was borne away by an unusual impulse. It was deeply impressed on him as his duty. IN SPIRIT - In his mind; in his feelings. His love to Christ was so great, and his conviction of the truth so strong, that he labored to make known to them the truth that Jesus Was the Messiah. THAT JESUS WAS CHRIST - That Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. Compare Acts 17:16. The presence of Silas and Timothy animated him; and the certainty of aid in his work urged him to zeal in makin

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 SILAS AND TIMOTHEUS WERE COME FROM MACEDONIA,.... Not from Berea in Macedonia, for from hence they came to the apostle while at Athens, and from whence he sent them, at least Timothy, to Thessalonica, to know the state of the saints there, as appears from 1 Thessalonians 3:1 and from hence they now came to the apostle at Corinth: when PAUL WAS PRESSED IN SPIRIT; either by the Holy Spirit, by which he was moved and stirred up to preach the Gospel more frequently, and more powerfully; for he had not always the same measure of the Spirit, or was not always under the same influence; or else in his own spirit, and so the Arabic version renders it, "grief beset the spirit of Paul"; his soul was filled with trouble and sorrow, when he observed the nonrepenitence and unbelief, the contradiction and blasphemy of the greater part of the Jews; and being filled w

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

PRESSED Or, constrained by the Word. Compare (2 Corinthians 5:14)....

ACTS 18:5 lo,gw| {B} The expression that Paul sunei,ceto tw|/ lo,gw| (“was wholly absorbed with preaching,” so Bauer-Arndt-Gingrich-Danker) seems to have been misunderstood, so that pneu,mati was either deliberately substituted for lo,gw| or, being added as an explanation in the margin, eventually usurped the place of lo,gw|, with the resultant meaning “was urged on by the Spirit” or “was pressed in the spirit” (so the AV)....

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.