Acts 18:8

Κρίσπος, cf. 1 Corinthians 1:14, coincidence with, admitted by McGiffert, p. 269 (so too by Holtzmann), “no reason to doubt that he is the man whose conversion Luke reports,” according to tradition he became Bishop of Ægina, Const. Apost., vii., 46. Though a Jew he bore a Latin name, cf. for a parallel case J. Lightfoot, Hor. Heb., in loco. ὁ ἀρχισ., if we cf. Acts 18:17 it looks as if in the Corinthian synagogue there was only one person bearing this title, and that Sosthenes succeeded Crispus when the latter became a Christian, see “Corinth” (Ramsay), Hastings' B.D., i., p. 482, and see also Ramsay, Expositor, April, 1895, and above on Acts 13:15 : on the reason of St. Paul's baptism of Crispus, Gaius, Stephanas, see B.D. 2, and Hastings' B.D., u. s. There is certainly no ground for supposing that St. Paul depreciated baptism although he baptised so few in Corinth with his own hands, Speaker's Commentary on 1 Corinthians 1:17. It is evident from this notice that St. Paul's preaching had not been without its effect on the Jewish residents, and probably one reason why the feeling against the Apostle was so strong, Acts 20:3, was because this influence extended to persons of importance in Corinth; the next words show good results among the Gentile population of the city. σὺν ὅλῳ τῷ οἴκῳ, cf. Acts 16:15; 1 Corinthians 1:16. τῶν Κ., not Ἰουδαῖοι, who are always so called, but Ελληνες, Acts 18:4, including for the most part “proselytes of the gate”. ἀκού. ἐπίστευον καὶ ἐβαπτ.: “used to hear, and believe, and receive baptism,” imperfects; the spread of the new faith was gradual but continuous, ἀκού. is taken by some to refer to the hearing of the fact that Paul had separated himself from the synagogue (so Wendt, Weiss); see critical note.