Acts 18:27

Acts 18:27

The Western reviser (D, supported in large part by syr^hmg) expanded and paraphrased this verse as follows: evn de. th|/ VEfe,sw| evpidhmou/nte,j tinej Kori,nqioi kai. avkou,santej auvtou/ paraka,loun dielqei/n su.n auvtoi/j eivj th.n patri,da auvtw/n) sunkataneu,santoj ³⁴⁵ de. auvtou/ oi` VEfe,sioi e;grayan toi/j evn Kori,nqw| maqhtai/j o[pwj avpode,xwntai to.n a;ndra\ o]j evpidhmh,saj eivj th.n VAcai,an polu. suneba,lleto evn tai/j evkklhsi,aij (“And some Corinthians who were on a visit to Ephesus and had heard him invited him to cross over with them to their native place. When he agreed, the Ephesians wrote to the disciples to receive the man; and when he took up residence in Achaia he was of great help in the churches”).

The unusual orientation and outlook, as well as certain internal difficulties of the passage, have been pointed out more than once. ³⁴⁶ For example, nowhere else in Acts do we read of members of one church acting in another church, nor do we ever hear of an invitation to an apostle or evangelist to come to a church ( Acts 16:9 is not a parallel). But there is a more serious difficulty. If Apollos’s visit is made at his own initiative, an introductory letter recommending him to the Corinthians is appropriate; if, on the other hand, he goes at the invitation of members of the Corinthian church, why is it necessary that the Ephesians supply such a letter?

³⁴⁵ The verb sugkataneu,ein occurs nowhere else in the New Testament.

³⁴⁶ See, e.g., F. W. Grosheide, Bulletin of the Bezan Club, VIII (1930), pp. 18—20, and G. Zuntz, Classica et mediaevalia, III (1940), pp. 26—33.