HarperCollins Study Bible

by Harold W. Attridge

  16.15 References to the household of Lydia (her name is the same as that of the district) suggest that she is unmarried. Mistress of her own household and possibly a merchant, she may have had relatively high social and economic status. On the baptism of a household, see 10.24, 44–48; 11.14; 16.31–34.

  16.16–24 As earlier in Acts (3.1–26; 14.8–18), a healing leads to a public confrontation.

  16.16 Spirit of divination, lit. “a spirit of the Python,” which was associated with the Delphic oracle.

  16.17 A way of salvation, not only a major Lukan theme (see, e.g., 2.40; Lk 3.6), but also a preview of what will happen to both the slave-girl and the jailer.

  16.18 On healing in the name of Jesus Christ, see 3.6, 16; 4.10.

  16.19 See also note on 8.18. Cf. 19.25, where Luke draws attention to the economic motives of other potential competitors. Here the theme is underscored by false charges against Paul and Silas.

  16.20 Magistrates, a popular designation for the chief officials of a Roman colony.

  16.21 The charge against Paul and Silas manipulates opinion by characterizing them as outsiders.

  16.22–24 See 2 Cor 11.23–25.

  16.25–34 Unlike the two previous stories of prison release in Acts (5.19–21;12.6–11), this one occasions a conversion.

  16.27 See 12.19, where the guards are executed following Peter’s miraculous escape.

  16.30 What must I do to be saved? See 2.37.

  16.32–34 As in the cases of Lydia (v. 15) and Cornelius (10.2, 24, 44; 11.14), this conversion involves the entire household.

  16.37 Beaten…in public. Such treatment of a Roman citizen was against Roman law, but violations of this law occurred (see, e.g., Josephus, War 2.308).

  16.40 See vv. 14–15.

  Acts 16 narrates the important expansion of the Pauline mission into Europe.

  Acts 17

  The Uproar in Thessalonica

  1After Paul and Silasa had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews. 2And Paul went in, as was his custom, and on three sabbath days argued with them from the scriptures, 3explaining and proving that it was necessary for the Messiahb to suffer and to rise from the dead, and saying, “This is the Messiah,c Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you.” 4Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a great many of the devout Greeks and not a few of the leading women. 5But the Jews became jealous, and with the help of some ruffians in the marketplaces they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar. While they were searching for Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly, they attacked Jason’s house. 6When they could not find them, they dragged Jason and some believersd before the city authorities,e shouting, “These people who have been turning the world upside down have come here also, 7and Jason has entertained them as guests. They are all acting contrary to the decrees of the emperor, saying that there is another king named Jesus.” 8The people and the city officials were disturbed when they heard this, 9and after they had taken bail from Jason and the others, they let them go.

  Paul and Silas in Beroea

  10That very night the believersf sent Paul and Silas off to Beroea; and when they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11These Jews were more receptive than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message very eagerly and examined the scriptures every day to see whether these things were so. 12Many of them therefore believed, including not a few Greek women and men of high standing. 13But when the Jews of Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Beroea as well, they came there too, to stir up and incite the crowds. 14Then the believersg immediately sent Paul away to the coast, but Silas and Timothy remained behind. 15Those who conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and after receiving instructions to have Silas and Timothy join him as soon as possible, they left him.

  Paul in Athens

  16While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply distressed to see that the city was full of idols. 17So he argued in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and also in the marketplaceh every day with those who happened to be there. 18Also some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, “What does this babbler want to say?” Others said, “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.” (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.) 19So they took him and brought him to the Areopagus and asked him, “May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? 20It sounds rather strange to us, so we would like to know what it means.” 21Now all the Athenians and the foreigners living there would spend their time in nothing but telling or hearing something new.

  22Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. 23For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. 26From one ancestori he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, 27so that they would search for Godj and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. 28For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ as even some of your own poets have said,

  ‘For we too are his offspring.’

  29Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. 30While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, 31because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

  32When they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some scoffed; but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 33At that point Paul left them. 34But some of them joined him and became believers, including Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

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  a Gk they

  b Or the Christ

  c Or the Christ

  d Gk brothers

  e Gk politarchs

  f Gk brothers

  g Gk brothers

  h Or civic center; Gk agora

  i Gk From one; other ancient authorities read From one blood

  j Other ancient authorities read the Lord

  17.1–15 The conflicting responses to Christian preaching in two cities prepare for Paul’s important speech in Athens.

  17.1 Paul and Silas travel the Via Egnatia, the main east-west road across Macedonia. Thessalonica, headquarters for the Roman governor and the leading city of the province of Macedonia.

  17.2 As was his custom. In every city Paul goes first to Jews (see note on 13.14). From the scriptures. See Lk 4.16–21; 24.27, 32, 45, where Jesus interprets scripture about himself.

  17.3 It was necessary. Luke often draws attention to divine necessity (see, e.g., 1.16; 3.21; 9.16; Lk 2.49; 24.7, 26, 46).

  17.4–5 As earlier (13.43, 50; 14.1–2), both Jews and Greeks are among those who respond to the gospel and among those who reject it. The ruffians who are deployed here reveal the irony of the charge that it is Paul and Silas who are disturbing the peace.

  17.6 Turning the world upside down, i.e., disturbing the peace, a highly inflammatory charge in the context of the Roman Empire (see also 16.20; 24.5, 12).

  17.7 Contrary to the decrees of the emperor. See also 16.21. Another king named Jesus. See Lk 23.2–3, 37–38.

  17.10 Beroea, a city south of the Via Egnatia (see note on 17.1).

  17
.15 Athens, a highly significant cultural center, offers an appropriate context for presenting Luke’s understanding of a typical sermon to Gentiles.

  17.16–34 Paul’s speech at Athens, the only major speech in Acts to a pagan audience (although see 14.15–17), echoes important Lukan themes even as it differs from earlier speeches. References to the history of Israel are omitted here as meaningless to an audience composed entirely of Gentiles.

  17.16 The city was full of idols. Ancient historians provide similar descriptions of the religious fervor of Athens. Idols, a derogatory term that exposes Luke’s thoroughly monotheistic perspective.

  17.17 In the synagogue. See note on 13.14.

  17.18 Epicureans ridiculed religious enthusiasm and argued against a fear of death and divine judgment. Stoics urged living in accord with nature, which they understood to be ruled by the divine Logos. In order to achieve this goal, they advocated the importance of reason and self-control. Babbler, lit. “one who picks up seeds,” i.e., a person who gathers new ideas indiscriminately. A proclaimer of foreign divinities, a charge leveled also against Socrates (Plato, Apology 24B–C). The resurrection may have been understood by the Athenians as Resurrection, a female deity, Jesus’ companion goddess.

  17.19 Areopagus, either a place, the Hill of Ares, or an administrative council whose name derived from its location.

  17.21 Ancient writers describe the Athenians in similar terms. See Sophocles, Oedipus Coloneus 260; Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.17.1; Josephus, Against Apion 2.130; Strabo, Geography 9.1.16; Livy, History 45.27.11).

  17.22–31 Paul’s speech begins with an acknowledgment of the religiosity of the Athenians (vv. 22–23), moves to a sympathetic critique of idolatry (vv. 24–29), and concludes with a call for repentance (vv. 30–31).

  17.22 Extremely religious, either in the pejorative sense of “superstitious” or as a straightforward description. Since speeches customarily began by praising the audience (see 26.2–3), the latter is preferable.

  17.23 To an unknown God. No known inscription corresponds exactly to this one, but there is evidence of altars to unknown gods.

  17.24–25 On God as creator, see 4.24;14.15. That God does not live in buildings is a theme also of Stephen’s speech; see 7.48. This philosophically inclined audience would have agreed.

  17.26 One ancestor. See Lk 3.38, where Jesus’ genealogy is traced back to Adam. He allotted the times. See 14.17.

  17.27 On the notion that pagans search for God, see Wis 13.6. He is not far from…us. On God’s nearness, see Ps 145.18; Jer 23.23; Josephus, Antiquities 8.108; Dio Chrysostom, Discourses 12, 28.

  17.28 In him we…have our being. If a quotation (Greek uses no quotation marks), its source is unknown. For we too are his offspring is from Aratus (Phaenomena 5), a third-century BCE poet.

  17.29 A conventional piece of Jewish polemic against idolatry; see 7.41–43; Isa 44.9–20; Wis 13.10; Rom 1.23.

  17.30 Both Jewish and pagan ignorance is overlooked; see 3.17;13.27. The call to repent is now universal; see 2.38; 3.19;8.22; 11.18; 26.20.

  17.31 Only here does the speech refer to Jesus. Judged. See 10.42; Rom 2.16.

  17.32–34 As elsewhere in Acts, the speech is interrupted when it reaches its climactic point; see note on 2.37. Compared with earlier speeches, the response (both positive and negative) is mild (cf., e.g., 2.41; 13.43, 45).

  Acts 18

  Paul in Corinth

  1After this Paula left Athens and went to Corinth. 2There he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had ordered all Jews to leave Rome. Paulb went to see them, 3and, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them, and they worked together—by trade they were tentmakers. 4Every sabbath he would argue in the synagogue and would try to convince Jews and Greeks.

  5When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with proclaiming the word,c testifying to the Jews that the Messiahd was Jesus. 6When they opposed and reviled him, in protest he shook the dust from his clothese and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 7Then he left the synagoguef and went to the house of a man named Titiusg Justus, a worshiper of God; his house was next door to the synagogue. 8Crispus, the official of the synagogue, became a believer in the Lord, together with all his household; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul became believers and were baptized. 9One night the Lord said to Paul in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but speak and do not be silent; 10for I am with you, and no one will lay a hand on you to harm you, for there are many in this city who are my people.” 11He stayed there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

  12But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before the tribunal. 13They said, “This man is persuading people to worship God in ways that are contrary to the law.” 14Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of crime or serious villainy, I would be justified in accepting the complaint of you Jews; 15but since it is a matter of questions about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I do not wish to be a judge of these matters.” 16And he dismissed them from the tribunal. 17Then all of themh seized Sosthenes, the official of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the tribunal. But Gallio paid no attention to any of these things.

  Paul’s Return to Antioch

  18After staying there for a considerable time, Paul said farewell to the believersi and sailed for Syria, accompanied by Priscilla and Aquila. At Cenchreae he had his hair cut, for he was under a vow. 19When they reached Ephesus, he left them there, but first he himself went into the synagogue and had a discussion with the Jews. 20When they asked him to stay longer, he declined; 21but on taking leave of them, he said, “Ij will return to you, if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.

  22When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up to Jerusalemk and greeted the church, and then went down to Antioch. 23After spending some time there he departed and went from place to place through the region of Galatial and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

  Ministry of Apollos

  24Now there came to Ephesus a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria. He was an eloquent man, well-versed in the scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the Way of the Lord; and he spoke with burning enthusiasm and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue; but when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained the Way of God to him more accurately. 27And when he wished to cross over to Achaia, the believersm encouraged him and wrote to the disciples to welcome him. On his arrival he greatly helped those who through grace had become believers, 28for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the scriptures that the Messiahn is Jesus.

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  a Gk he

  b Gk He

  c Gk with the word

  d Or the Christ

  e Gk reviled him, he shook out his clothes

  f Gk left there

  g Other ancient authorities read Titus

  h Other ancient authorities read all the Greeks

  i Gk brothers

  j Other ancient authorities read I must at all costs keep the approaching festival in Jerusalem, but I

  k Gk went up

  l Gk the Galatian region

  m Gk brothers

  n Or the Christ

  18.1–17 Four brief scenes (vv. 1–4, 5–8, 9–11, 12–17) portray Paul’s extended endeavors in Corinth.

  18.1 Corinth, the Roman capital of Achaia, was well situated for commerce.

  18.2 Aquila and Priscilla (“Prisca” in the Pauline Letters) are identified as Jews in order to explain the impact of Claudius’s edict on them; evidently both converted to Christianity before Paul reached Corinth (see also Rom 16.3–4; 1 Cor 16.19). Claudius, Roman emperor 41–54 CE. Ordered all J
ews to leave Rome. Since other sources indicate that a disturbance over Christian preaching caused this expulsion, it may well have targeted Jews who preached and taught about Jesus.

  18.3 Tentmakers, the first reference in Acts to Paul’s labor (but see 1 Cor 4.12), probably refers to leather working in general.

  18.4 As elsewhere, Paul begins in the synagogue; see note on 13.14.

  18.5 On the itinerary of Silas and Timothy, see 17.14.

  18.6 Shook the dust recalls 13.51; Lk 9.5. Your blood be on your own heads! See also 5.28; 2 Sam 1.16; Ezek 33.4–5; cf. Mt 27.25. This is the second of three passages (13.46; 28.28) in which Paul announces that he is going to the Gentiles.

  18.7–8 Unlike earlier departures from the synagogue, Paul does not leave the area but remains very close by. Presumably Titius Justus, a Gentile who nevertheless worships God (see note on 10.2), has become a Christian. The conversion of Crispus (see 1 Cor 1.14) indicates that Paul continues to preach among Jews, despite v. 6, and that his proclamation meets with success even among synagogue leaders. On the conversion of households, see note on 10.2.

  18.9 On visions as a means of divine guidance, see note on 9.10.

  18.10 I am with you. See also Josh 1.9; Isa 41.10; 43.5; Jer 1.8, 19. People usually refers in Luke-Acts to Israel (see note on 3.11), but here, as in 15.14, it includes Gentiles as well.

  18.12 An inscription at Delphi referring to Gallio allows his proconsulate in Corinth to be dated ca. 51–52 CE and thus may indicate that Paul began the church in Corinth during that period. Luke may have consolidated several of Paul’s journeys to Corinth, however, making the connection between the reference to Gallio and Paul’s activities uncertain.