Acts 18:16

Act_18:16-17. Ἀπήλασεν] he dismissed them as plaintiffs, whose information it was not competent to him to entertain. Comp. Dem. 272. 11. 1373. 12.

Under the legal pretext of the necessity of supporting this ἀπήλασεν of the proconsul, all the bystanders (πάντες, partly perhaps Roman subordinate officials, but certainly all Gentiles, therefore οἱ Ἕλληνες is a correct gloss) used the opportunity of wreaking their anger on the leader and certainly also the spokesman of the hated Jews; they seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, even before the tribunal, and beat him.

Σωσθένης is by Theodoret, Erasmus, Calvin, and others, also Hofmann, heil. Schr. d. N.T. II. ii. p. 4 f., very arbitrarily (especially as this name was so common) considered as identical with the person mentioned in 1Co_1:1; hence also the erroneous gloss οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι added to πάντες has arisen from the supposition that he either was at this time actually a Christian, or at least inclined to Christianity, and therefore not sufficiently energetic in his accusation. Against this may be urged the very part which Sosthenes, as ruler of the synagogue, evidently plays against Paul;[80] and not less the circumstance, that the person mentioned in 1Co_1:1 was a fellow-labourer of Paul out of Corinth; according to which, for the identification of the two, a more extended hypothesis would be necessary, such as Ewald has. Chrysostom considers him even identical with Crispus.

τὸν ἀρχισυν.] Whether he was a colleague (see on Act_13:15) of the above-named ΚΡΊΣΠΟς, Act_18:8, or successor to him on his resignation in consequence of embracing Christianity (Olshausen, de Wette, Baumgarten, Ewald, and others), or whether he presided over another synagogue in Corinth (Grotius), remains undetermined.

ΚΑῚ ΟὐΔῈΝ ΤΟΎΤΩΝ Κ.Τ.Λ.] and Gallio troubled himself about none of these things, which here took place; he quite disregarded the spectacle. The purpose of this statement is to exhibit the utter failure of the attempt. So little was the charge successful, that even the leader of the accusers himself was beaten by the rabble without any interference of the judge, who by this indifference tacitly connived with the accused.

[80] According to Hofmann, be was so linked with his people, that, although inwardly convinced by the preaching of the apostle, he yet appeared at the head of the furious multitude before the proconsul against Paul, because he could not forsake the synagogue. What a character would thus be the result! And what reader could from the simple words put together for himself traits so odious! How entirely different were Joseph and Nicodemus!

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 18:16 . ἀπήλασεν : probably by his lictors who would be commanded to clear the court. This interpretation of the word is in accordance with the next verse, which describes the crowd of Greeks as prepared to follow up the decision of Gallio by similar treatment of a leading Jew on their own account. See critical note.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

drave them, &c.--annoyed at such a case.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 16. And he drave them from the judgment seat.] He saw that their accusation was both frivolous and vexatious, and he ordered them to depart, and the assembly to disperse. The word απηλασεν, which we translate he drave, does not signify here any act of violence on the part of Gallio or the Roman officers, but simply an authoritative dismission.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) He drove them from the judgment seat.—The words imply a magisterial act. The order was given to the lictors to clear the court, and the Jews, who did not immediately retreat were exposed to the ignominy of blows from their rods.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. And he drave them from the judgment seat] The description given by St Luke makes it probable that the seat of Gallio was in some open public place, where all might come and bring their plaints. The proconsul would be attended by his lictors and other officials, and those he now commands to clear the place of these troublesome cavillers about words and names. The new magistrate found perhaps enough to do in matters which came within his jurisdiction in the busy mercantile life of Corinth.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while,.... A year and a half, as in Act 18:11 for this insurrection might follow immediately upon the vision the apostle had; and who by that was encouraged to continue in this city, notwithstanding the treatment he met with; he not doubting of the promise of God, and of his power and faithfulness to fulfil it, though this was a trial of his faith and constancy:

and then took his leave of the brethren; whom he had been instrumental in the conversion of, and had established and confirmed in the faith; and having now done his work in this place, at least for the time present, he takes his leave of them and departs:

and sailed thence into Syria; or towards Syria, for he took Ephesus by the way, which was in Asia, and stopped there a little while:

and with him Priscilla and Aquila; whom he had met with at Corinth, and with whom he had lodged and wrought at his trade, Act 18:2

Having shorn his head in Cenchrea; which some understand not of Paul, but of Aquila, who is the last person spoken of; and the Ethiopic version reads in the plural number, referring this to both Priscilla and Aquila, "and they had shaved their heads, for they had a vow"; and so it was read in a manuscript of Baronius, and Bede observes, that it was read in like manner in some copies in his time; but the more authentic reading is in the singular number, and is more generally understood of the Apostle Paul; who being about to go into Judea, to the Jew became a Jew, that he might gain some: Cenchrea, where this was done, was a sea port belonging to the Corinthians, on the east of the Isthmus, as Lechea was on the west; according to Pliny (x), there were two gulfs, or bays, to the Isthmus, the one he calls the Corinthian bay, and others the Crissean and Alcyonian bay, and Golfo de Petras; the other the Saronic bay, now called Golfo de Engia; Lechea was in the Corinthian bay, and Cenchrea in the Saronic bay; and both belonged to Corinth, and were the bounds of the Straights; the space between them was the Isthmus, which consisted of about five miles; and so Pausanias says (y), the Isthmus of the Corinthians is washed on both sides by the sea; on one side at Cenchrea, and on the other at Lechea, and this makes the island a continent; and likewise Philo (z) giving an account of a voyage of Flaccus says, that passing over the Ionian gulf, he came to the sea (or shore) of Corinth ------- and going over the Isthmus from Lechea, to the opposite sea, he came down to Cenchrea, a seaport of the Corinthians; of which Apuleius (a) gives this account:

"this town is a most noble colony of the Corinthians, it is washed by the Aegean and Saronic sea, where there is a port, a most safe receptacle for ships, and very populous.''

Hither the apostle came from Corinth to take shipping, and from hence he sailed to Syria, as before observed: it has its name either from millet, for "Cenchros" signifies "millet"; and "Cenchrias" is "bread made of millet"; or from the bird "Cenchris", which is a kind of hawk; See Gill on Rom 16:1.

For he had a vow; this, some think, could not be the vow of the Nazarites, for then he should have stayed till he came to Jerusalem, and have shaved his head at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation, and cast the hair into the fire, under the pot in which the peace offerings were boiled (b); though he that vowed in the country, was not obliged to this: others think it was such an one as the Jews in travelling used, that they would not shave till they came to such a place; and so the apostle had made a vow that he would shave at Cenchrea; and accordingly did; but this is not likely, that the apostle should make a vow upon so light an occasion: others that it refers to his going to Jerusalem, to keep the feast there, Act 18:21 and so these think the words are a reason, not of his shaving of his head, but of his sailing to Syria; the first is most probable, that it was a Nazarite's vow; see Act 21:24.

(x) Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 4. (y) Corinthiaca sive, l. 2. p. 86. (z) In Flaccum, p. 987. (a) Metamorphos. l. 10. in fine. (b) Misn. Nazir, c. 6. sect. 8. Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. Bemidbar Rabba, sect. 10. fol. 201. 3.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

16 And he drave them from the judgment seat.

Ver. 16. And he drave them from the tribunal] As so many Vitilitigatores, qui de lana saepe caprina rixantur, that contended for trifles, and such as deserved the whipping post, which is the punishment that the Turks put such among them to as are litigious. {a}

{a} Temere litigantes publice flagellis caeduntur.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he drave them ... - He refused to hear and decide the controversy. The word used here does not denote that there was any violence used by Gallio, but merely that he dismissed them in an authoritative manner.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

He commanded them to be gone, having dismissed their case; and, if need were, added threatening and force.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. Drave them—Bid them clear the room so peremptorily as indicated ready compulsion by officers.

It is by no means so clear, as commentators represent, that Gallio does not here display more impatience than becomes his office. The tedium of a regal discussion is no good ground of a nonsuit. Perhaps he is already nervous from the climate, which ultimately sent him home an invalid. It certainly was a prima facie question whether Paul had not deserted from his national creed, requiring a discussion.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And he drave them; ajphlasen, found only here in the New Testament or LXX But it is used by Demosthenes and Plutarch in exactly the same connection: ajpoou ajpomatov (Demosthenes, 1373, 12; Plutarch, "Marcell.," p. 410, in Schleusner). It implies the ignominious dismissal of the case, without its being even tried. The judgment seat (bhma); the proconsular place of judgment. The bhma (here and ver. 12) was properly the "raised space," or "tribune," on which, in the case of a consul, proconsul, or praetor, the sella curulis was placed on which he sat and gave judgment. It was usually a kind of apse to the basilica. in Mat_27:19; Joh_19:13, and, indeed, here and elsewhere, it seems to be used, generally, for the judgment-seat itself. (see Act_25:10)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 14

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

General Information:

Here the word "they" probably refers to the Gentiles at the court. They reacted against the Jews who had brought Paul before the judgment seat. (See: Acts 18:12)

Gallio made them leave the judgment seat

"Gallio dismissed them from the judgment seat." Here "judgment seat" refers to the place where Gallio sits to make legal decisions in court. AT: "Gallio made them leave his presence in the court" or "Gallio made them leave the court" (See: Metonymy)

they all seized

This may be an exaggeration to emphasize the strong feelings the people had. AT: "many people seized" or "many of them grabbed" (See: Hyperbole and Generalization)

So they all seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the judgment seat

Possible meanings are 1) the Gentiles beat Sosthenes in the court in front of the judgment seat because he was the Jewish leader or 2) it is possible that Sosthenes was a believer in Christ, so the Jews beat him in front of the court.

Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue

"Sosthenes" was the Jewish ruler of the synagogue at Corinth. (See: How to Translate Names)

beat him

"repeatedly hit him" or "repeatedly punched him."

translationWords

judge

rule

synagogue

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

16. καὶ ἀπήλασεν αὐτοὺς ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος, and he drave them from the judgement seat. The description given by St Luke makes it probable that Gallio’s βῆμα was in some open public place, whither all might come and bring their plaints. The proconsul would be attended by his lictors and other officials, and those he now commands to clear the place of these troublesome cavillers about words and names. The new magistrate found perhaps enough to do in matters which came within his jurisdiction in the busy mercantile life of Corinth.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.