Acts 18:1

The conclusion of the second missionary tour is recorded in this chapter (Acts 18:23a) and the beginning of the third (Acts 18:23b). Paul left Athens for Corinth where he met Aquila and Priscilla (Acts 18:1-4); great success attended his efforts during eighteen months work at Corinth (Acts 18:5-11); Jewish opposition came to a climax soon after Gallio became proconsul, but it was frustrated (Acts 18:12-17); Paul concluded the second journey via Cenchraea and Ephesus to Antioch in Syria (Acts 18:18-23a); and after some time there, he started the third journey (Acts 18:23b). Luke next included some background material on the work at Ephesus, where Paul's next great labors would occur, relating the preaching of Apollos, and the further instruction given him by Priscilla and Aquila (Acts 18:24-28).

After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. (Acts 18:1)

No organized opposition to Paul's preaching developed in Athens, but he did not long remain there, probably because of the arrogant snobbery of the shallow intellectuals who dominated Athenian society at that time. "The philosophers were too easy, too indolent, and too wise in their own eyes to receive the gospel."[1]

Luke gives nothing of the manner of Paul's journey to Corinth, and the speculation of Hervey is as good as any:

If (he went) by land, (it was) a forty mile, or two days journey; if by sea, a one day's sail. Lewin thinks he came by sea, that it was in winter, and that possibly one of the shipwrecks mentioned in 2 Corinthians 11:25 may have occurred at this time.Acts 2p. 87.">[2]

To Corinth ... A significant portion of the New Testament is addressed to Christians in Corinth; and a little more attention to this city is appropriate:

CORINTH

Corinth was situated on the narrow isthmus that joins the mainland of Greece to the Peloponnesus, thus lying between the Saronic and Corinthian gulfs, ideally located for trade and commerce. The outstanding physical characteristic of the city is the Acro-Corinthus, a fantastic vertical mountain rising just south of the isthmus to a height of 1,886 feet.[3] There was a flat area on top, occupied in antiquity by a heathen temple with "one thousand religious prostitutes"[4] dedicated to Aphrodite.

As could be expected, the city's morals were the scandal of ancient times. The Greek language "made a verb out of the city's name, `Corinthianize' meaning to practice whoredom."[5] Even as late as the seventeenth century, the "Corinthian" in Shakespearean dramas was always a debauchee, making his entry on stage in a state of drunkenness. How great was the power of the gospel that established faith in Christ in such a center!

In the times of Paul, Corinth was the capital of Achaia,[6] and, as Ramsay said, "the greatest center of trade and exchange in Greece from the beginning of Greek history onward."[7] Presently, the city has faded from its former glory, having only some 17,728 population in the 1951 census.[8] At the time Paul came to Corinth it was a more important city than Athens, and this could have influenced his cutting short the time he gave to Athens.

[1] John Wesley, New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House), in loco.

Acts 2p. 87.">[2] A. C. Hervey, Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1950), Vol. 18, Acts 2p. 87.

[3] Encyclopedia Britannica (Chicago: William Benton, Publisher, 1961), Vol. 6, p. 441.

[4] Everett F. Harrison, Wycliffe Commentary (Chicago: Moody Press, 1971), p. 450.

[5] E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Co., 1965), p. 58.

[6] Encyclopedia Britannica, op. cit., p. 441.

[7] Sir William M. Ramsay, Pictures of the Apostolic Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1959), p. 201.

[8] Encyclopedia Britannica, op. cit., p. 441.