Acts 18:16 - Exposition

And he drave them ; ἀπήλασεν , found only here in the New Testament or LXX . But it is used by Demosthenes and Plutarch in exactly the same connection: ἀπὸ τοῦ συνεδρίου ἀπὸ τοῦ βήματος . It implies the ignominious dismissal of the case, without its being even tried. The judgment seat ( βῆμα ); the proconsular place of judgment. The βῆμα (here and Acts 18:12 ) 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 Matthew 27:19 ; John 19:13 , and, indeed, here and elsewhere, it seems to be used, generally, for the judgment-seat itself (see Acts 25:10 ).