Passage

Acts 18.1-18

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"1. After these things he departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. 2. And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome: and he came unto them; 3. and because he was of the same trade, he abode with them, and they wrought, for by their trade they were tentmakers. 4. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. 5. But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was constrained by the word, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6. And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. 7. And he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. 8. And Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 9. And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace: 10. for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city. 11. And he dwelt there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12. But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment-seat, 13. saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14. But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked villany, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15. but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves; I am not minded to be a judge of these matters. 16. And he drove them from the judgment-seat. 17. And they all laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment-seat. And Gallio cared for none of these things. 18. And Paul, having tarried after this yet many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila: having shorn his head in Cenchreae; for he had a vow."

"19. And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20. And when they asked him to abide a longer time, he consented not;" (Acts 18:1-20, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"1. After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth. 2. He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them, 3. and because he practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers. 4. He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath, and persuaded Jews and Greeks. 5. But when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6. When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!” 7. He departed there, and went into the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized. 9. The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Don’t be afraid, but speak and don’t be silent; 10. for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11. He lived there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12. But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, 13. saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” 14. But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable that I should bear with you; 15. but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves. For I don’t want to be a judge of these matters.” 16. So he drove them from the judgment seat. 17. Then all the Greeks laid hold on Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. Gallio didn’t care about any of these things. 18. Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow."

"19. He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20. When they asked him to stay with them a longer time, he declined;" (Acts 18:1-20, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth; 2. And found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy, with his wife Priscilla; (because that Claudius had commanded all Jews to depart from Rome:) and came unto them. 3. And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers. 4. And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. 5. And when Silas and Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus was Christ. ^{was Christ: or, is the Christ} 6. And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles. 7. And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue. 8. And Crispus, the chief ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his house; and many of the Corinthians hearing believed, and were baptized. 9. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10. For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city. 11. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. ^{continued there: Gr. sat there} 12. And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, 13. Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. 14. And when Paul was now about to open his mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, If it were a matter of wrong or wicked lewdness, O ye Jews, reason would that I should bear with you: 15. But if it be a question of words and names, and of your law, look ye to it; for I will be no judge of such matters. 16. And he drave them from the judgment seat. 17. Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things. 18. And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow."

"19. And he came to Ephesus, and left them there: but he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews. 20. When they desired him to tarry longer time with them, he consented not;" (Acts 18:1-20, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. And after these things, Paul having departed out of Athens, came to Corinth, 2. and having found a certain Jew, by name Aquilas, of Pontus by birth, lately come from Italy, and Priscilla his wife, because of Claudius having directed all the Jews to depart out of Rome, he came to them, 3. and because of being of the same craft, he did remain with them, and was working, for they were tent-makers as to craft; 4. and he was reasoning in the synagogue every sabbath, persuading both Jews and Greeks. 5. And when both Silas and Timotheus came down from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in the Spirit, testifying fully to the Jews Jesus the Christ; 6. and on their resisting and speaking evil, having shaken [his] garments, he said unto them, 'Your blood [is] upon your head, I am clean; henceforth to the nations I will go on.' 7. And having departed thence, he went to the house of a certain one, by name Justus, a worshipper of God, whose house was adjoining the synagogue, 8. and Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue did believe in the Lord with all his house, and many of the Corinthians hearing were believing, and they were being baptized. 9. And the Lord said through a vision in the night to Paul, 'Be not afraid, but be speaking and thou mayest be not silent; 10. because I am with thee, and no one shall set on thee to do thee evil; because I have much people in this city;' 11. and he continued a year and six months, teaching among them the word of God. 12. And Gallio being proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a rush with one accord upon Paul, and brought him unto the tribunal, 13. saying, 'Against the law this one doth persuade men to worship God;' 14. and Paul being about to open [his] mouth, Gallio said unto the Jews, 'If, indeed, then, it was anything unrighteous, or an act of wicked profligacy, O Jews, according to reason I had borne with you, 15. but if it is a question concerning words and names, and of your law, look ye yourselves [to it], for a judge of these things I do not wish to be,' 16. and he drave them from the tribunal; 17. and all the Greeks having taken Sosthenes, the chief man of the synagogue, were beating [him] before the tribunal, and not even for these things was Gallio caring. 18. And Paul having remained yet a good many days, having taken leave of the brethren, was sailing to Syria, and with him [are] Priscilla and Aquilas, having shorn [his] head in Cenchera, for he had a vow;"

"19. and he came down to Ephesus, and did leave them there, and he himself having entered into the synagogue did reason with the Jews: 20. and they having requested [him] to remain a longer time with them, he did not consent," (Acts 18:1-20, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.