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Acts 18 is the eighteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the second missionary journey of Paul, together with Silas and Timothy, and the beginning of the third missionary journey. The book containing this chapter is anonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.
Contents
Text
The original text is written in Koine Greek and is divided into 28 verses. Some most ancient manuscripts containing this chapter are:
Places mentioned
This chapter mentions the following places (in order of appearance):
Timeline
This part of the second missionary journey of Paul took place in c. AD 50-52, based on the time when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia.
Structure
This chapter can be grouped:
Verse 1
Paul travelled from Athens to Corinth, a distance of about 82 km on modern roads.
Verse 5
When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.Verse 12
When Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him to the judgment seat,Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus or Gallio was a Roman senator and brother of famous writer Seneca. According to this chapter, he dismissed the charge brought by the Jews against the Apostle Paul. (Acts 18:12-17) His behaviour on this occasion ("but Gallio cared for none of these things", v. 17) showed his disregard for Jewish sensitivities, and also the impartial attitude of Roman officials towards Christianity in its early days. Gallio's tenure can be fairly accurately dated to between 51-52 AD. The reference to proconsul Gallio in the Delphi Inscription, or Gallio Inscription (IG, VII, 1676; SIG, II, 801d; AD 52) provides an important marker for developing a chronology of the life of Apostle Paul by relating it to the trial of Paul in Achaea mentioned in this chapter. Therefore, the events of Acts 18 can be dated to this period. This is significant because it is the most accurately known date in the life of Paul.