Acts 18:12-17
Expanded Bible
Paul Is Brought Before Gallio
12 When Gallio was the ·governor [L proconsul; C from ad 51 to 52] of Achaia [C a Roman province in present-day southern Greece], ·some people [L the Jews] ·came together [made a united attack] against Paul and took him to the ·court [tribunal; judgment seat]. 13 They said, “This man is ·teaching [L persuading] people to worship God in a way that is against our law.”
14 Paul was about to ·say something [L open his mouth], but Gallio spoke [L to the Jews], saying, “I would [L reasonably; justifiably] listen to you [L O Jews,] if you were complaining about a crime or some ·wrong [evil wrongdoing; moral evil]. 15 But the things you are saying are only questions about words and names [C the debate over whether Jesus is the Messiah]—arguments about your own law. ·So you must solve this problem [L See to it] yourselves. I don’t want to be a judge of these things.” 16 And ·Gallio [L he] ·made them leave [threw them out of] the ·court [tribunal; judgment seat].
17 Then they[a] [C probably Greeks, using the opportunity to vent their dislike for the Jewish population; less likely, the Jews, angry at Sosthenes for losing the case] all grabbed Sosthenes [C perhaps the person mentioned in 1 Cor. 1:1], the ·leader [official] of the synagogue, and beat him there before the ·court [tribunal; judgment seat]. But this ·did not bother [was of no concern to; was ignored by] Gallio.
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- Acts 18:17 they Some Greek copies say “the Greeks.” A few say “the Jews.”
Acts 18:12-17
Amplified Bible
12 But when [a]Gallio was proconsul of Achaia (southern Greece), the Jews made a united attack on Paul and brought him before [b]the judgment seat, 13 declaring, “This man is persuading people to worship God in violation of the law [of Moses].” 14 But when Paul was about to reply, Gallio said to the Jews, “If it were a matter of some misdemeanor or serious crime, O Jews, I would have reason to put up with you; 15 but since it is merely a question [of doctrine within your religion] about words and names and your own law, see to it yourselves; I am [c]unwilling to judge these matters.” 16 And he drove them away from the judgment seat. 17 Then the Greeks all seized [d]Sosthenes, the leader of the synagogue, and began beating him right in front of the judgment seat; but Gallio paid no attention to any of this.(A)
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- Acts 18:12 Junius Gallio’s term as proconsul was brief a.d. 51-52, but is validated by an ancient inscription found at Delphi. This is important because it establishes the date of Paul’s visit to Corinth while on his second missionary journey and sets the date of his letters to the church at Thessalonica.
- Acts 18:12 The proconsul tried cases from a large, raised stone platform situated in front of his official residence.
- Acts 18:15 Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, in essence ruled Paul’s teachings to be a form of Judaism and therefore legal under Roman law.
- Acts 18:17 As leader of the synagogue Sosthenes would have presented the charges against Paul. Apparently something related to this made him the target of the attack. If this Sosthenes is the same man mentioned in 1 Cor 1:1, he later became a believer and follower of Christ.
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