Commentary - Acts 18:1-4

Bird's-eye view

In this passage, the apostle Paul, having left the intellectual playground of Athens, arrives in the bustling, blue-collar, and morally grimy port city of Corinth. The narrative pivots from philosophical debate to the practicalities of gospel ministry. Here we see the sovereign hand of God at work in the grand political movements of the Roman Empire, using a pagan emperor's decree to position key assets for the planting of a crucial church. Paul, the great apostle, is also Paul the tent-maker, and his shared trade connects him with Aquila and Priscilla, a faithful Jewish couple who will become stalwart co-laborers. This section establishes the foundation of the Corinthian mission: a partnership grounded in common work, a household open to ministry, and a strategic, consistent outreach in the local synagogue, reasoning from the Scriptures with both Jews and Greeks. It is a masterful display of divine providence meeting apostolic diligence.

Luke shows us that the spread of the gospel is not a disembodied, mystical affair. It happens in real cities with real economies. It involves people who have to earn a living. And it begins with the faithful, methodical proclamation of the Word. Paul doesn't just show up and wait for a vision; he finds a place to live, he sets up shop, and he goes to the place where the Scriptures are read and discussed. This is the nuts and bolts of kingdom advancement.

Outline

Context In Acts

This section marks the beginning of Paul's second missionary journey's longest stop. He has just come from Athens (Acts 17), where his sermon on Mars Hill met with a mixed but meager response. He now moves from the intellectual and cultural capital of old Greece to its new commercial and political hub. Corinth was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia, a city known for its wealth, its strategic location, and its rampant immorality, particularly the cult of Aphrodite. The founding of the church in Corinth is a major event in Acts, and the letters Paul would later write to this church (1 & 2 Corinthians) make up a significant portion of the New Testament. This passage, therefore, is not just a travelogue note; it is the account of the beachhead being established in a city that would prove to be both a great triumph and a great trial for the apostle.

Key Issues

The Tent-Maker's Strategy

We must not miss the significance of Paul's trade. He was not a man who considered manual labor beneath him. In our day, we tend to create a hard separation between sacred and secular work. A man is either "in the ministry" or he has a "real job." Paul would have found this distinction baffling. For him, making tents was not a distraction from his ministry; it was an integral part of it. It provided his living, freeing him from the need to solicit funds from a new and untested group of people (2 Cor. 11:9). It gave him a point of connection with ordinary working people. And in this case, it was the very thing that connected him to Aquila and Priscilla.

All honest work, done before the face of God, has eternal value. The Protestant work ethic, which built Western civilization, was rooted in this very idea: that a man in his workshop can be as pleasing to God as a monk in his cell. Paul is not slumming it as a tent-maker until his "real ministry" gets off the ground. He is conducting his real ministry as a tent-maker. His hands are calloused, and his reasoning in the synagogue is sharp. This is the model of an integrated Christian life, where all of life is brought under the lordship of Christ.

Verse by Verse Commentary

1 After these things he departed Athens and went to Corinth.

Paul moves on. His time in Athens was not a failure, as some of the city's intellectual elite did believe, but it was not the site of a major church plant either. So he travels about fifty miles west to Corinth. This was a move from the city of philosophers to the city of merchants. Corinth was a boomtown, a crossroads of trade and a cesspool of paganism. It was a hard place, full of the kind of rough characters you find in any major port city. Paul did not go there for a vacation. He went there because it was a strategic center, a place from which the gospel could radiate out into the entire region of Achaia.

2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, and his wife Priscilla, who recently came from Italy because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them,

Here we see the hidden hand of God's providence. Paul arrives in a new city, likely knowing no one, and "finds" a Jewish couple. But this meeting was no accident. The Roman historian Suetonius tells us that the emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome because of constant disturbances "at the instigation of Chrestus." This is almost certainly a reference to Christ. The gospel had arrived in Rome, and it was causing the same kind of uproar it caused everywhere else. A pagan emperor, in a fit of administrative pique, throws the Jews out of the capital. And what is the result? God moves two of his key assets, Aquila and Priscilla, from Rome to Corinth, right into the path of the apostle Paul just as he arrives. God is playing chess with the nations, and the petty decrees of emperors are merely His pawns. He is setting up the board for the planting of the Corinthian church.

3 and because he was of the same trade, he was staying with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers.

The providential connection is sealed by a common vocation. Paul, Aquila, and Priscilla were all tent-makers, or more broadly, leather workers. This was a skilled and necessary trade. It was not just a hobby. This shared work provided the basis for their relationship. Paul doesn't just rent a room; he moves in with them, and they set up a workshop together. This is Christian community in its most basic form: shared life, shared labor, and a shared roof. Hospitality is not just having people over for dinner; it is the opening of one's life and home for the advancement of the gospel. Their workshop became the financial engine for the mission to Corinth. They were business partners and partners in the gospel.

4 And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath and trying to persuade both Jews and Greeks.

Here Luke gives us Paul's consistent ministry pattern. On the Sabbath, the day of rest from tent-making, he goes to the synagogue. This was his standard operating procedure: to the Jew first. The synagogue was the natural starting point. It was where the God-fearing people were, the people who knew the Scriptures. And notice his method. He was reasoning and trying to persuade. This was not a mindless emotional appeal. Paul laid out arguments from the Old Testament, demonstrating logically that Jesus was the fulfillment of all the prophecies. He engaged their minds. His audience was twofold: Jews by birth and "Greeks," which refers to Gentiles who were attracted to the monotheism and morality of Judaism and had become synagogue adherents. Paul's goal was to persuade them that faith in Yahweh must now be expressed as faith in Jesus the Messiah. This was the initial front of the gospel invasion of Corinth.

Application

This short passage is packed with practical theology for us. First, it teaches us to see the hand of God in everything, even in the headlines. Political turmoil, economic shifts, and refugee crises are not random chaos. For the church, they are the sovereign movements of a God who is building His kingdom. God is constantly arranging the board, moving people into place for His good purposes. We should therefore not be dismayed by the news, but rather look for the opportunities God is creating within it.

Second, this passage elevates the dignity of ordinary work. Paul's apostleship was not hindered by his need to make tents; it was facilitated by it. We need to demolish the false wall between the sacred and the secular. Whether you are a pastor, a plumber, a programmer, or a politician, your work is a primary theater for your service to God. Excellence in your vocation is a form of worship and a powerful platform for witness. Your workplace is a mission field, and your colleagues are your congregation.

Finally, we see the simple but profound strategy of gospel proclamation. Paul went to where the people were and reasoned with them from the Scriptures. Our evangelism must be the same. It must be biblical, rational, and persuasive. We are not selling a product; we are declaring a truth and appealing to men and women to be reconciled to God. We must be prepared to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to do so with gentleness and respect, whether that's in a formal church setting or over a workbench with a coworker.