Digging Deeper: The God Who Speaks Resolve to Paul’s Spirit

Paul travels to Corinth and meets a Jewish couple from Italy named Priscilla and Aquila. Priscilla’s name is mentioned first, which may indicate her prominent role or higher social position.

They had been banished from their homeland, along with many other Jews, during the reign of Claudius. The Roman historian Seutonius wrote that Caesar Claudius had given the expulsion order because of the Jews’ “continual tumults instigated by Chrestus”, which was a common misspelling of “Christ.” If “Chrestus” does in fact refer to Christ, the riots obviously were “about” him rather than led “by” him.

Paul stayed with Priscilla and Aquila and they had a tent-making business together. Paul had evidently been taught the tent-making trade as a youth. It was the Jewish custom to provide manual training for sons, whether rich or poor. And every Sabbath Paul would teach in the Synagogue. 

When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 

Paul left the synagogue and went next door to the house of Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. Crispus, the synagogue leader, and his entire household believed in the Lord; and many of the Corinthians who heard Paul believed and were baptized. 

One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God. Corinth was a large, strategic political, commercial and religious center. It was important that a strong church be established there.

While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made a united attack on Paul and brought him to the place of judgment. 

They charged, “This man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law.” 

Just as Paul was about to speak, Gallio said to them, “If you Jews were making a complaint about some misdemeanor or serious crime, it would be reasonable for me to listen to you. But since it involves questions about words and names and your own law—settle the matter yourselves. I will not be a judge of such things.” 

The Jews were claiming that Paul was advocating a religion not recognized by Roman law as Judaism was. If he had been given the opportunity to speak, he could have argued that the gospel he was preaching was the faith of his fathers and thus authorized by Roman law.

Then the crowd there turned on Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the proconsul, but Gallio couldn’t care less.

It is not clear whether the Greeks beat Sosthenes, seeing the occasion as an opportunity to vent their feelings against the Jews, or the Jews beat their own synagogue ruler because he was unsuccessful in presenting their case – probably the former.

Gallio’s positive response to Paul was a key building block in the church’s case for a strong legal standing in the empire. Gallio was born in Corduba, Spain, as Marcus Annaeus Novatus. His name was changed to Gallio when the orator and senator Lucius Junius Gallio adopted him. Gallio’s biological father was Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Elder), a well-known writer and rhetorician, and his younger brother was Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Jr. (Seneca the Younger), a renowned writer and politician. In AD 41 Gallio and his brother Seneca were banished to the island of Corsica because of Seneca’s alleged adultery with Julia Livilla, the sister of Emperor Caligula. Agrippina, Nero’s mother, recalled the two in AD 49 so that Seneca could become Nero’s tutor.

Gallio was proconsul of Achaia in 51-52. The date is accurately known thanks to an inscription discovered in Delphi, Greece, a copy of a letter from Emperor Claudius referring to “Lucius Junius Gallio, my friend, and the proconsul of Achaia.” Seneca wrote of Gallio’s charm and humility and dedicated two of his books to him. The Gallio inscription is of enormous importance in dating Paul’s 18-month stay in Corinth. It suggests that he was there from the fall of 50 until the late spring of 52.