Bible Study Lesson for Acts 18:18-23: Priscilla and Aquila

We now move into the second section of the chapter which describes the end of Paul's second missionary journey and the beginning of his third.

Read Acts 18:18. Luke doesn't give us any specifics about how long Paul stayed in Corinth here, only that it was "some time." Syria is where Antioch is located. { Point out Syria on flannel map } So what Luke is saying here is that Paul has now decided to head home - as we will read in the next verses, Paul will be making some stops on the way. Cenchrea is the harbor for Corinth and six miles away from that city. It is from here that Paul will start his trip back. We know from Romans 16:1 that a church was planted at this harbor, as well.

Because we live in an "enlightened" age we probably didn't even notice that Luke mentions Priscilla first, then Aquila, but in an age were men tend to have higher positions than women, the fact that the wife is mentioned first is interesting. My commentary said this may have been because Priscilla had a higher social position or it may have been because she had a more prominent role in ministry. In the letter to the Romans and 2 Timothy Paul again uses the same order of names, putting the wife first. Read Romans 16:3-4. There is no other mention of how these two risked their lives for Paul, but it appears that it was something widely known within the church.

Finally, we don't know any of the specifics of Paul's vow here. It sounds like it was a temporary Nazirite vow, as described in Numbers chapter 6. Let's just read part of this passage. Read Numbers 6:1-5, 18. My commentary suggested that different vows were taken to express thanks for deliverance from grave danger. As we read in Numbers, shaving the head marked the end of the vow.

Read Acts 18:19. It sounds like it was understood that Priscilla and Aquila would stay in Ephesus and provide help and leadership for the church that Paul was hoping to plant in Ephesus. I think we need to stop and think about what they must have been giving up, to uproot themselves from Corinth and relocate to Ephesus, after being uprooted from Rome not that much earlier. (Remember Claudius chased all the Jews out of Rome because of rioting.) As was Paul's pattern, he immediately goes to the synagogue and begins preaching. { Put symbol for Ephesus on the flannel map}

Short rabbit trail. What do we know about Ephesus? Here's what my commentary provided: "Ephesus was the most important city in western Asia Minor (now Turkey). It had a harbor that at that time opened into the Cayster River, which in turn emptied into the Aegean Sea. Because it was also at an intersection of major trade routes, Ephesus became a commercial center. It boasted a pagan temple dedicated to the Roman goddess Diana (Greek Artemis); cf. Ac 19:23-31. Paul made Ephesus a center for evangelism for about three years (see note on Ac 19:10), and the church there apparently flourished for some time, but later needed the warning of Rev 2:1-7."

Read Acts 18:20-21. It sounds like Paul was received very positively by the Jews, quite amazing after all the times he was received with violence! But he must have felt that he was long overdue to head back home to Antioch and therefore could not stay. But he knew he had left Priscilla and Aquila as strong leaders to help with the necessary teaching and leadership.

Read Acts 18:22. Caesarea was the main sea port nearest Jerusalem. It sounds like he sailed from Ephesus to Caesarea, then traveled to Jerusalem to greet the church there. The phrase "he went up" could be referring to how Jerusalem is 2500 feet above sea level, so he would have done quite a bit climbing from the sea shore to the city. From there he traveled to Antioch. It doesn't say whether by foot or ship, but my maps seems to indicate that he traveled by ship again. { Point out all places on the flannel map }

This is the end of Paul's second missionary journey.

Read Acts 18:23. Paul probably only stayed in Antioch long enough to give his report about his second journey, received the blessings of the elders of his home church, then headed out again. This time, he starts his third missionary journey by retracing his route of his second missionary journey (or so this verse seems to imply.) { Point out Galatia and Phrygia on the flannel map. } His goal was to check in on how the churches he had planted were doing and to encourage the young believers. Remember they didn't have telephones or faxes or the internet to keep in touch! The only real way they could encourage one another, beyond letters, was through face to face contact.

To be continued...

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version