Suetonius, a Latin historian, says that Claudius expelled the Jews from

Rome because of the tumults among them stirred up by one, Chrestus.  Whether

Chrestus was the actual name of some disturber of the peace, or, as some

believe, an ignorant misreading of the name Christ, cannot be determined.  We

know that there were pious Jews from Rome who heard Peter's message on the

day of Pentecost, just as there were Jews from Pontus, the birthplace of

Aquila.  Whatever the fact may be, one result of this edict was the migration

of Aquila to Corinth, and there the apostle found him.  There is nothing in

the narrative to suggest that Paul was acquainted with Aquila and sought him

out.  The narrative rather suggests that he looked for suitable shelter in

the Jewish quarter of Corinth, and that he was guided by the Lord unknown to

himself.  However, the narrative continues:

'And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought;

for by their occupation they were tentmakers' (Acts 18:3).

A harmful affectation sometimes assumed by those having a literary

bent, or who pose as scholars, is to boast of their uselessness in manual

work, as though inability to distinguish between chisel and screwdriver

enhanced their pose.  Paul needed no such pretension to bolster up his

dignity.  He was as great while stitching his leather tents as when he wrote

Ephesians, for in both he was doing the will of the Lord.  It is written in

the Talmud:

'What is commanded of a father towards his son?

To circumcise him, to

teach him the law, to teach him a trade'.

Gamaliel said:

'He that hath a trade in his hand, to what is he like?

He is like a

vineyard that is fenced'.

There are several references by Paul in his writings to the fact that

he supported himself by his own manual labour.  He did so at Ephesus (Acts

20:34), at Corinth (1 Cor. 9:12; 2 Cor. 7:2); and Thessalonica (1 Thess. 2:9;

2 Thess. 3:8).  No doubt these are but typical instances of his habit.

Because cilicium, a hair cloth, was in common use at the time, it has

been assumed that the tents made by Aquila and Paul must of necessity have

been of goats' hair.  Chrysostom, however, who was born at Antioch, and died

in a.d. 407, says on this subject:

'St. Paul, after working miracles, stood in his workshop at Corinth,

and stitched hides of leather together with his own hands, and the

angels regarded him with love, and the devils with fear'.

We may be excused a thrill upon reading this, as we too in our early years

learned and practised leather craft.  We find that after maintaining a

witness at Corinth extending over a period of eighteen months, Paul set sail

for Syria, Priscilla and Aquila accompanying him.  On the journey they

touched at Ephesus and there Paul parted from Aquila for

a time (Acts 18:18 -28).  It was at Ephesus that these two companions of Paul

did such splendid service in that they took Apollos with them and expounded

unto him the way of God more perfectly.  The apostle mentions these

companions in three epistles: