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 and their inability to distinguish between a chisel and a screwdriver!

Paul needed no such pretension to bolster up his dignity.  He was as great,

while stitching his 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), and 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 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:

`Greet Prisca (R.V.) and Aquila my helpers in Christ Jesus: who have

for my life laid down their own necks: unto whom not only I give

thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles.  Likewise greet the

church that is in their house' (Rom. 16:3 -5).

The R.V. here rightly reads `Prisca', as does the A.V. in 2 Timothy

4:19.  The form of the name is probably an affectionate diminutive, and the

use of it opens for a moment a door into the private life and homely

affections of the great apostle.  The genuineness and reality of the

apostle's character was such that he had no need as we say, `to stand on his

dignity' and could indulge in a little playfulness without detracting from

the solemnity of his message.

With regard to the passage quoted from Romans 16 it is written:

`Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his