writes: `He that teacheth not his son a trade, doth the same as if he taught him to be a thief'. And Gamaliel, at

whose feet Paul had sat, said that he that had a trade in his hand was `like a fenced vineyard'. `St. Paul, after

working miracles, stood in his workshop at Corinth, and stitched hides of leather together with his hands, and the

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

The fact that there was a `Chief Ruler' of the synagogue at Corinth indicates its importance and numerical

strength. A stone has been discovered in Corinth, dating from between B.C. 100 and A.D. 200, bearing the

inscription (Suna) goge hebr (aion), `Synagogue of the Hebrews', and there is every probability that this stone was

actually in position during the apostle's stay.

Continuing with the narrative in chapter 18, we read:

`He reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when Silas and

Timotheus were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed by the word (Texts read logos) and testified to the

Jews that Jesus was Christ' (Acts 18:4,5).

Here we have the same enthusiasm, the same methods, the same object. And here, alas, also the same result, the

opposition and blasphemy of the Jews. Once more there were branches broken out of the olive tree, and once more

the apostle turns to the Gentiles (Acts 18:6).

Before we go further, it may be as well to give the structure of the whole passage, which is as follows:

CLAUDIUS.  a Jews expelled from Rome.

A 18:1-7.

b Synagogue. The Word.

(Roman

Emperor).

Jews oppose and blaspheme.

B 18:8.

CRISPUS.

(Chief Ruler

Believed. Baptized.

of Synagogue).

C 18:9,10. VISION.

Much people in this city.

A 18:11-16. GALLIO.

b Hard by synagogue. The Word.

(Roman Deputy).

Jews made insurrection.

a Jews driven from judgment-seat.

SOSTHENES.

(Chief Ruler

Beaten (Believed later, 1 Cor. 1:1).

of Synagogue).

We find, therefore, that the theme of Acts 18:1-17 revolves around five focal points - the action of two Roman

rulers, the action of two synagogue rulers, and the vision granted to Paul by the great Ruler over all, the Lord

On two occasions the apostle announced in a synagogue that he would turn to the Gentiles, once in Antioch

(Acts 13:46), and once again in Corinth (Acts 18:6). In both cases we read in the immediate context that the Jews

not only opposed but `blasphemed'. The apostle himself knew only too well the dreadful hatred from which this

blasphemy came, for he confessed before Agrippa that he had himself `compelled believers to blaspheme' (Acts

26:11), while in Romans 9:1-3 he writes that his heart was heavy for his kinsmen, for he himself used to wish

himself accursed from Christ.

There are some who have attempted to draw the dispensational boundary either at Acts 13:46, or at Acts 18:6,

but just as Paul's turning to the Gentiles in Acts 13 was followed by a series of synagogue visits from Acts 16 to 18,

so again, after the utterance given in Acts 18:6, we find the apostle once more in a synagogue in Ephesus in Acts

19:8. The synagogue witness ends in chapter 19, but Israel as a people are not set aside until after the critical

conference at Rome (Acts 28).

With reference to Acts 18:6 Alford writes: