Priscilla and Aquila Working at Their Tent-Making ShopBible World
18:1Acts 18:1
After these things Paul departed from Athens, and came to Corinth;
After his work in Athens Paul traveled on alone to Corinth, leaving word for Silas and Timothy to follow him there. He entered a leading commercial city crowded with people from many lands, yet almost wholly given to idolatry and gross immorality. Its position as a busy thoroughfare within easy reach of Rome made it a strategic place from which the truth could spread widely. There he joined Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tentmakers lately expelled from Rome, living and laboring with them while preaching the Scriptures and supporting himself by night work with his hands. Remaining a year and six months he raised up a flourishing church of Jews and Gentiles, showing that religion is not to be divided from business and that humble manual toil in no way lowers the ministry.
Journey and Corinthian Setting
After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth without waiting for Silas and Timothy, leaving word for them to follow him there. His move took him out of a setting of philosophical debate into a busy, diverse commercial city whose people were largely focused on business and pleasure. Having judged that his approach at Athens had borne little fruit, he changed on coming to Corinth to focus on salvation through Christ rather than extended discussions and arguments.
Corinth was almost wholly given to idolatry, with Venus as its favorite goddess and demoralizing rites connected with her worship. Its people were known even among the heathen for gross immorality and were largely absorbed in immediate pleasures and gaieties. It was a city of pleasure-loving merchants in the darkness of error, to whom Paul came to preach the truth.
Corinth was a leading city of Greece and the wider world, a major commercial thoroughfare within easy reach of Rome where people from many lands gathered. Its streets brought together Greeks, Jews, Romans, and travelers from many lands, largely occupied with business and pleasure rather than spiritual concerns. Its importance as a large commercial center closely connected with Rome made it a strategic place to establish memorials for God and his truth and a place from which the gospel could spread widely.
Jews had taken up residence in Corinth, including Aquila and Priscilla, who afterward became earnest workers for Christ, and Paul on becoming acquainted with their character abode with them. They had recently been expelled from Rome and had settled in Corinth, where they established a business as manufacturers of tents. The banishment came about twenty years after the crucifixion, when there was a live, earnest, strong, zealous church in Rome for which the Lord worked. Because Christians preached that Jesus was the Messiah, Jewish envy and rage knew no bounds, leading to complaints that the Christian Jews were disorderly and dangerous to the public good and were constantly stirring up strife.
Labor and Present Application
On coming to Corinth Paul became acquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, Jews lately expelled from Rome who had established a tentmaking business there, and because they shared his trade he abode with them and solicited work from them. He preached by day and worked with them making tents at night, supporting himself rather than burdening others and using daily labor as a way to reach fellow workers with salvation. While living and laboring with them he also taught the Scriptures and instructed Aquila and Priscilla more perfectly in the truth, and they afterward became earnest workers for Christ.
He labored in Corinth for a year and six months and proved the divine character of his mission by raising up a flourishing church composed of Jews and Gentiles. Many were truly converted and brought from darkness into the light of the gospel, with Gentile converts more numerous than Jewish converts. The Gentiles were in a more favorable condition to receive the truth because they were not walled in by the maxims and traditions of priests and elders.
While staying in Corinth he became seriously concerned about the churches in Galatia, where false teaching was causing division, heresy, and sensualism. The work at Corinth later became one of the results he reported to the Jerusalem brethren, including the confusion and strife some had stirred up in the Corinthian church. Christ thus had tent-makers as co-laborers in the work of salvation, showing that religion is not to be divided from business. Those tent-makers were sturdy, humble toilers from whom went forth a power that will be felt through all eternity.
His course in Corinth proves that manual work brings no shame and in no way lowers the work of the ministry, and that a minister should not be afraid of work. The same example calls workers today to branch out more and to make the world their field of labor rather than working for the churches only. Working men and women who are willing to bear responsibilities with faith and hope find that which is great and good in life.
After his work in Athens Paul traveled on alone to Corinth, leaving word for Silas and Timothy to follow him there. He entered a leading commercial city crowded with people from many lands, yet almost wholly given to idolatry and gross immorality. Its position as a busy thoroughfare within easy reach of Rome made it a strategic place from which the truth could spread widely. There he joined Aquila and Priscilla, fellow tentmakers lately expelled from Rome, living and laboring with them while preaching the Scriptures and supporting himself by night work with his hands. Remaining a year and six months he raised up a flourishing church of Jews and Gentiles, showing that religion is not to be divided from business and that humble manual toil in no way lowers the ministry.
Journey and Corinthian Setting
After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth without waiting for Silas and Timothy, leaving word for them to follow him there. His move took him out of a setting of philosophical debate into a busy, diverse commercial city whose people were largely focused on business and pleasure. Having judged that his approach at Athens had borne little fruit, he changed on coming to Corinth to focus on salvation through Christ rather than extended discussions and arguments.
Corinth was almost wholly given to idolatry, with Venus as its favorite goddess and demoralizing rites connected with her worship. Its people were known even among the heathen for gross immorality and were largely absorbed in immediate pleasures and gaieties. It was a city of pleasure-loving merchants in the darkness of error, to whom Paul came to preach the truth.
Corinth was a leading city of Greece and the wider world, a major commercial thoroughfare within easy reach of Rome where people from many lands gathered. Its streets brought together Greeks, Jews, Romans, and travelers from many lands, largely occupied with business and pleasure rather than spiritual concerns. Its importance as a large commercial center closely connected with Rome made it a strategic place to establish memorials for God and his truth and a place from which the gospel could spread widely.
Jews had taken up residence in Corinth, including Aquila and Priscilla, who afterward became earnest workers for Christ, and Paul on becoming acquainted with their character abode with them. They had recently been expelled from Rome and had settled in Corinth, where they established a business as manufacturers of tents. The banishment came about twenty years after the crucifixion, when there was a live, earnest, strong, zealous church in Rome for which the Lord worked. Because Christians preached that Jesus was the Messiah, Jewish envy and rage knew no bounds, leading to complaints that the Christian Jews were disorderly and dangerous to the public good and were constantly stirring up strife.
Labor and Present Application
On coming to Corinth Paul became acquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, Jews lately expelled from Rome who had established a tentmaking business there, and because they shared his trade he abode with them and solicited work from them. He preached by day and worked with them making tents at night, supporting himself rather than burdening others and using daily labor as a way to reach fellow workers with salvation. While living and laboring with them he also taught the Scriptures and instructed Aquila and Priscilla more perfectly in the truth, and they afterward became earnest workers for Christ.
He labored in Corinth for a year and six months and proved the divine character of his mission by raising up a flourishing church composed of Jews and Gentiles. Many were truly converted and brought from darkness into the light of the gospel, with Gentile converts more numerous than Jewish converts. The Gentiles were in a more favorable condition to receive the truth because they were not walled in by the maxims and traditions of priests and elders.
While staying in Corinth he became seriously concerned about the churches in Galatia, where false teaching was causing division, heresy, and sensualism. The work at Corinth later became one of the results he reported to the Jerusalem brethren, including the confusion and strife some had stirred up in the Corinthian church. Christ thus had tent-makers as co-laborers in the work of salvation, showing that religion is not to be divided from business. Those tent-makers were sturdy, humble toilers from whom went forth a power that will be felt through all eternity.
His course in Corinth proves that manual work brings no shame and in no way lowers the work of the ministry, and that a minister should not be afraid of work. The same example calls workers today to branch out more and to make the world their field of labor rather than working for the churches only. Working men and women who are willing to bear responsibilities with faith and hope find that which is great and good in life.