Acts 18:19

he came to Ephesus--the capital of the Roman province of Asia. (See Introduction to Ephesians). It was a sail, right across from the west to the east side of the Ægean Sea, of some eight or ten days, with a fair wind. left them there--Aquila and Priscilla. but he himself entered into the synagogue--merely taking advantage of the vessel putting in there. and reasoned with the Jews--the tense here not being the usual one denoting continuous action (as in Act 17:2; Act 18:4), but that expressing a transient act. He had been forbidden to preach the word in Asia (Act 16:6), but he would not consider that as precluding this passing exercise of his ministry when Providence brought him to its capital; nor did it follow that the prohibition was still in force.

In this chapter we have, I. Paul's coming to Corinth, his private converse with Aquila and Priscilla, and his public reasonings with the Jews, from whom, when they rejected him, he turned to the Gentiles (Act 18:1-6). II. The great success of his ministry there, and the encouragement Christ gave him in a vision to continue his labours there, in hopes of further success (Act 18:7-11). III. The molestations which after some time he met with there from the Jews, which he got pretty well through by the coldness of Gallio, the Roman governor, in the cause (Act 18:12-17). IV. The progress Paul made through many countries, after he had continued long at Corinth, for the edifying and watering of the churches which he had founded and planted, in which circuit he made a short visit to Jerusalem (Act 18:18-23). V. An account of Apollo's improvement in knowledge, and of his usefulness in the church (Act 18:24-28).

18:19-23 Paul made a quick stop at Ephesus, the most important city in the Roman province of Asia. There he left the others behind, including Priscilla and Aquila (18:26). He sailed to Judea, landing at Caesarea, the headquarters of the Roman forces of occupation. After a visit to the church at Jerusalem, Paul returned to Antioch, the church that had originally commissioned him. This marked the end of his second missionary journey. In Antioch, he spent a rewarding time of reporting what God had done through him and his colleagues, sharing the excitement and challenges of their work with the home church. Then after . . . some time, Paul began his third missionary journey. He went by land rather than by sea, traveling through Galatia and Phrygia and revisiting believers whom he had led to faith in Christ on his previous trips. It was important to him that these young converts not be left to founder and shipwreck their faith (see Eph 6:10-20; 1 Tim 1:18-20; 2 Tim 1:15; 4:10).