Passage

Acts 18.11

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

9. And the Lord said unto Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak and hold not thy peace: 10. for I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to harm thee: for I have much people in this city.

11. And he dwelt there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment-seat, 13. saying, This man persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. (Acts 18:9-13, ASV)

WEB

9. The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Don’t be afraid, but speak and don’t be silent; 10. for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”

11. He lived there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, 13. saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.” (Acts 18:9-13, WEB)

KJV

9. Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: 10. For I am with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee: for I have much people in this city.

11. And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. ^{continued there: Gr. sat there}

And when Gallio was the deputy of Achaia, the Jews made insurrection with one accord against Paul, and brought him to the judgment seat, 13. Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law. (Acts 18:9-13, KJV)

YLT

9. And the Lord said through a vision in the night to Paul, 'Be not afraid, but be speaking and thou mayest be not silent; 10. because I am with thee, and no one shall set on thee to do thee evil; because I have much people in this city;'

11. and he continued a year and six months, teaching among them the word of God.

And Gallio being proconsul of Achaia, the Jews made a rush with one accord upon Paul, and brought him unto the tribunal, 13. saying, 'Against the law this one doth persuade men to worship God;' (Acts 18:9-13, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator of Acts, traditionally Luke
Audience: Theophilus (Acts 1:1) and the reader
Location: Corinth, capital of the Roman province of Achaia, refounded as a Roman colony by Julius Caesar in 44 BC
Time period: c. AD 50-52, on Paul's second missionary journey. Gallio's term as proconsul of Achaia (18:12), dated by an inscription found at Delphi, places the end of the stay about AD 51-52.

Theological reading

"And he dwelt there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them." The verse follows the Lord's promise, "I have much people in this city" (18:10), and records Paul's response.

"Dwelt." The verb (Strong's G2523) literally means to sit; the KJV margin notes "Gr. sat there." It suggests a settled stay rather than a brief visit. Eighteen months was the longest Paul had remained in one city on his journeys so far. Only Ephesus, where he stayed two years and more (19:10; 20:31), was longer.

Teaching the word of God. The activity is "teaching" (G1321), and its content is "the word of God" (G3056, G2316). After the initial preaching and the break with the synagogue (18:5-7), the work becomes the steady instruction of a growing church. Paul describes the content in his first letter to Corinth: "I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified" (1 Corinthians 2:2).

A mixed church. The letters show what the eighteen months produced: a congregation of Jews and Gentiles, mostly ordinary people. "Not many wise after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called" (1 Corinthians 1:26). It included Crispus, a former synagogue ruler (Acts 18:8; 1 Corinthians 1:14), and Gaius, also baptized by Paul (1 Corinthians 1:14), probably the same Gaius whom Paul later calls host "of the whole church" (Romans 16:23).

Dating. Because Gallio's proconsulship can be dated from an inscription found at Delphi to about AD 51-52, these eighteen months are among the most securely dated periods in Paul's life. They serve as a fixed point for dating his letters. See Dating of Paul's Letters and Acts as History (Ramsay's Verification).

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

G3056 - logos, logos, Strong's G3056
G2316 - theos, theos, Strong's G2316

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Dating of Paul's Letters

Concepts:

Passages:

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.