Passage

Acts 18.23

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

21. but taking his leave of them, and saying, I will return again unto you if God will, he set sail from Ephesus. 22. And when he had landed at Cæsarea, he went up and saluted the church, and went down to Antioch.

23. And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the scriptures. 25. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spake and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, knowing only the baptism of John: (Acts 18:21-25, ASV)

WEB

21. but taking his leave of them, and saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills,” he set sail from Ephesus. 22. When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the assembly, and went down to Antioch.

23. Having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples.

Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures. 25. This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. (Acts 18:21-25, WEB)

KJV

21. But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem: but I will return again unto you, if God will. And he sailed from Ephesus. 22. And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.

23. And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.

And a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man, and mighty in the scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25. This man was instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in the spirit, he spake and taught diligently the things of the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John. (Acts 18:21-25, KJV)

YLT

21. but took leave of them, saying, 'It behoveth me by all means the coming feast to keep at Jerusalem, and again I will return unto you, God willing.' And he sailed from Ephesus, 22. and having come down to Caesarea, having gone up, and having saluted the assembly, he went down to Antioch.

23. And having made some stay he went forth, going through in order the region of Galatia and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.

And a certain Jew, Apollos by name, an Alexandrian by birth, a man of eloquence, being mighty in the Writings, came to Ephesus, 25. this one was instructed in the way of the Lord, and being fervent in the Spirit, was speaking and teaching exactly the things about the Lord, knowing only the baptism of John; (Acts 18:21-25, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the narrator of Acts, traditionally Luke
Audience: Theophilus (Acts 1:1) and the reader
Location: from Antioch in Syria, Paul's sending church (13:1-3), through "the region of Galatia, and Phrygia" in Asia Minor
Time period: c. AD 52, at the start of Paul's third missionary journey

Theological reading

"And having spent some time there, he departed, and went through the region of Galatia, and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples." With this verse Luke begins Paul's third missionary journey.

From Antioch again. "There" is Antioch (18:22), the church that first sent out Paul and Barnabas (13:1-3). Each of Paul's three missionary journeys in Acts begins from it. Luke gives no detail of this stay.

"In order." The phrase (Strong's G2517) means one after another, in sequence. Luke uses the same word in his preface, where he writes "in order" for Theophilus (Luke 1:3). Paul visits the churches systematically, in the same region he passed through on the second journey (16:6). Whether "Galatia" here means the southern cities founded on the first journey or ethnic Galatia further north is debated.

"Establishing all the disciples." The verb (G1991) means to strengthen or make firm. Luke used it of Paul and Barnabas returning through the same cities, "confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith" (14:22), and of Paul going "through Syria and Cilicia, confirming the churches" (15:41). Acts presents follow-up as part of the mission, not an afterthought. The purpose is to make young churches stand without the apostle.

Toward Ephesus. The journey's goal is Ephesus, where Paul had promised to return "if God will" (18:21). He reaches it at 19:1. Between the two verses Luke tells of Apollos (18:24-28). See Acts 18.23-21.16.

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.

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Quoted in

Concepts:

Church in Galatia

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.