Acts 18:5 - Exposition

But for and, A.V.; Timothy for Timotheus, A.V.; came down for were come down, A.V.; constrained by the Word for pressed in spirit, A.V. and T.R.; testifying for and testified, A.V.; the Christ for Christ, A.V. When Silas and Timothy , etc. It is probable that Silas had returned by St. Paul's directions to Beraea, and Timothy to Thessalonica from Athens. If there were extant a letter of Paul to the Beraeans, it would probably mention his sending back Silas to them, just as the Epistle to the Thessalonians mentions his sending Timothy to them. Now they both come to Corinth from Macedonia, which includes Beraea and Thessalonica. If they came by sea, they would probably sail together from Dium to Cenchreae (see Acts 17:14 , note). Was constrained by the Word . As an English phrase, this is almost destitute of meaning. If the R.T. is right, and it has very strong manuscript authority, the words συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ mean that he was seized, taken possession of, and as it were bound by the necessity of preaching the Word, constrained as it were to preach more earnestly than ever. In St. Luke συνέχεσθαι is a medical term: in Luke 4:28 , R.T., "Holden with a great fever;" Luke 8:37 , "Holden with a great fear;" Acts 28:8 , "Sick of fever and dysentery;" and so frequently in medical writers ('Medical Language of St. Luke, ' Hobart). But it is worth considering whether συνείχετο is not in the middle voice, with the sense belonging to συνεχής , i.e. "continuous," "unbroken," and so that the phrase means that, after the arrival of Silas and Timothy, St. Paul gave himself up to continuous preaching. St. Luke has not infrequently a use of words peculiar to himself. The Vulgate rendering, instabat verbo, seems so to understand it. It was probably soon after the arrival of Silas and Timothy that St. Paul wrote his First Epistle to the Thessalonians ( 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 . l; 1 Thessalonians 3:1 , 1 Thessalonians 3:2 , 1 Thessalonians 3:6 ). The Second Epistle followed some time before St. Paul left Corinth. If the T.R., τῷ πνεύματι , is right, it must be construed, "constrained by the Spirit," in accordance with Greek usage. Testifying , etc. Note how different St. Paul's preaching in the synagogue was from his preaching in the Areopagus.