Bible Strands
Acts 18:13
“This man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law,” they said.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The Jewish accusers address Gallio, the proconsul of Achaia, immediately after dragging Paul before the judgment seat. They present a formal complaint regarding Paul's religious instruction.
The words — The verb ἀναπείθει (anapeithei) literally means "persuades" or "leads astray," denoting the active influence the accusers claim Paul exercises. The preposition παρὰ (para) functions here as "contrary to," establishing the boundary against which Paul's teaching is measured.
The thread — This prosecutorial formula appears in Acts 6:13, Acts 21:28, and Acts 24:5, where opponents repeatedly charge Paul with violating Jewish tradition and inciting division. The consistent phrasing across these passages documents a standardized legal strategy against early Christian teachers.
Why it lands — The text records a specific accusation without validating its truth, requiring the reader to distinguish between a legal claim and historical fact. It asks the reader to trace how opponents frame religious instruction as a civic threat.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Saying, This fellow persuadeth men to worship God contrary to the law.
Cross-references
- Acts 6:13 where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.
- Acts 21:28 crying out, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches everyone everywhere against our people and against our law and against this place. Furthermore, he has brought Greeks into the temple and defiled this holy place.”
- Acts 24:5 We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,
- Acts 25:8 Then Paul made his defense: “I have committed no offense against the law of the Jews or against the temple or against Caesar.”
- Acts 18:4 Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.
- Acts 18:15 But since it is a dispute about words and names and your own law, settle it yourselves. I refuse to be a judge of such things.”