Bible Strands
Acts 18:17
At this, the crowd seized Sosthenes the synagogue leader and beat him in front of the judgment seat. But none of this was of concern to Gallio.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — The narrative places a Greek crowd in Corinth at the moment they physically assault Sosthenes, the synagogue leader, directly before the Roman judgment seat after Gallio dismissed the Jewish accusations against Paul. Gallio remains entirely indifferent to the violence.
The words — The Greek Ἐπιλαβόμενοι (Epilabomenoi) literally means "having seized," describing the crowd's violent action against Sosthenes. The title ἀρχισυνάγωγος (archisynagōgos) identifies Sosthenes by his official synagogue position.
The thread — The text connects to 1 Corinthians 1:1, where Paul lists Sosthenes as his co-author, indicating a later shift in the man's allegiance. The sequence follows Acts 17:32, where Greek audiences similarly react to Paul's message with either mockery or renewed interest.
Why it lands — The passage records a factual moment where Roman civil authority ignores the assault on a Jewish leader while implicitly protecting the gospel messenger. It asks the reader to note how secular governance can shield the early church without validating the crowd's violent behavior.
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
Then all the Greeks took Sosthenes, the chief ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. And Gallio cared for none of those things.
Cross-references
- 1 Corinthians 1:1 Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,
- Amos 6:6 You drink wine by the bowlful and anoint yourselves with the finest oils, but you fail to grieve over the ruin of Joseph.
- Acts 17:32 When they heard about the resurrection of the dead, some began to mock him, but others said, “We want to hear you again on this topic.”
- 1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,