Acts 18:3

and he stayed and worked with them because they were tentmakers by trade, just as he was.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Luke records Paul’s movements in Corinth immediately after meeting the exiled Jewish couple Aquila and Priscilla, following Claudius’s decree expelling Jews from Rome.

The words — The Greek ὁμότεχνον (homotechnon) literally means “same trade,” explicitly stating that Paul and the couple practiced the identical craft of tentmaking.

The thread — This shared labor aligns with Paul’s later assertion that he worked hard with his own hands (1 Corinthians 4:12) and toiled night and day to avoid becoming a financial burden (1 Thessalonians 2:9), while his separate claim of preaching the gospel free of charge remains distinct (2 Corinthians 11:7).

Why it lands — The text establishes that identical occupation creates the immediate practical basis for apostolic fellowship, requiring readers to acknowledge vocational partnership as the structural foundation for shared mission.

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

καὶkaiand διὰdiadue to τὸtoof the ὁμότεχνονhomotechnonsame trade εἶναιeinaibeing ἔμενενemenenhe was staying παρ᾽par᾽with αὐτοῖςautoisthem καὶkaiand ἠργάζετο·ērgazetohe was working;ἦσανēsanthey were γὰρgarfor σκηνοποιοὶskēnopoioitentmakers τῇtēa<the>τέχνῃ·technēby trade;

King James Version

And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.

Cross-references

1 Corinthians 4:12 We work hard with our own hands. When we are vilified, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it;
1 Thessalonians 2:9 Surely you recall, brothers, our labor and toil. We worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to anyone while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.
2 Corinthians 11:7 Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?
2 Corinthians 11:9 And when I was with you and in need, I was not a burden to anyone; for the brothers who came from Macedonia supplied my needs. I have refrained from being a burden to you in any way, and I will continue to do so.
2 Thessalonians 3:8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
2 Corinthians 12:13 In what way were you inferior to the other churches, except that I was not a burden to you? Forgive me this wrong!
Acts 20:34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have ministered to my own needs and those of my companions.
1 Corinthians 9:6 Or are Barnabas and I the only apostles who must work for a living?