Bible Strands
Acts 18:4
Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Paul addresses Jews and Greeks in the Corinthian synagogue every Sabbath, following his tentmaking labor and preceding the arrival of Silas and Timothy. His weekly gatherings occur in a fixed location rather than itinerant preaching.
The words — διελέγετο (dielegeto) literally means "he was reasoning" or "holding a discussion," while σάββατον (sabbaton) marks the fixed weekly timing of the event.
The thread — This synagogue reasoning pattern appears in Acts 17:17 with Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, while 2 Corinthians 5:11 grounds the persuasive intent in the fear of the Lord.
Why it lands — The text demands repeated, deliberate engagement with Scripture in mixed audiences, prioritizing sustained explanation over single-occasion appeals.
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
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.
Cross-references
- 2 Corinthians 5:11 Therefore, since we know what it means to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are is clear to God, and I hope it is clear to your conscience as well.
- Acts 17:17 So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day.
- Acts 28:23 So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.
- 2 Chronicles 32:11 Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to death by famine and thirst when he says, ‘The LORD our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria?’
- Luke 4:16 Then Jesus came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up. As was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath. And when He stood up to read,
- Luke 16:31 Then Abraham said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’”
- Acts 13:14 And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down.
- Acts 17:1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
- Acts 17:11 Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
- Acts 18:13 “This man is persuading the people to worship God in ways contrary to the law,” they said.