After having some heavy persecution in Thessalonica and Berea, Paul had been escorted to Athens, where he preached to the philosophers on Mars Hill.

Paul is alone. Silas and Timothy are up north ministering to the Macedonian churches.

Paul now moves on to the next city.

Corinth was a city located on a small strip of land that connected the northern part of Greece with the southern part. It was a world trade center because not only did all the north-south Greek trade have to go through it, but also all the east-west shipping went through it as well. Rather than risk sailing through the treacherous waters in the south of Greece, ships would dock in Corinth, be dragged the seven miles across the isthmus, and then be put to sea on the other end. Because of its importance as a trading port, Corinth was famous for it’s Corinthian bronze, ceramics, and of course, as Ricardo Montalban would tell us, it’s "rich Corinthian leather". The city boasted an outdoor theater that accommodated 20,000 people, and held athletic games second only to the Olympics.

In ancient times, the city had been a major power, but when it rebelled against Rome in 146 BC, it was wiped out. Julius Caesar rebuilt it a hundred years later in 46 BC, and had the city repopulated with freed slaves and poor people. Corinth eventually became the capital of Achaia (the southern part of Greece), and quickly grew to where, in Paul’s time, it had a population of 200,000.

Its highest hill, called the "Acrocorinth" had the great temple of Aphrodite, with a working crew of 1,000 s. Every night, the ladies of Aphrodite would come down into the city and raise money for the temple. Corinth was a name synonymous with sin. The Greeks even had a term Korinthiazomai (lit., to act the Corinthian) which came to mean "to practice fornication." In the Greek plays, the part of a "Corinthian" was always that of a drunk. Archaeologists have dug up taverns on the south side of the marketplace, where they’ve recovered many drinking vessels.

Aquila was from Pontus, which is an area in Asia, modern Turkey.

This couple isn’t real prominent in Scripture, but they seem to pop up in the most interesting places, showing interest in others. It starts here where they show an interest in Paul, and ask Paul to stay and work with them.

In AD 49, Emperor Claudius kicks 20,000 Jews out of Rome. The historian Suetonius said the decree came because "the Jews were in a state of constant tumult at the instigation of one Chrestus" (perhaps referring to Jesus?).

wrought – they worked together

reasoned – dialegomai – ("dialog") to converse, discourse with one, argue, discuss. This seems to be one of Paul’s main ways to begin to communicate the gospel in a city. We don’t see the connection in English, because the same Greek word is translated into English different ways ("reasoned", "disputed", "preached")

There’s more here than meets the eye. When Silas and Timothy show up, they show up with financial help.

pressed – sunecho – to hold together with constraint, to press on every side

testified – diamarturomai – to testify; earnestly, to thoroughly witness. His witness is to show to the Jews that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah.

they opposed themselves – antitassomai – to resist; to arrange in battle array.

This was a symbolic act to show that you didn’t want to have any further dealings with another person. This was something Jesus had taught His disciples. (Mat.10:14)

Paul is pulling from the picture of the watchman spoken of by Ezekiel:

Justus – or, in some versions, "Titus Justus" (or Titius Justus). Some scholars think this man’s full name was Gaius Titus Justus (Rom.16:23)

Paul left the synagogue, but moved his meeting place to a house next door to the synagogue.

chief ruler of the synagogue – this was the guy who had the duty to select the readers or teachers in the synagogue, to make sure that things ran correctly.

Crispus – He was one of the few people that Paul had baptized in Corinth

History tells us that Silas would be the first permanent pastor and that the church continued at least until the seventh century.

or, "stop being afraid".

I think sometimes we get the idea of Paul as being some sort of super hero who isn’t afraid of pain or death. There are times when he has the grace to say things like –

But I think it’s unrealistic to think that he was never afraid.

A.T. Robertson writes –

hold not thy peace – or, "don’t be silent"

The Lord tells Paul that the reason Paul should not be afraid, but to go on and keep speaking, is because the Lord was with him. It’s His presence that should be comforting to us.

set on thee – epitithemi – to put upon; to make an assault on one

God knew that there were people in the city of Corinth who would be turning to Him.

Isn’t this amazing, considering how Corinth was known as such a wicked city?

Later, to the Corinthians themselves, Paul would write,

This may not sound like a lot of time, but it was the second longest stay that Paul would have in a single church. Only in the church at Ephesus (Acts 19:10, a little more than two years) did he stay longer before moving on. If you’d like a little more flavor of what was going on in Paul’s life at this time, read the letters of 1&2 Thessalonians, both of which were written during Paul’s stay in Corinth. His work in the area extended beyond the city of Corinth itself because we know that there was also a church established at Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1), which was the eastern seaport of Corinth located on the Aegean coast.