Acts 18:1-18
And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla… (v. 2) Aquila was a traveler!! Pontus was a region along the north/northeast coast of modern-day Turkey, bordering the Black Sea to the north. To get to Italy Aquila had to travel west through all of modern-day Turkey, then beyond Greece and across the Adriatic to Italy. We don’t know at what age he did his traveling or where he met Priscilla, but while in Italy he was “run out of town” by the emperor Claudius and he arrived in Corinth. Now think back to Paul’s travels and how Jewish persecution drove him out of Macedonia (Thessalonica) down to Achaia (Athens and Corinth). How circumstantial is it that Paul and Aquila, both tentmakers, met up in Corinth. Look at all that had to happen to bring this about! What a bond they must have formed! I daresay the Lord knew all this, that He was directing from above. And this Paul-Aquila-Priscilla relationship continued to bear fruit for many years to come!
After this, Paul … set sail for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila. … And they came to Ephesus, and he left them there… (vv. 18-19a) So Paul spent a year and a half in Corinth with Aquila and Priscilla, Titius Justus, Crispus, and other followers, after which Paul sets sail for Syria (the location of Syrian Antioch), taking along Priscilla and Aquila. Travel being what it was back then his ship first crossed the Aegean Sea and docked at Ephesus. There Paul gets off the ship with his fellow travelers and goes into the synagogue to preach. He leaves Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus and goes by ship to Caesarea, then on foot to Jerusalem, eventually back to his home base at Syrian Antioch. I’m mostly intrigued by his taking Priscilla and Aquila out of Corinth along with him, then leaving them at Ephesus as he moved on. But the last few verses in today’s reading (Acts 18:24-28) show us that God had serious use for Priscilla and Aquila in Ephesus. All in all, the “circumstances” in today’s reading are fascinating. Let God lead and He will take care of the details!!
See also: April 1 / Acts 18:1-11; April 2 / Acts 18:12-28