Page 103 - Bibliology - Textbook w videos short

In 146 B.C. the Romans razed Corinth. However, its strategic location would not permit the city to die. It
was rebuilt a century later in 46 B.C.
As one would expect from a city supported by commerce and travelers, Corinth was marked by
profligate (reckless extravagance) and licentious living. It was a center for the worship of Aphrodite, the
goddess of love, who promoted immorality in the name of religion.

Politically, Corinth was a Roman colony and capital of the province of Achaia.

Some insights into Paul’s emotions as he came to Corinth are seen in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. His
acknowledged weakness, fear, and much trembling may have been due to several factors: (1) He came
alone. (2) The difficulties he had faced since coming to Macedonia may have filled him with
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apprehension as to what would happen in Corinth (cf. Acts 18:9 10). (3) Even in a world hardened to
profligacy Corinth held a reputation for its sexual license.

The fact that Paul came to Corinth alone may account for his having baptized some people in that city, a
practice he normally delegated to others (cf. 1 Cor. 1:14-17).

Corinth was one of Athens’s ancient rivals; the capital of Achaea, it had long since surpassed Athens.
Roman Corinth was the political and economic center of Greece, still proverbial for its immorality. Paul
came to Corinth—rebuilt by Julius Caesar on the isthmus between the Aegean and Ionian Seas; the
capital of the Roman province of Achaia, and the residence of the proconsul; a large and populous
mercantile city, and the center of commerce alike for East and West; having a considerable Jewish
population, larger, probably, at this time than usual, owing to the banishment of the Jews from Rome by
Claudius Caesar (Acts 18:2). Such a city was a noble field for the Gospel, which, once established there,
would naturally diffuse itself far and wide.

Like Tiberius, an earlier emperor, Claudius expelled the Jewish community from Rome (possibly around
A.D. 49). Suetonius, a Roman historian, is often understood as indicating that the Jewish community was
expelled because of disturbances about the Messiah, perhaps caused by opposition to Jewish Christians.
–
Given Luke’s emphasis on legal precedents in favor of Christianity (18:14 16), it is easy to see why he
would omit that detail.

…a Jew … Aquila … with his wife Priscilla—From these Latin names one would conclude that they
had resided so long in Rome as to lose their Jewish family names.

cf. confer, compare
Suetonius Suetonius. A Roman historian whose early-second-century A.D. biographies of first-century A.D. emperors contain much
useful information.
Messiah *Messiah. The rendering of a Hebrew term meaning “anointed one,” equivalent to the original sense of the Greek term
translated “Christ.” In the Old Testament, different kinds of people were anointed, and some of the Dead Sea Scrolls mention two
main anointed ones in the end time, a king and a priest. But the common expectation reflected in the biblical Psalms and Prophets
was that one of David’s royal descendants would take the throne again when God reestablished his kingdom for Israel. Most people
believed that God would somehow have to intervene to put down Roman rule so the Messiah’s kingdom could be secure; many
seem to have thought this intervention would be accomplished through force of arms. Various messianic figures arose in first-
century Palestine, expecting a miraculous intervention from God; all were crushed by the Romans. (Jesus was the only one claimed
to have been resurrected; he was also one of the only messiahs claiming Davidic descent, proof of which became difficult for any
claimants arising after A.D. 70.)

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