1After these things Paul departed from Athens and came to Corinth. 2He found a certain Jew named Aquila, a man of Pontus by race, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart from Rome. He came to them, 3and because he practiced the same trade, he lived with them and worked, for by trade they were tent makers. 4He reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath and persuaded Jews and Greeks.
5When Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Christ. 6When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”
7He departed there and went into the house of a certain man named Justus, one who worshiped God, whose house was next door to the synagogue. 8Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord with all his house. Many of the Corinthians, when they heard, believed and were baptized. 9The Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Don’t be afraid, but speak and don’t be silent; 10for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.”
11He lived there a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them. 12But when Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul and brought him before the judgment seat, 13saying, “This man persuades men to worship God contrary to the law.”
14But when Paul was about to open his mouth, Gallio said to the Jews, “If indeed it were a matter of wrong or of wicked crime, you Jews, it would be reasonable that I should bear with you; 15but if they are questions about words and names and your own law, look to it yourselves. For I don’t want to be a judge of these matters.” 16So he drove them from the judgment seat.
17Then all the Greeks seized Sosthenes, the ruler of the synagogue, and beat him before the judgment seat. Gallio didn’t care about any of these things.
18Paul, having stayed after this many more days, took his leave of the brothers, and sailed from there for Syria, together with Priscilla and Aquila. He shaved his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow. 19He came to Ephesus, and he left them there; but he himself entered into the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews. 20When they asked him to stay with them a longer time, he declined; 21but taking his leave of them, he said, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
22When he had landed at Caesarea, he went up and greeted the assembly, and went down to Antioch. 23Having spent some time there, he departed and went through the region of Galatia and Phrygia, in order, establishing all the disciples. 24Now a certain Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by race, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus. He was mighty in the Scriptures. 25This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus, although he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside, and explained to him the way of God more accurately.
27When he had determined to pass over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him; and wrote to the disciples to receive him. When he had come, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28for he powerfully refuted the Jews, publicly showing by the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
Lysimachus gained control of Ephesus around 294 BC and moved it from its silted location to a new site between Mt. Coressus and Mt. Pion. Lysimachus was defeated by Seleucus Nicator in 281 BC. The city was then governed alternately by the Seleucids and Ptolemies until 188 BC when the Attalids took control. During the first century A.D. Ephesus was the fourth largest city of the Roman Empire with an estimated population of over 250,000 residents. It was an important port city and commercial center. After the Romans created the province of Asia in 129 BC, Ephesus became an important administrative center. The city was an assize center, and the Greek term for courts (agoraioi) in Acts 19:38 refers to this.
Although a temple to Dea Roma and Divus Julius was built as early as 29 BC, a temple to the imperial cult was not built in the city until 89/90 AD. Ephesus was known throughout the ancient world as the temple keeper of the goddess Artemis (Acts 19:35). The city was also renowned as a center for magical practices. Foremost among these are the so-called “Ephesian letters.” These were written magical spells thought to contain apotropaic power to ward off evil spirits. Acts 19:19 describes how new Christians involved in sorcery renounce such practices by burning these scrolls valued at 50,000 days’ wages.
On his second journey, Paul was attempting to reach the city when the Holy Spirit prohibited him from preaching in Asia (Acts 16:6). On his voyage to Jerusalem he stopped briefly in Ephesus, leaving Priscilla and Aquila there. After preaching in the synagogue, he was invited to return (Acts 18:19-21). On his third journey Paul traveled directly to Ephesus after visiting the Galatian churches. Acts 19 records his 2–3 years of productive ministry in the city, which served as a base for preaching to the entire province of Asia. The riot provoked by Demetrius and the silversmiths forced Paul to leave Ephesus (19:19–20:1). After Paul’s first Roman imprisonment, he apparently returned to Ephesus to deal with problems in the church and left Timothy there (1 Tim 1:3). After Paul’s second arrest, he sent Tychicus to Ephesus to relieve Timothy so his disciple might join Paul in Rome for the apostle’s final days (2 Tim 4:12-13). Ephesus is the first of the 7 churches addressed by John in Revelation (Rev 1:11; 2:1). Ephesus is the first church addressed by Ignatius among the 7 letters he wrote in Asia, while on his way to martyrdom in Rome (110 AD). The third ecumenical council was held in Ephesus in 431.