ACC ~ Acts 18 v18 - 22

OVERVIEW:

Paul continues to carry out things proper to Jews, such as the Nazarite vow, in order to convey to Jews who he was, to avoid giving them scandal and not to appear to them as having rejected what he had not rejected but saw as fulfilled (JEROME, BEDE, DIDYMUS, CHRYSOSTOM).

18:18 | Paul Cut His Hair

PAUL HAD A VOW. JEROME: Granted that there he did what he did not wish to do, through the compelled fear of the Jews: why did he let his hair grow in consequence of a vow and afterward cut it at Cenchrea in obedience to the law. Because the Nazarites who vowed themselves to God were accustomed to do this according to the commands of Moses? LETTER 75.

HE HAD A VOW. BEDE: Now according to the law of Moses, those who vowed themselves to God were ordered to let their hair grow for as long as they wished to be Nazarites and afterwards to have it cut and to consign it to the fire. Paul did these things, not indeed because he had forgotten what he, along with the other apostles, had settled at Jerusalem concerning the abolition of the law, but so that those among the Jews who had come to believe might not be scandalized, he played the part of a Jew himself in order to win over the Jews. COMMENTARY ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 18.18.

A JEW TO JEWS. DIDYMUS THE BLIND: After his resurrection the Savior said to his disciples, “Go and make disciples of all nations.” They to whom the command had been given knew that “God wants all people to be saved and to attain knowledge of the truth.” Since the human race had been divided into two religious groups, Jews and pagans, a division of the heralds of the gospel was also made so that some were assigned to teach the Jews, while others to be apostles of the nations. But since all the teachers had the single aim of leading all to the knowledge of the one God and to the teaching of the gospel, Paul, though an apostle of the nations, if he happened to be able to benefit the Jews would, without a doubt, become a Jew to the Jews so that they might not be estranged from him as if he had departed from the law, although he had already crossed over and beyond the Jewish shadow. In this way, therefore, according to the customs of his homeland, he shaved his head at Cenchrea, since he was under a vow according to the prescription of the old law. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 18.18.

18:19 | Paul Went into the Synagogue

NO HINDRANCE TO TEACHING THE GOSPEL. CHRYSOSTOM: [Paul] left them in Ephesus so that they might teach. Indeed those who had stayed with him for such a long time had learned many things; he had not, however, completely detached them from the Jewish customs. CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 18.19.