Acts 18 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

Corinth: Aquila and Priscilla — the trade and the sabbaths 18:1–4

vv. 1–3 — the arrival and the providential meeting

After these things, departing from Athens,participial — preposed temporal participle — leans on ἦλθεν; Μετὰ ταῦτα the Lukan section-opener

he came to Corinth.independent — the new city — Roman colony, capital of Achaia

and finding a certain Jew named Aquila, a Pontic by birth,participial — preposed — leans on προσῆλθεν; εὑρίσκω of providential encounter

recently come from Italy with Priscilla his wife,participial — attributive perfect participle — the couple newly displaced and still so

because Claudius had ordered all the Jews to depart from Rome,cause — διά + articular infinitive — the expulsion edict (Suetonius, Claud. 25.4; c. A.D. 49)

he came to them,independent — the main verb at last — the chapter's key partnership begins

and because he was of the same tradecause — preposed διά + infinitive — leans on ἔμενεν; ὁμότεχνος a NT hapax

he stayed with themindependent — progressive imperfect — the ongoing lodging

and worked;independent — the working apostle (1 Thess 2:9; 1 Cor 4:12)

for they were tentmakers by trade.cause — γάρ aside — σκηνοποιός a NT hapax; leather-work or cilicium-cloth debated

v. 4 — the sabbath rhythm

And he was reasoning in the synagogue every Sabbath,independent — iterative imperfect — Paul's synagogue method (17:2, 17)

and was persuading both Jews and Greeks.independent — conative imperfect — τε … καί, the double audience

The turn to the Gentiles and the night vision 18:5–11

vv. 5–8 — the word presses, the garments are shaken, the household believes

Now when Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia,comparative — ὡς-temporal — leans on συνείχετο; their arrival (with Macedonian support, 2 Cor 11:9; Phil 4:15) frees Paul for full-time preaching

Paul was pressed by the word,independent — συνέχω — gripped, constrained; τῷ λόγῳ read (the Byzantine text smooths to τῷ πνεύματι)

solemnly testifying to the Jewsparticipial — the shape of the constraint — Luke's key verb of witness (20:21, 24; 23:11)

that the Christ is Jesus.content — the kerygmatic kernel (9:22; 17:3) — echoed word for word at v. 28

But as they opposed and blasphemed,participial — genitive absolute — leans on εἶπεν; the rejection that occasions the turn

shaking out his garmentsparticipial — the Nehemiah 5:13 gesture — liability formally discharged (cf. 13:51)

he said to them:independent — the speech-frame for the declaration

'Your blood be on your own head;content — verbless imprecation — the watchman idiom (Ezek 33:4; 2 Sam 1:16)

I am clean.content — verbless — the herald absolved (cf. 20:26, καθαρός εἰμι ἀπὸ τοῦ αἵματος πάντων)

From now on I will go to the Gentiles.'content — the programmatic turn — second of three such declarations (13:46; 28:28)

And moving on from thereparticipial — preposed — leans on εἰσῆλθεν; a decisive change of venue

he entered the house of a certain Titius Justus, a worshipper of God,independent — the God-fearer's house becomes the base — σεβόμενος τὸν θεόν, Luke's term for Gentile adherents

whose house was next door to the synagogue.relative — the pointed detail — the mission camps on the synagogue's doorstep

And Crispus the synagogue-ruler believed in the Lord with his whole household,independent — the ruler himself crosses over — baptized by Paul personally (1 Cor 1:14)

and many of the Corinthians, hearing, were believing and being baptized.independent — iterative imperfects — the steady stream of conversions

vv. 9–11 — the night vision and the eighteen months

And the Lord said to Paul at night through a vision:independent — the divine guarantor of the long stay

'Do not be afraid,content — present imperative — stop fearing

but keep speakingcontent — present imperative — the ongoing charge

and do not fall silent;content — aorist subjunctive prohibition — do not even begin to be silent

because I am with youcause — grounds the whole command-series — the covenant presence-formula (Isa 41:10; Jer 1:8)

and no one will set upon youcause — the promise of protection — kept at the bema (vv. 12–17)

so as to harm you,purpose — τοῦ + infinitive of result — attack, at least, to no injury

because I have many people in this city.cause — the deeper ground — λαός, God's covenant word, claimed for still-unconverted Corinth

And he settled for a year and six months,independent — the eighteen months — the chronological spine of the Corinthian mission

teaching the word of God among them.participial — concurrent participle — what the settling was for

Gallio: the proconsul refuses jurisdiction 18:12–17

vv. 12–13 — the united attack and the charge

Now while Gallio was proconsul of Achaia,participial — genitive absolute — the Delphi inscription (SIG³ 801D) dates him c. A.D. 51–52, the fixed point of Pauline chronology

the Jews rose up with one accord against Paulindependent — ὁμοθυμαδόν — the concerted attack; κατεφίστημι a NT hapax

and brought him before the tribunal,independent — the bema — Corinth's rostra, still standing in the excavated agora

saying:participial — the charge is filed

'Contrary to the law this man persuades men to worship God.'content — παρὰ τὸν νόμον fronted — Roman law or Torah? the calculated ambiguity Gallio refuses to entertain

vv. 14–17 — Gallio's ruling and the beating he ignores

But as Paul was about to open his mouth,participial — genitive absolute — leans on εἶπεν; the defense never delivered

Gallio said to the Jews:independent — the proconsul preempts — the accused never speaks

'If it were some wrongdoing or wicked crime, O Jews,conditional — second-class protasis, contrary to fact — leans on the apodosis below; the μέν of a paired ruling

I would with reason have borne with you;content — ἄν + aorist — the unreal apodosis: no crime, no hearing

but if it is questions about a word and names and the law that is yours,conditional — the real condition answering εἰ μέν — 'your own law,' νόμου τοῦ καθ᾿ ὑμᾶς, not Rome's

see to it yourselves;content — imperatival future — jurisdiction declined (cf. Pilate's ὄψεσθε, Matt 27:24)

a judge of these things I refuse to be.'content — κριτής fronted — the refusal that de facto legalizes the mission in Achaia

And he drove them from the tribunal.independent — case dismissed with force — ἀπελαύνω a NT hapax

And all of them, seizing Sosthenes the synagogue-ruler,participial — preposed — leans on ἔτυπτον; πάντες most naturally the bystanding crowd; a Sosthenes resurfaces at 1 Cor 1:1

beat him before the tribunal;independent — iterative imperfect — the blows keep falling at the foot of the bema

and none of these things mattered to Gallio.independent — the studied indifference — Rome's neutrality dramatized in one impersonal imperfect

The return journey: the vow, Ephesus, Antioch 18:18–23

vv. 18–21 — Cenchreae and the Ephesus stop

And Paul, having stayed on a good many days more,participial — preposed — leans on ἐξέπλει; the vision's promise held to the end

taking leave of the brothers,participial — second preposed participle — the formal farewell

he was sailing away for Syria,independent — imperfect — the departure under way

and with him Priscilla and Aquila,phrase modifier — verbless — the couple relocates; Priscilla again named first

having shorn his head at Cenchreae,participial — the vow-cutting — the nominative favors Paul, not Aquila, as subject; a Nazirite-type vow (Num 6; cf. 21:23–26)

for he had a vow.cause — γάρ aside — the reason for the shearing, offered without further explanation

And they arrived at Ephesus,independent — plural — the party of three makes landfall

and there he left them,independent — κἀκεῖ (crasis); μέν answered by αὐτὸς δέ — the couple stays, ready for Apollos (v. 26)

but he himself, entering the synagogue,participial — preposed — leans on διελέξατο; emphatic αὐτός

reasoned with the Jews.independent — aorist — a single visit, the seed of the Ephesian mission (ch. 19)

And though they asked him to stay for a longer time,participial — genitive absolute, concessive — leans on οὐκ ἐπένευσεν

he did not consent,independent — the rare synagogue welcome — declined; ἐπινεύω a NT hapax

but taking leave and saying:participial — preposed pair — leans on ἀνήχθη

'I will come back to you again,content — the promise — kept at 19:1; the Western 'I must keep the coming feast' expansion is not read here

God willing,'participial — genitive absolute — the conditio Iacobaea (Jas 4:15; 1 Cor 4:19)

he put out to sea from Ephesus,independent — the crossing to Palestine begins

vv. 22–23 — Caesarea, Antioch, and the third journey's outset

And landing at Caesarea,participial — preposed — leans on κατέβη; the port for Judea

having gone up and greeted the church,participial — ἀναβάς — the unnamed ascent is almost certainly Jerusalem, where the vow is completed

he went down to Antioch.independent — the second journey closes where it began (15:35–40)

And having spent some time there,participial — preposed — leans on ἐξῆλθεν

he set out,independent — the third journey opens — one bare verb

passing in order through the Galatian region and Phrygia,participial — καθεξῆς — the systematic revisitation of the earlier fields (cf. 16:6)

strengthening all the disciples.participial — the pastoral purpose of the passage-through

Apollos: eloquent, fervent, more accurately instructed 18:24–28

vv. 24–25 — the Alexandrian's profile

Now a certain Jew, Apollos by name, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, arrived at Ephesus,independent — the triple profile before the verb — λόγιος: eloquent and/or learned; Alexandria the seat of Hellenistic-Jewish exegesis

being mighty in the Scriptures.participial — the fourth credential, held for last — the LXX his weapon (v. 28)

This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord,independent — periphrastic pluperfect — κατηχέω, the catechesis word; by whom, Luke does not say

and boiling in spiritparticipial — preposed — leans on ἐλάλει; τῷ πνεύματι: his own fervent spirit or the Holy Spirit (cf. Rom 12:11), left open

he was speaking and teaching accurately the things concerning Jesus,independent — iterative imperfects — ἀκριβῶς: accurate, as far as it went

though knowing only the baptism of John.participial — concessive — the pre-Pentecost gap, replayed in the Ephesian twelve (19:3–4)

vv. 26–28 — taken aside, sent on, refuting in public

And this man began to speak boldly in the synagogue.independent — παρρησιάζομαι — the apostolic boldness-word (9:27–28; 19:8)

but Priscilla and Aquila, hearing him,participial — preposed — leans on προσελάβοντο; Priscilla named first

took him asideindependent — privately, not publicly — correction without humiliation

and expounded to him the way of God more accurately.independent — ἀκριβέστερον answers ἀκριβῶς (v. 25) — the comparative carries the whole episode

And when he wished to cross over to Achaia,participial — genitive absolute — leans on ἔγραψαν; Achaia means Corinth (19:1; 1 Cor 3:6)

the brothers, urging him on,participial — second preposed participle — the Ephesian endorsement

wrote to the disciplesindependent — the first letter of recommendation in the church's story (cf. 2 Cor 3:1)

to welcome him;content — the letter's content — infinitive of indirect command

who, on arriving, greatly helped those who had believed through grace.relative — continuative relative; the crux — διὰ τῆς χάριτος with πεπιστευκόσιν ('believed through grace,' as rendered) or with συνεβάλετο ('helped through grace')

for he was powerfully refuting the Jews in public,cause — γάρ — how the helping happened; διακατελέγχομαι a double-compound NT hapax, 'argue down utterly'

demonstrating through the Scripturesparticipial — the Alexandrian's method — δυνατὸς ἐν ταῖς γραφαῖς (v. 24) in action

that the Christ is Jesus.content — the chapter closes on Paul's own thesis of v. 5, word for word

Analysis. Acts 18 is travel narrative, and the shape is Luke's engine laid bare: aorist main verbs flush left (he came, he approached, they seized, he drove them out, he set sail, he went down), each one preceded by the forward-leaning participles and genitive absolutes that load the circumstances before the verb strikes — including the most historically consequential genitive absolute in the New Testament, Γαλλίωνος ἀνθυπάτου ὄντος (v. 12), whose Delphi-inscription date (c. A.D. 51–52) anchors all of Pauline chronology. Against the itinerary two stretches of speech hang blue: the shaken-garments declaration of v. 6 (three clauses under εἶπεν, two of them verbless imprecation), and the night vision of vv. 9–10, where the three commands under Εἶπεν are grounded by a διότι-pair that steps deeper to the chapter's theological center — λαός ἐστίν μοι πολύς, God's covenant word claimed for unconverted Corinth. The chapter's only conditionals are Gallio's, and they carry his whole ruling: the contrary-to-fact εἰ μέν protasis and the real εἰ δέ protasis each lean forward on their apodoses inside the quoted reply, ending in the fronted κριτὴς ἐγὼ τούτων οὐ βούλομαι εἶναι. Cruxes the layout takes a side on: συνείχετο τῷ λόγῳ is kept (v. 5, against the Byzantine τῷ πνεύματι); the vow-cutting participle κειράμενος (v. 18) is read of Paul, not Aquila, as the nominative requires; ἀναβάς in v. 22 is glossed as the Jerusalem ascent; the Western 'I must keep the coming feast' expansion of v. 21 is not in the text and not read; and in v. 27 διὰ τῆς χάριτος is rendered with the participle — 'those who had believed through grace' — with the alternative (helped-through-grace) named in the tag. The Apollos panel (vv. 24–28) closes the chapter on the same infinitive clause with which Paul's testimony opened it: εἶναι τὸν Χριστὸν Ἰησοῦν (vv. 5, 28), word for word.