‘And Paul, having tarried after this yet many days, took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence for Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila, having shorn his head in Cenchreae, for he had a vow.'
Having continued his work in Corinth for some further good long time, Paul set sail for Syria, taking with him Priscilla and Aquila. But prior to setting sail he shaved his head as a result of some kind of vow. Cenchreae was an outpost of Corinth, and was the presumably the port from which Paul set sail. The shaving of the head would normally come at the end of the period of the vow, and the hair would then have to be presented in Jerusalem (compare Numbers 6:18). We must then assume that the vow was made at a time when he was at a low ebb, possibly through his illness, (and thus to be maintained while he was in Corinth), or in hope that it would produce more effectiveness in his ministry. Alternately it may have been some kind of expression of gratitude to God for the work he had done in Europe, and a rededication to God's service for the future, with the shaving being preliminary, and preparatory to allowing it to grow for the full period of the vow. Perhaps it included a vow to return to Europe, and even possibly to visit Rome. Either way in the fulfilment of it he would hurry on to Jerusalem, (although Luke only mentions that visit indirectly - Acts 18:22), prior to returning to Syrian Antioch.
We need see this vow and rededication as little different, except in intensity, from our special consecration meetings of one kind or another. They too should be just as binding. It was his way of expressing full consecration of himself to God in conformity with his upbringing, in view either of his rededication when he was feeling low or the joy in his heart arising from all that God had achieved, and his vow that he would continue so to serve God. Either way he wanted a means to outwardly express his feelings and clearly saw nothing inconsistent in it. He presumably saw it as a freewill action, and not as something binding by the Law. The Nazirite and related vows were all voluntary.
However it might also have been because by this act he hoped to keep open contact with the Jewish wing of the church especially in Jerusalem. He was always ready to be all things to all men where it did not compromise truth (1 Corinthians 9:20-23). It may even have been the warm reception of this vow by the church in Jerusalem that would lead on to its disastrous repetition. It is apparent from the text that Luke refers to it because as an honest historian he felt that he had to, and possibly in order to explain why Paul's visit to Ephesus was curtailed. But the brevity with which he deals with the matters involved suggests that he feels that it was not in the end either an important or a wise action.
‘Priscilla and Aquila.' We note here the unusual order of putting the woman first, something repeated elsewhere with regard to this couple (Acts 18:26; Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19). This is in contrast with 1 Corinthians 16:19, but there they are linked with the whole church so that Priscilla is not the prominent one. This would suggest that Priscilla was seen as of higher status than Aquila, possibly as of Roman aristocracy. In contrast in Acts 18:2 Paul had been seeking work and therefore it was the one who could offer that work who was mentioned first. But here we have the normal order. Priscilla was the diminutive for Prisca, the latter preferred by Paul. Luke has a tendency to use diminutives. Priscilla and Aquila seem constantly to be on the move and it may be that they had business interests in Rome, Corinth and Ephesus. They had come from Rome to Corinth (Acts 18:2), and now they would go to Ephesus. They were in Ephesus, with a church meeting being held in their house, when 1 Corinthians was written (1 Corinthians 16:19), but were later found in Rome (Romans 16:3), and later again back in Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:19). They were therefore very peripatetic.