And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them, and wrought: for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them. Whether this couple were converted before Paul made their acquaintance, or were won over to Christ through contact with him, is a question on which commentators are pretty equally divided. In favour of their previous conversion is:
(1) That no mention is made of their conversion by the apostle's instrumentality, which, in the case of persons occupying from this time forward so important a place in the apostolic history, we might have expected;
(2) That all we read of them suggests the idea of ripe Christians, rather than of new converts. (So Olshausen, Wieseler, Hackett, Lange.)
Against their previous conversion Meyer urges the following arguments (which are held conclusive by Baumgarten, Alford, Lechler, etc.):
(1) That, judging by this historian's manner, if Aquila had been a Christian before, he would have said, he found, not "a certain Jew,' but 'a certain disciple;' and,
(2) The sole reason given for his coming to live with him was his being of "the same craft;" and as the banishment of "all Jews" from Rome is said to have brought Aquila from Italy, we are to look upon him as up to this time simply a tent-making Jew.
But it has been answered to this, that the reason why he is called "a certain Jew" (rather than a disciple), is, that the writer is going to state what brought him from Rome to Italy, namely, the imperial decree which banished "all Jews" from Rome. To us this appears quite satisfactory. Indeed, this identical phrase, "a certain Jew," is applied to the Christian Apollos, Acts 18:24; and through the reason why the apostle went to stay with this couple was certainly not the man's Christianity, but his trade, we cannot deem this any evidence that he was not then a Christian. The reply to the first argument in favour of his previous conversion-that the writer wished to keep to the more important fruits of Paul's labour at Corinth-does not appear satisfactory; and the second argument is not answered at all-the improbability of this couple occupying so prominent a place in the subsequent history, if they were new converts at Corinth. The rapid progress which Paul made immediately after his conversion is a rare case. On the whole, we incline to the prior conversion of this couple. Be this as it may, they appear to have been in good circumstances, and after traveling much to have eventually settled at Ephesus. The Christian friendship now first formed continued warm and unbroken, and the highest testimony is once and again borne to them by the apostle.
And wrought. Every Jewish youth, whatever the pecuniary circumstances of his parents, was taught some trade (see the note at Luke 2:42); and Paul made it a point of conscience to work at that which he had probably been bred to, partly that he might not be burdensome to the churches, and partly that his motives as a minister of Christ might not be liable to misconstruction. To both these he makes frequent and sometimes touching reference in his Epistles. For by their occupation they were tent-makers. 'If the father of the young Cilician (says Howson) sought to make choice of a trade which might fortify his son against idleness, or against adversity, none would occur to him more naturally than the profitable occupation of the making of tents, the material of which was haircloth, supplied by the goats of his native province, and sold in the markets of the Levant by the well-known name of cilicium.'
He Labours with Little Success and much Opposition in the Synagogue, but Afterward for a Year and a Half with Great Success in a Private House (18:4-11)