The Meaning of Acts 18:7 Explained

Acts 18:7

KJV: And he departed thence, and entered into a certain man's house, named Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

YLT: And having departed thence, he went to the house of a certain one, by name Justus, a worshipper of God, whose house was adjoining the synagogue,

Darby: And departing thence he came to the house of a certain man, by name Justus, who worshipped God, whose house adjoined the synagogue.

ASV: And he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

And  he departed  thence,  and entered  into  a certain  [man's] house,  named  Justus,  [one] that worshipped  God,  whose  house  joined hard  to the synagogue. 

What does Acts 18:7 Mean?

Study Notes

Justus
Titus Justus.

Verse Meaning

Titius Justus-the name is Roman-may have been a God-fearer whom Paul met in the synagogue. He may be the person Paul called Gaius elsewhere (cf. Romans 16:23; 1 Corinthians 1:14) since Gaius is a first name and Titius and Justus are given and family names respectively. [1]

Context Summary

Acts 18:1-17 - A Great Ministry In A Great City
Paul tells us, in 1 Corinthians 2:1-4, that he entered Corinth with fear and trembling and made no effort to attract by human wisdom or eloquence. From the first he preached "Christ and Him crucified."
Similarity in trade discovered friends who were to be of the utmost assistance; nothing in our life may be attributed to chance. Sitting at their common toils, he won them for Christ.
Constrained in spirit, Acts 18:5, r.v. The heart of the Apostle yearned with irrepressible desire. He was weary of forbearing. God's word was as a fire in his bones. The guilty city appealed to him and tugged at his heartstrings. So Jesus wept over Jerusalem. Do we participate in this soul anguish? Are our hands free of the blood of men? Are we prepared to suffer if only we may save others?
Gallio was a typical man of the world, intent upon matters of law and order, philosophical and cultured. But when questions of religion were in debate, he was absolutely indifferent. How vast the contrast between him and Paul! [source]

Chapter Summary: Acts 18

1  Paul labors with his hands, and preaches at Corinth to the Gentiles
9  The Lord encourages him in a vision
12  He is accused before Gallio the deputy, but is dismissed
18  Afterwards passing from city to city, he strengthens the disciples
24  Apollos, being instructed by Aquila and Priscilla, preaches Christ boldly

Greek Commentary for Acts 18:7

Titus Justus [Τιτου Ιουστου]
So Aleph E Vulgate, while B has Τιτιαυ Ιουστου — Titiau Ioustou while most MSS. have only Ιουστου — Ioustou Evidently a Roman citizen and not Titus, brother of Luke, of Galatians 2:1. We had Barsabbas Justus (Acts 1:23) and Paul speaks of Jesus Justus (Corinthians Galatians 4:11). The Titii were a famous family of potters in Corinth. This Roman was a God-fearer whose house “joined hard to the synagogue” Periphrastic imperfect active of συνομορεω — sunomoreō a late (Byzantine) word, here only in the N.T., followed by the associative instrumental case, from συνομορος — sunomoros The lines are being drawn between the Christians and the Jews, drawn by the Jews themselves. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 18:7

Acts 19:9 Disobedient [επειτουν]
Imperfect again, showing the growing disbelief and disobedience Late verb from κακολογος — kakologos (speaker of evil) for the old κακως λεγω — kakōs legō Already in Mark 7:10; Mark 9:39; Matthew 15:4. Now these Jews are aggressive opponents of Paul and seek to injure his influence with the crowd. Note “the Way” as in Acts 9:2 for Christianity. He departed from them Second aorist active participle of απιστημι — aphistēmi made an “apostasy” (standing off, cleavage) as he did at Corinth (Acts 18:7, μεταβας — metabas making a change). Separated the disciples (απωρισεν τους ματητας — aphōrisen tous mathētas). First aorist active indicative of αποριζω — aphorizō old verb to mark limits (horizon) as already in Acts 13:2. Paul himself was a spiritual Pharisee “separated” to Christ (Romans 1:1). The Jews regarded this withdrawal as apostasy, like separating the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32). Paul now made a separate church as he had done at Thessalonica and Corinth. In the school of Tyrannus Σχολη — Scholē (our school) is an old word from σχειν — schein (εχω — echō) to hold on, leisure and then in later Greek (Plutarch, etc.) a place where there is leisure as here. Only this example in the N.T. This is the Greek notion of “school,” the Jewish being that of “yoke” as in Matthew 11:29. The name Tyrannus (our tyrant) is a common one. It is an inscription in the Columbarium of the Empress Livia as that of a physician in the court. Furneaux suggests the possibility that a relative of this physician was lecturing on medicine in Ephesus and so as a friend of Luke, the physician, would be glad to help Paul about a place to preach. It was probably a public building or lecture hall with this name whether hired by Paul or loaned to him. The pagan sophists often spoke in such halls. The Codex Bezae adds “from the fifth hour to the tenth” as the time allotted Paul for his work in this hall, which is quite possible, from just before midday till the close of the afternoon (from before the noon meal till two hours before sunset) each day. Here Paul had great freedom and a great hearing. As the church grows there will be other places of meeting as the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (1 Corinthians 16:19). [source]
Acts 19:9 He departed from them [αποστας απ αυτων]
Second aorist active participle of απιστημι — aphistēmi made an “apostasy” (standing off, cleavage) as he did at Corinth (Acts 18:7, μεταβας — metabas making a change). Separated the disciples (απωρισεν τους ματητας — aphōrisen tous mathētas). First aorist active indicative of αποριζω — aphorizō old verb to mark limits (horizon) as already in Acts 13:2. Paul himself was a spiritual Pharisee “separated” to Christ (Romans 1:1). The Jews regarded this withdrawal as apostasy, like separating the sheep from the goats (Matthew 25:32). Paul now made a separate church as he had done at Thessalonica and Corinth. In the school of Tyrannus Σχολη — Scholē (our school) is an old word from σχειν — schein (εχω — echō) to hold on, leisure and then in later Greek (Plutarch, etc.) a place where there is leisure as here. Only this example in the N.T. This is the Greek notion of “school,” the Jewish being that of “yoke” as in Matthew 11:29. The name Tyrannus (our tyrant) is a common one. It is an inscription in the Columbarium of the Empress Livia as that of a physician in the court. Furneaux suggests the possibility that a relative of this physician was lecturing on medicine in Ephesus and so as a friend of Luke, the physician, would be glad to help Paul about a place to preach. It was probably a public building or lecture hall with this name whether hired by Paul or loaned to him. The pagan sophists often spoke in such halls. The Codex Bezae adds “from the fifth hour to the tenth” as the time allotted Paul for his work in this hall, which is quite possible, from just before midday till the close of the afternoon (from before the noon meal till two hours before sunset) each day. Here Paul had great freedom and a great hearing. As the church grows there will be other places of meeting as the church in the house of Aquila and Priscilla (1 Corinthians 16:19). [source]
Colossians 4:11 Jesus which is called Justus [Ιησους ο λεγομενος Ιουστος]
Another illustration of the frequency of the name Jesus (Joshua). The surname Justus is the Latin Justus for the Greek Δικαιος — Dikaios and the Hebrew Zadok and very common as a surname among the Jews. The name appears for two others in the N.T. (Acts 1:23; Acts 18:7). [source]

What do the individual words in Acts 18:7 mean?

And having departed from there he came to [the] house of a certain one named Titius Justus worshiping - God of whom the house was adjoining the synagogue
Καὶ μεταβὰς ἐκεῖθεν εἰσῆλθεν εἰς οἰκίαν τινὸς ὀνόματι Τιτίου Ἰούστου σεβομένου τὸν Θεόν οὗ οἰκία ἦν συνομοροῦσα τῇ συναγωγῇ

μεταβὰς  having  departed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Active, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: μεταβαίνω  
Sense: to pass over from one place to another, to remove, depart.
ἐκεῖθεν  from  there 
Parse: Adverb
Root: ἐκεῖθεν  
Sense: thence, from that place.
εἰσῆλθεν  he  came 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: εἰσέρχομαι  
Sense: to go out or come in: to enter.
εἰς  to  [the] 
Parse: Preposition
Root: εἰς  
Sense: into, unto, to, towards, for, among.
οἰκίαν  house 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular
Root: οἰκία  
Sense: a house.
τινὸς  of  a  certain  one 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: τὶς  
Sense: a certain, a certain one.
ὀνόματι  named 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: ὄνομα  
Sense: name: univ.
Τιτίου  Titius 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Τίτος  
Sense: a Gentile Christian an Paul’s companion in some of his journeys.
Ἰούστου  Justus 
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: Ἰοῦστος 
Sense: a surname of Joseph, called Barsabas.
σεβομένου  worshiping 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: σέβω  
Sense: to revere, to worship.
τὸν  - 
Parse: Article, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root:  
Sense: this, that, these, etc.
Θεόν  God 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular
Root: θεός  
Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities.
οὗ  of  whom 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Genitive Masculine Singular
Root: ὅς 
Sense: who, which, what, that.
οἰκία  house 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: οἰκία  
Sense: a house.
συνομοροῦσα  adjoining 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: συνομορέω  
Sense: to border on, be contiguous to.
συναγωγῇ  synagogue 
Parse: Noun, Dative Feminine Singular
Root: συναγωγή  
Sense: a bringing together, gathering (as of fruits), a contracting.

What are the major concepts related to Acts 18:7?

Loading Information...