Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Acts 18:18 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 18. 18And Paul after this tarried there yet a good while, and then took his leave of the brethren, and sailed thence into Syria, and with him Priscilla and Aquila; having shorn his head in Cenchrea: for he had a vow.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Closes Paul's extended stay and begins departure with Priscilla and Aquila after a vow haircut.
A vow, a brief Ephesian stop, and a return that starts another circuit
This verse is one part of that explanation in Acts 18:18–18:23. The complete section carries the connected meaning and how it should shape life.
Read It With
- Acts 18:18–18:23
Read Acts 18:18 with 18:18–18:23. In isolation, this contribution—closes Paul's extended stay and begins departure with Priscilla and Aquila after a vow haircut—can be mistaken for the scene's whole claim, detached from its speaker or narrator, or separated from its outcome. The complete unit establishes: Paul departs with Priscilla and Aquila, cuts his hair because of a vow, reasons briefly at Ephesus, returns through Caesarea and Antioch, and begins strengthening disciples across Galatia and Phrygia.
Follow the Context
- Paul departs with Priscilla and Aquila, cuts his hair because of a vow, reasons briefly at Ephesus, returns through Caesarea and Antioch, and begins strengthening disciples across Galatia and Phrygia.
- The unit distinguishes narrated event, participant speech, the narrator's framing, material uncertainty, and the ethical boundary: The transition does not make vows mandatory, erase Priscilla and Aquila's agency, or turn travel summaries into precise modern itineraries.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—closes Paul's extended stay and begins departure with Priscilla and Aquila after a vow haircut—from Acts 18:18–18:23 or negate the unit's explicit boundary: The transition does not make vows mandatory, erase Priscilla and Aquila's agency, or turn travel summaries into precise modern itineraries.
What Remains True
Acts 18:18's particular contribution—closes Paul's extended stay and begins departure with Priscilla and Aquila after a vow haircut—shows that faithful witness remains accountable to the verse's speaker, narrated setting, affected people, and the complete movement of Acts 18:18–18:23.
Teach It Back
Explain Acts 18:18's precise role in Acts 18:18–18:23. Distinguish narrator and speaker, include the first Jewish, Gentile, household, disabled, enslaved, imprisoned, or Roman horizon as relevant, disclose the material uncertainty, and name one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
Read the complete section for the connected explanation and how it should shape life. This verse is a doorway into that passage, not a saying that stands alone.
Read Acts 18:18–18:23 — A vow, brief return, and new journey connect the missionsSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
Where care is needed
The vow's owner, nature, and exact itinerary are debated because Greek syntax and compressed geography permit alternatives; the text does not explain enough for certainty.
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Exact location: Acts 18:18–18:23, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text, Acts 18:18-18:23
Open the Acts Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 18:18-18:23
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 18:18–18:23
Open source ↗open university bible study course
Acts of the Apostles Course and Study Guides
Yale Divinity School faculty
Yale Bible Study, 2019
Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'Co-operative Ministry,' Acts 18-20 study guide
Open source ↗open confessional commentary
The Acts of the Apostles
Alan J. Thompson
The Gospel Coalition, 2023
Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.
Exact location: Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 18:18–18:23
Open source ↗peer reviewed article abstract and metadata
The Jewishness of Luke-Acts: How Recent Scholarship Has Challenged the View that Luke-Acts Is Pro-Gentile and Anti-Jewish
Joshua Paul Smith
The Journal of Theological Studies 72.2, 2021
Supports: Abstract-supported control for Jewish continuity and Gentile inclusion in Acts 18:18–18:23, not a settlement of every conflict scene.
Exact location: Smith, JTS 72.2 (2021), pp. 738-765, official abstract and bibliographic record
Open source ↗primary manuscript transcription
Codex Bezae: Electronic Transcription of Acts
International Greek New Testament Project
Institute for Textual Scholarship and Electronic Editing, University of Birmingham, 2012 transcription; current online edition
Supports: Direct manuscript evidence only where a material Western reading is named; Bezae is not treated as the Western text as a whole.
Exact location: IGNTP Codex Bezae Acts transcription, verse-addressable witness at 18:18–18:23, checked with SBLGNT and the NET tc note
Open source ↗