Note 1 at Acts 18:1: Corinth was the capital city of all Achaia (see note 11 at Acts 18:12, p. ???). It was located forty six miles west south west of Athens (see note 1 at Acts 17:15, p. ???), and 342 miles south west of present day Istanbul. It was a major commercial city being located on the isthmus connecting Peloponnesus and Attica and had ports on both the Ionian and Aegean seas.

Corinth, along with all Greece, was declared independent by the Romans in 196 B.C., but as a result of their rebellion in 146 B.C., the Roman consul Mummius burned the city to the ground. Julius Caesar rebuilt the city in 44 B.C. and by the time Paul visited it, it was estimated that 250,000 free persons and 400,000 slaves lived in Corinth.

Corinth was similar to Athens in it's culture and worship of many gods. There was the famous temple of Apollo there dating from the sixth century B.C., and a temple dedicated to Aphrodite (the same as the Astoreth of Jud. 2:13 and the Latin Venus), the goddess of love. The worshipers of Aphrodite practiced religious prostitution with 1,000 pagan priestess-prostitutes who served at the temple.

The city of Corinth was so given to immorality that the word "Corinthianize" came to mean "to practice immorality." Because of the rampant sexual immorality in the city and the fact that many in the Corinthian church had participated in that lifestyle and were still being influenced by it, the apostle Paul took quite a bit of time dealing with them on the subject (1 Cor. 5 & 7).

It is fairly certain that Paul arrived in Corinth in 52 A.D. because of the mention of Claudius Caesar's order for all Jews to depart from Rome (see note at Acts 18:2, p. ???). Paul remained in Corinth for eighteen months (v. 11), staying with a Jewish couple, Aquila (see note 2 at Acts 18:2, p. ???) and Priscilla (see note 3 at Acts 18:2, p. ???) working with them in the craft of tent making (v. 3).

Quite a number of Corinthians believed in Jesus and Paul was able to establish a church there. He wrote three epistles to the Corinthians of which we have the second and third in our Bible (1 Cor. 5:9). Paul suffered such opposition in the Jewish synagogue in Corinth that he departed from there and entered into Justus' house (see note at Acts 18:7, p. ???) which was next door to the synagogue.

Paul had the Lord visit him in a night vision and tell him to not be afraid but to speak boldly and the Lord gave him the promise that he would not be hurt (vv. 9-10). At the end of a year and six months, Paul was brought before Gallio, the deputy of Achaia, but he was aquitted. After this Paul left Corinth with Aquila and Priscila and sailed to Syria (see note 1 at Acts 15:23, p. 661) and preached at Ephesus (vv. 18-19). Paul visited Corinth again for three months during his third missionary journey (Acts 20:2-3).

Corinth still exists today by the name Gortho located three mile northeast of the ancient site and has a population of about eighteen thousand.