Sosthenes

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament

The name occurs twice in the NT. In Acts 18:17 a Sosthenes is ‘the ruler of the synagogue’ in Corinth. Although in the Diaspora this title gained a more extended sense than in Palestine as an honorary title, there seems to have been only one ruler of the synagogue in Corinth. In that case Sosthenes must have been recently appointed when Crispus became a Christian; and probably he took a prominent part in the proceedings when ‘the Jews with one accord rose up against Paul, and brought him before the judgement-seat’ (Acts 18:12). The charge having been dismissed, Sosthenes was laid hold of and beaten before the judgment seat, but Gallio (q.v.[Note: .v. quod vide, which see.]) ‘cared for none of these things’ (Acts 18:17). Revised Version, dropping οἱ Ἕλληνες, favours the idea that it was the Jews who beat Sosthenes, venting on their own leader their rage over their disappointment. Another view has been that Gallio allowed the Jews to console themselves by beating Sosthenes, who was a Christian. Both these views are, however, rejected as historically inconceivable. Probably the reading οἱ Ἕλληνες has dropped out through a misapprehension of the scene due to the fact that a Sosthenes is mentioned with St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:1. It cannot be decided whether these two men are the same person. The name was common; and nothing is said in the NT which identifies them. What happened when Gallio dismissed the charge against St. Paul was that ‘the Greeks, who always hated the Jews, took advantage of the marked snub which the governor had inflicted on them, to seize and beat Sosthenes, who had been appointed to replace Crispus as Archisynagogos,’-a ‘piece of “Lynch law,” which probably seemed to him [Gallio] to be a rough sort of justice’ (Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, p. 259). If Acts 18:17 and 1 Corinthians 1:1 refer to the same person, Sosthenes must have been converted subsequently and become a Christian leader. There is nothing impossible in this. If one ruler of the synagogue was converted, why not another? It is conceivable that his sufferings in a religious riot may have turned his mind again to St. Paul’s teaching. As a former ruler of the synagogue, his presence with St. Paul in Ephesus is explicable on two grounds: (a) his presence in Corinth as a Christian might irritate the Jews and make Christian work harder; (b) his social position and ability would probably mark him out as a suitable fellow-worker with St. Paul, who would delight to make an ally of a persecutor. It is certainly in favour of this identification that St. Paul mentions Sosthenes not as an amanuensis but as a Christian of standing, whose name is well known in Corinth and will carry authority with the Church. It has been suggested also that his subsequent conversion would account for St. Luke’s exceptionally preserving the name of St. Paul’s assailant. Whilst these considerations favour the identification, it cannot be proved. But it would be an interesting coincidence that both Crispus and Sosthenes should be mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1, if both were converted rulers of the synagogue.

Eusebius (Historia Ecclesiastica (Eusebius, etc.)i. 12) states that Sosthenes was one of the Seventy; but probably this is a worthless tradition. Tradition is responsible also for the statement that he became bishop of Colophon.

Literature.-W. P. Dickson, article‘Sosthenes’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols); W. M. Ramsay, article‘Corinth,’ ib. i. 482a; C. von Weizsäcker, Apostolic Age, i. 2 [London, 1897] 113, 306-310; A. Harnack, Expansion of Christianity, i. 2 [London, 1908] 321; F. Godet, Commentary on 1st Corinthians (Eng. translation, Edinburgh, 1886); Expositor’s Greek Testament, ‘Acts,’ London, 1900, p. 391, and ‘1 Corinthians,’ do., p. 758; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, London, 1895, pp. 257-259.

J. E. Roberts.

Fausset's Bible Dictionary

A Jew, "ruler of the synagogue," after Crispus on conversion had ceased to be so. Probably ringleader of the spiteful Jews who with one accord made insurrection against Paul, and brought him to Gallio's judgment seat. When Gallio would not be made the tool of their spite, but drove them from his judgment seat, the Greeks or Gentiles, seeing the deputy's feeling which they sympathized with, against the Jewish bigots, seized Sosthenes and beat him before Gallio's judgment seat; and Gallio cared for none of these things, i.e. refused to interfere, being secretly pleased that the mob should second his own contempt for the fanatical Jews.

But in 1 Corinthians 1:1 we find Sosthenes under very different circumstances, no longer against Paul, but associated with him in saluting the Corinthian Christians. Whence arose the change? Paul probably showed Christian sympathy for an adversary in distress; the issue was the conversion of Sosthenes. Saul the persecutor turned into Paul the apostle, and Sosthenes the ringleader of persecution against the apostle, were two trophies of grace that, side by side, would appeal with double power to the church at Corinth. Paul designates "our brother" in a way implying that Sosthenes was well known to the Corinthians, though at the time of writing he must have been with Paul at Ephesus.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible

SOSTHENES . 1 . Ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, whom ‘they all’ (RV [Note: Revised Version.] ) laid hold on and beat when Gallio dismissed the case against St. Paul ( Acts 18:17 ). He probably succeeded Crispus as ruler when the latter became a Christian (v. 3), and the hostility of the rabble to the Jews showed itself when they were worsted in the courts. 2 . ‘The brother’ associated with St. Paul in addressing the Corinthians ( 1 Corinthians 1:1 ), and therefore probably a native of Corinth who had special relations with the Church there. If both references are to the same man, he must have been converted after the Gallio incident.

A. J. Maclean.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary

The chief of the synagogue at Corinth, who was beaten by the Gentiles when the Jews carried Paul before Gallio the proconsul, Acts 18:17 . He appears to have been the leader of the Jews in this attempt to destroy Paul. Whether he was converted, and is identical with the "Sosthenes our brother" in 1 Corinthians 1:1 , is unknown.

Morrish Bible Dictionary

1. Chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, who was beaten by the rabble. Acts 18:17 .

2. One whom Paul (when at Ephesus) unites with himself in the First Epistle to the Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 1:1 .

People's Dictionary of the Bible

Sosthenes (sŏs'the-nçz), saviour of his nation. A Jew at Corinth who was seized and beaten in the presence of Gallio. Acts 18:12-17.

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Sos'thenes (saviour of his nation). Sosthenes was a Jew at Corinth, who was seized and beaten, in the presence of Gallio. See Acts 18:12-17. (A.D. 49).

Holman Bible Dictionary

Acts 18:17Acts 18:81 Corinthians 1:1

Easton's Bible Dictionary

Acts 18:12-171 Corinthians 1:1

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature

(Σωσθένης, perhaps for Σωσι - έθνης , saver of his nation; a not infrequent Greek name) was a Jew at Corinth who was seized and beaten in the presence of Gallio, on the refusal of the latter to entertain the charge of heresy which the Jews alleged against the apostle Paul (see Acts 18:12-17). A.D. 49. His precise connection with that affair is left in some doubt. Some have thought that he was a Christian, and was maltreated thus by his own countrymen because he was known as a special friend of Paul. But it is improbable, if Sosthenes was a believer, that Luke would mention him merely as "the ruler of the synagogue" (ἀρχισυνάγωγος ), without any allusion to his change of faith. A better view is that Sosthenes was one of the bigoted Jews, and that "the crowd" (πάντες simply, and not πάντες ῞Ελληνες, is the true reading) were Greeks who, taking advantage of the indifference of Gallio, and ever ready to show their contempt of the Jews, turned their indignation against Sosthenes. In this case he must have been the successor of Crispus (Acts 18:8) as chief of the synagogue (possibly a colleague with him, in the looser sense of ἀρχισυνάγωγοι, as in Mark 5:22), or, as Biscoe conjectures, may have belonged to some other synagogue at Corinth. Chrysostom's notion that Crispus and Sosthenes were names of the same person is arbitrary and unsupported.

Paul wrote the First Epistle to the Corinthians jointly in his own name and that of a certain Sosthenes whom he terms "the brother" (1 Corinthians 1:1). A.D. 54. The mode of designation implies that he was well known to the Corinthians; and some have held that he was identical with the Sosthenes mentioned in the Acts. If this be so, he must have been converted at a later period (Wettstein, N. Test. 2, 576), and have been at Ephesus, and not at Corinth, when Paul wrote to the Corinthians. The name was a common one, and but little stress can be laid on that coincidence. Eusebius says (H.E. 1, 12, 1) that this Sosthenes (1 Corinthians 1:1) was one of the seventy disciples, and a later tradition adds that he became bishop of the Church at Colophon, in Ionia.

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature

Sos´thenes, the chief of the synagogue at Corinth, when Paul was in that city on his second journey into Greece . He was seized and beaten by the people, before the judgment-seat of Gallio, on account of the tumult raised by the Jews against Paul, of which he seems to have been one of the leaders. He is supposed to have been afterwards converted to Christianity, as a Sosthenes is mentioned by Paul as 'a brother,' and coupled with himself in . This identity is, however, a pure conjecture, and not remarkably probable; but apart from it, we know nothing of this second Sosthenes. Eusebius makes him one of the seventy disciples, and later tradition describes him as bishop of Kolophon.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

sos´the - nēz ( Σωσθένης , Sōsthénēs ): Chief of the synagogue at Corinth ( Acts 18:17 ). Possibly identical with the co-worker (afterward) of Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians 1:1 .