Sosthenes
Sosthenes succeeded Crispus as ruler of the synagogue in Corinth and was seized and beaten by the crowd in front of the Roman proconsul Gallio's judgment seat, after Gallio dismissed the Jewish leaders' case against Paul as a matter of their own law rather than a Roman crime. It is widely believed, though not stated outright, that this is the same Sosthenes whom Paul later calls "our brother" as a co-sender of his first letter to the Corinthians, suggesting that the man once hostile enough to prosecute Paul had since become a fellow believer and close associate in ministry.
Biography
- Occupation
- Ruler of the synagogue at Corinth
- Era
- New Testament
- Nationality
- Jewish
Did You Know?
If the Sosthenes of 1 Corinthians is the same man beaten before Gallio, then the letter's co-sender once led the prosecution against its author.
Gallio, before whom Sosthenes was beaten, is precisely datable by an inscription at Delphi to AD 51-52 - making this scene the anchor date for all of Paul's chronology.
Two successive rulers of the same Corinthian synagogue appear in the New Testament - and both end up associated with the church they once opposed.
Key Chapters
Key Passages
Sosthenes Beaten Before Gallio
Acts 18:16-17
Gallio's indifference to the beating shows Rome's general unwillingness to intervene in Jewish religious disputes, inadvertently protecting Paul's ministry.
16nd he drave them from the judgment seat.
Sosthenes as Paul's Co-Sender
1 Corinthians 1:1
If this is the same Sosthenes, his inclusion here suggests a remarkable turn from opponent to companion in the gospel.
1aul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother,