Sosthenes biography

Biblical character in the Acts of the Apostles

This article is about the biblical figure.

Sosthenes biography

For the Greek general, see Sosthenes of Macedon.

Sosthenes (Greek: Σωσθένης, Sōsthénēs, "safe in strength") was the chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth, who, according to the Acts of the Apostles, was seized and beaten by the mob in the presence of Gallio, the Roman governor, when Gallio refused to proceed against Paul at the instigation of the Jews (Acts 18:12–17).

The motives of this assault against Sosthenes are not recorded.^[1] Some manuscripts assert the mob was composed of "Greeks"; others read "Jews".^{[citation needed]}

Some historians identify this Sosthenes with a companion of Paul the Apostle referred to as "Sosthenes our brother" (Greek: Σωσθένης ὁ ἀδελφός, Sōsthénēs ho adelphós, literally "Sosthenes the brother"), a convert to the Christian faith and co-author of the First Epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 1:1–2).

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