Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 18:7

"And he departed thence, and went into the house of a certain man named Titus Justus, one that worshipped God, whose house joined hard to the synagogue." — Acts 18:7 (ASV)

And entered into a certain man’s house, named Justus. On the name, see Note on Acts 1:23. It may be added here that it also occurs in early Christian inscriptions in the Vatican Museum, in one case at the bottom of a glass cup in the Museo Christiano, in conjunction with the name of Timotheus.

In some of the better manuscripts, the name Titus is prefixed to Justus. It will be noted that in both Acts 1:23 and Colossians 4:11, Justus is used as an epithet after the names of Joseph and of Jesus.

It is found by itself in the Jewish cemetery mentioned earlier (see Note on Acts 18:1). It would be rash to infer from this the identity of this Titus Justus with the Titus of Galatians 2:3, the disciple left in Crete.

The name Titus was, like Gaius or Gains, one of the most common Roman names. If the reading is genuine, we may think of the epithet Justus as added to distinguish this Titus of Corinth from his namesake.

On the other hand, to state the evidence on both sides fairly, the Titus who appears in 2 Corinthians 2:12, 2 Corinthians 7:14, and 2 Corinthians 8:16, 23 was obviously very closely connected with the Church of Corinth. It was not unlikely that he would be sent to Crete to exercise a mission analogous to that with which he had been entrusted at Corinth.

Furthermore, the combination of the names Timotheus and Justus, mentioned earlier as equally entitled to reverence, is more intelligible if we assume that the latter name (Justus) belonged to Titus, and that both therefore stood in the same relation to St. Paul as disciples and friends.

In any case, the Justus named here was, like Titus, an uncircumcised Gentile attending the synagogue as a proselyte of the gate.

Until this time, apparently, St. Paul had been lodging in the house of a Jew, in some region of Corinth analogous to the Ghetto of modern Rome, hoping to conciliate his brethren according to the flesh.

Now, in sight of the wild, frenzied fanatics, he goes into a house they would have shrunk from entering, even though it was next door to the synagogue and its occupant was a devout worshipper.