SOSTHENES, SYNAGOGUE RULER (Fr. Varghese Paul, S.J.)

The name Sosthenes appears only twice in the New Testament. We meet Sosthenes first in the Acts, They all seized Sosthenes, the leader, of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But that did not bother Gallio a bit (Acts 18, 17). Then Paul includes the greetings of Sosthenes in his first letter to Corinthians, From Paul, who was called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and from our brother Sosthenes (1 Cor. 1, 1).

Bible scholars have doubts whether these two references to Sosthenes refer to one and the same person or two different individuals. I think that these are not two different persons but one and the same individual. Sosthenes as the Acts says was the ruler or the leader of the synagogue. He may have become a Christian later through the preaching of St. Paul. That may be the reason that Paul refers to him as our brother Sosthenes.

We know that Sosthenes was the chief ruler of the synagogue at Corinth during the years 51 and 52 A.D. This is the time Paul stayed for a year and a half at Corinth on his second missionary journey.

Perhaps Sosthenes was the chief accuser of Paul before the new Roman Governor Gallio. But Gallio refused to listen to the Jewish accusation against Paul. Gallio thought that their accusation had no substance as it was about words and name and your (Jewish) law (Acts 18, 15).

The Jewish crowd must have been furious that their leader failed to get Paul convicted by the Roman Governor. So as Luke writes in the Acts. They all seized Sosthenes, the leader, of the synagogue, and beat him in front of the court. But that did not bother Gallio a bit (Acts 18, 17).

Sosthenes reference in the greetings of Paul in his first letter to Corinthians shows that he must have been a co-worker or a close associate of Paul. Perhaps Sosthenes must have been Pauls secretary.

His feast is celebrated on November 28 in the Catholic Church. (contact the author: यह ईमेल पता spambots से संरक्षित किया जा रहा है. आप जावास्क्रिप्ट यह देखने के सक्षम होना चाहिए. )