"Then he left the synagogue and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a

worshiper of God; his house adjoined the synagogue" Acts 18:7

"Gaius, who is host to me and to the whole church, greets you". Rom. 16:23

“I did baptize also the household of Stephanas”. 1 Cor 1:16

"you know that the members of the household of Stephanas were the first converts (ἀπαρχὴ) in Achaia, and they have devoted themselves to the service of the saints. I urge you to put yourselves at the service of such people, and of everyone who works and toils with them. I rejoice at the coming of Stephanas and Fortunatus and Achaicus ..." 1 Cor. 16:15-17

Stephanas and his household have “devoted themselves to the service of the saints”. Since Stephanas was the head of the house, the service provided by the household can have been offered only with Stephanas’s support. He was therefore a benefactor who gave the resources of his household to the service of the church. In the ancient world the proper response to benefaction was submission and this explains why Paul mentions it, for his purpose here is to urge the Corinthians to submit to the household of Stephanas. Thus Osiek writes,

Stephanas particularly can be singled out for his social prominence, for he hosts Paul and the whole church, the members of which are expected, as good clients, to be submissive to him (1 Cor 16:15-16). ... At a later time, Gaius hosts the whole Corinthian church (Rm 16:23).

Paul also writes that the household of Stephanas was the “firstfruits (ἀπαρχὴ) of Achaia”. It is generally agreed that (ἀπαρχὴ) has the sense of “the first with the prospect of more to follow”. But why does Paul remind the Corinthians that the household of Stephanas was the “firstfruits”? It is explicable if the conversion of this household and its benefaction was the cause of the following conversions. Stephanas was an early convert who, by offering his household, precipitated the formation of the church. Paul here is trying to bolster the authority of Stephanas by reminding the Corinthians of the importance of his benefaction in the formation of the church. Stephanas’s role in the formation of the church gives him authority, just as Paul’s authority is enhanced by the fact that he was their ‘father’ (1 Cor 4:15-16). Paul wrote 1 Corinthians to unite a divided church and by asking the church to submit to the household of Stephanas, Paul attempts to re-unite them under Stephanas’s roof.

The house of Titius Justus adjoined the synagogue. This is no coincidence, but rather indicates that Titius Justus, or his forbears, had donated part of their house to form the synagogue. The Stobi synagogue inscription witnesses to this practice. So when Paul left the synagogue and went to the house of Titius Justus it is highly likely that Titius Justus was offering his home for Paul to use as a ‘synagogue’ in much the same way that he had earlier donated part of his house.

We have seen that Stephanas was the first patron convert in Corinth. Acts, on the other hand, gives this honor to Titius Justus and, surprisingly, makes no mention of “Stephanas”. Also, in Rom 16:23 the role of host of the church is given to Gaius and there is, surprisingly, no mention of Stephanas. All this suggests that we are looking at one men: Gaius Titius Justus Stephanas.

Gaius is often equated with Titius Justus since both seem to have been the host of the church and because Gaius Titius Justus is a Roman name consisting of praenomen, nomen, and cognomen. The name “Stephanas” would be his agnomen, or new name. This is confirmed by the meaning of “Stephanas”, which is very appropriate for a benefactor, as we will now show.

From Philippe Bruneau, "«Les Israélites de

Délos» et la juiverie délienne," Bulletin de

Correspondance Hellénique 106 (1982):

The name “Stephanas” appears only in 1 Cor 1:16, where the reference is to his household, and in 1 Cor 16:15-18 where Paul is reminds the Corinthians of Stephanas’s service of benefaction. Thus, every mention of the name “Stephanas” is in connection with his act of benefaction. This makes sense if he had offered his household for the service of the chruch and had been given his name in recognition of this benefaction. Paul calls him “Gaius” elsewhere, but switches to “Stephanas” when he wants to recall the benefaction for which he had been named. In the same way Paul calls Simon “Cephas” but switches to “Rock” when discussing Peter’s role in the church (Gal 2:7-9).

Titius Justus was a God-fearer in the synagogue community and by becoming the first to defect to Paul's camp, he must have exposed himself to the hostility of his Jewish friends, without having an alternative support group to turn to. Commentators are in general agreement that Titius Justus provided his house for Paul to use for preaching. Paul will have viewed Titius Justus's act as a benefaction, but the synagogue Jews, who had rejected Paul, would have seen it as highly provocative. The location of the house, adjoining the synagogue, made it an ideal location for Paul to target the synagogue God-fearers. It is understandable that the Jews would have felt threatened by the establishment of this rival synagogue on their door-step, and this tense situation explains why Paul had reason to fear (Acts 18:9), and why the Jews made a united attack on Paul (Acts 18:12). Therefore, by making his house available to Paul, Titius Justus took a huge personal risk. Not only did he potentially cut himself off from his synagogue community, he risked their hostility, as the experience of Jason in Thessalonica shows (Acts 17:5-9).

Therefore, by being the first (or at least very early) convert, and by offering his house for

Paul's preaching, Titius-Justus showed great courage and commitment. We have seen that acts of great commitment to the Christian community were often recognized by the giving of a new name to the individual. Rom. 16:23 and 1 Cor. 16:15 indicate that the commitment of Gaius/Stephanas was recognized by Paul, so it is entirely plausible that Paul would wish to publicly recognize that commitment by giving a new name.

There is evidence that other benefactors in the New Testament were given new

names (Joseph Barnabas, Mary Magdalene, Crispus-Sosthenes, and perhaps

Jason-Aristarchus). Consider also, Epaenetus, who is the only other who is described as

"firstfruits". His name, like "Stephanas", belongs to the Semantic field of benefaction, so

it might also be a new name.

It is not surprising that Paul calls him “Gaius” at Rom. 16:23, for the recipients would not have understood the significance of the name “Stephanas”. New names did not generally completely

replace the old names (consider Simon-Peter and BarKosiba-BarKokhba).

I have discussed Gaius Titius Justus Stephanas in my Tyndale

Bulletin article(8)

(1) See "The Fading Crown: Divine Honour and the Early Christians", Journal of

Theological Studies, (vol 54.2 Oct 2003).

(2) Frederick W. Danker, Benefactor: Epigraphic Study of a Graeco-Roman and New

Testament Semantic Field.

(3) Menippus, and Serapion, son of Jason. http://www.pohick.org/sts/delos.html

(4) http://www.pohick.org/sts/egypt.html It is disputed whether this inscription concerns

Jews.

5. (5)CIJ 738 http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/courses/rs135/samples.html
   

6. (6)Marcus Tittius in Reynolds 1977:244-45, no. 17 = Roux and Roux 1949 = IGRI 1024. Also Decimus Valerius Dionysius in SEG vol.16, no. 931.
   

7. (7)See the Res Gestae Divi Augusti
   

(8) R.G.Fellows, Renaming in Paul’s churches: the case of Crispus-Sosthenes revisited,

(Tyndale Bulletin Nov 2005) http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk/Tyndale/tb/tb56-2.htm#A7.

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