18:17 Sosthenes. Sosthenes evidently became a Christian believer, for he later joined with Paul in addressing the first epistle to the Corinthians (I Corinthians 1:1). He had succeeded Crispus, who had also become a Christian, as chief ruler of the synagogue (Acts 18:8). When Gallio summarily rejected the Jews’ complaint against Paul (Acts 18:16), it gave the pagan Greeks an excuse to vent their anti-Jewish hostility in beating Sosthenes. Perhaps this experience contributed to his later conversion.