Early Church History 

imprisoned as Peter had been. But, once Herod died, they could freely go to and from Jerusalem, as Acts 12:25 

indicates. 

    Why doesn't Paul, in Galatians, mention this visit to Jerusalem during the time of famine? In Galatians, 

Paul is talking about his authority to preach the Gospel. First, Paul states that the Gospel he preaches comes 

from a revelation of Jesus Christ, not from men (Gal 1:11 12). Then he makes the point that he preached the 

Gospel for years before going to Jerusalem to meet with some of the apostles (Gal 1:16 20), and, as Acts tells 

us, to obtain their acceptance (Acts 9:26 30). Next, he describes his visit to Jerusalem after 14 years in which 

he presented the Gospel he preached to the Gentiles to the leaders of the Church and obtained their approval 

(Gal 2:1 10). Paul describes these two visits to Jerusalem in the context of his authority to preach and his 

approval by the other leaders of the Church. His brief visit to the city of Jerusalem at the time of his mission to 

the needy of Judea was not related to his authority to preach the Gospel nor to the approval of his teachings by 

the other apostles, and so it is not mentioned. The assumption that the second visit to Jerusalem mentioned in 

Galatians was absolutely his second visit (after his conversion) is unwarranted; rather, it was Paul's third visit 

to Jerusalem, as is clear from Acts. 

    The date of Saul's actual second visit to Jerusalem, at the time of the famine, is now clear. Herod Agrippa I 

died in the third year of the reign of Claudius, after his own reign of seven years (see above). In my revised 

chronology, the third year of Claudius' reign was 

A.D.

 28. That year was also a Sabbatical year (per 

Wacholder, 

A.D.

 27/28). During Sabbatical years, food shortages and outright famine were common because 

the Jews would neither sow nor harvest crops (Lev 25:1 7) and because the Jews changed the Sabbatical year 

to begin in autumn, instead of in spring, as God intended (see chapter 16). The year 

A.D.

 28, then, fits the 

criteria of Acts 11:28   12:25, a famine due to the Sabbatical year, during the reign of Claudius, about the time 

of the death of Herod Agrippa I. 

    It is not clear how long Saul was in Judea. In Acts, his arrival (Acts 11:27 30) is placed before the 

description of Herod Agrippa I's death (Acts 12:20 23), and his departure is placed afterwards (Acts 12:25). 

This arrangement of the text gives the impression that Saul's visit to Judea during the famine was lengthy. The 

text about Saul's arrival is also placed before the text about the death of James the Greater (during the 

Passover of 

A.D.

 27). However, it is unlikely that Saul arrived in 

A.D.

 27, before James the Greater's death, 

because the Sabbatical year began in the autumn of 

A.D.

 27. Food shortages during Sabbatical years would not 

occur early in the Sabbatical year (in this case, late 

A.D.

 27), because stored supplies of food from prior 

harvests would still be available. Rather, the food shortages would generally occur later in the Sabbatical year, 

when stored supplies had been exhausted (in this case, sometime during early 

A.D.

 28). Saul came to Judea 

because of the shortage of food. Thus, the events of Acts 11 12 are not entirely arranged in chronological 

order. Acts 12:1 19 tells the story of Herod Agrippa I's cruelty to the Church and to James and Peter, as an 

introduction to the story of Herod Agrippa I's death (Acts 12:20 24). Saul most likely arrived in Judea in mid 

A.D.

 28, after the food shortages began. And he probably completed his mission in early 

A.D.

 29, after the 

death of Herod (in late 

A.D.

 28), and after the harvest of the first crops planted at the end of the Sabbatical year 

(planted in autumn of 

A.D.

 28 and harvested, some months later, in early 

A.D.

 29).

611

 Saul, Barnabas, and 

John Mark could then have departed Judea by boat in early 

A.D.

 29. 

Paul in Corinth 

    The dates of Paul's conversion and of his visits to Jerusalem after 3 years and after 14 years can be 

determined based on the date of his visit to Corinth, described in Acts 18:1 18. Paul stayed in Corinth, which 

is located within the area called Achaia, for  a year and six months  (Acts 18:11). Sometime during that time 

period, when Gallio  was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews of Corinth made accusations against Paul before 

Gallio, but to no avail (Acts 18:12 17). The office of proconsul was generally held for a singe year, beginning 

in late spring or early summer.

612

 Jack Finegan dates the proconsulship of Gallio from mid 

A.D.

 51 to mid 

A.D.

52.

613

 This date is based on the usual dates for the reigns of the Roman emperors, so that Gallio's reign over 

Achaia occurred within the 11th and 12th years of Claudius' reign as emperor. In my revised chronology, this 

places the proconsulship of Gallio from 

A.D.

 36 to 

A.D.

 37, which are the 11th and 12th years of the revised 

dates for Claudius' reign. 

145