Called anciently Ephyra, the capital of Achaia, and seated on the isthmus which separates the Ionian Sea from the Aegean, and hence called bimaris, "on two seas." The city itself stood a little inland; but it had two ports, Lechaeum on the west, and Cenchrea on the east. Its position gave it great commercial and military importance; for while the traffic of the east and west poured through its gates, as over the isthmus of Darien the commerce of two oceans, it was also at the gate of the Peloponnesus, and was the highway between Northern and Southern Greece. Its defense, besides the city walls, was in the Acro-corinth, a mass of rock, rising 2,000 feet above the sea, with precipitous sides, and with room for a town upon its summit. Corinth thus became one of the most populous and wealthy cities of Greece; but its riches produced pride, ostentation, effeminacy, and all the vices generally consequent on plenty. Lasciviousness, particularly, was not only tolerated, but consecrated here, by the worship of Venus, and the notorious prostitution of numerous attendants devoted to her. Corinth was destroyed by the Romans, B.C. 146. It was afterwards restored by Julius Caesar, who planted in it a Roman colony; but though it soon regained its ancient splendor, it also relapsed into all its former dissipation and licentiousness. Paul arrived at Corinth, A. D. 52, Acts 18:1, and lodged with Aquila and his wife Priscilla, who, as well as himself, were tentmakers. Supporting himself by this labor, he remained at Corinth a year and a half, preaching the gospel at first to the Jews, and afterwards more successfully to the Gentiles. During this time he wrote the epistles to the Thessalonians; and in a subsequent visit, the epistles to the Galatians and Romans. Some suppose he made a short intervening visit, not narrated in the Bible. Compare 2 Corinthians 13:1 with 2 Corinthians 1:15 2:1 12:14,21 13:2. Apollos followed him in his labors at Corinth, and Aquila and Sosthenes were also among its early minister, Acts 18:1 1 Corinthians 1:1 16:19. Its sited is now unhealthy and almost deserted, with few vestiges of its former greatness.

A Grecian city, on the isthmus which joins the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. It is about 48 miles west of Athens. The ancient city was destroyed by the Romans (B.C. 146), and that mentioned in the New Testament was quite a new city, having been rebuilt about a century afterwards and peopled by a colony of freedmen from Rome. It became under the Romans the seat of government for Southern Greece or Achaia (Acts 18:12-16). It was noted for its wealth, and for the luxurious and immoral and vicious habits of the people. It had a large mixed population of Romans, Greeks, and Jews. When Paul first visited the city (A.D. 51 or 52), Gallio, the brother of Seneca, was proconsul. Here Paul resided for eighteen months (18:1-18). Here he first became aquainted with Aquila and Priscilla, and soon after his departure Apollos came to it from Ephesus. After an interval he visited it a second time, and remained for three months (20:3). During this second visit his Epistle to the Romans was written (probably A.D. 55). Although there were many Jewish converts at Corinth, yet the Gentile element prevailed in the church there.

Some have argued from 2 Corinthians 12:14; 13:1, that Paul visited Corinth a third time (i.e., that on some unrecorded occasion he visited the city between what are usually called the first and second visits). But the passages referred to only indicate Paul's intention to visit Corinth (Compare 1 Corinthians 16:5, where the Greek present tense denotes an intention), an intention which was in some way frustrated. We can hardly suppose that such a visit could have been made by the apostle without more distinct reference to it.

CORINTH, n.

1. A city of Greece. Hence,

2. A small fruit, now called currant, which see.

an ancient and celebrated city of Greece, on the Isthmus of Corinth, and about 40 miles west of Athens. In consequence of its geographical position it formed the most direct communication between the Ionian and AEgean seas. A remarkable feature was the Acrocorinthus, a vast citadel of rock, which rises abruptly to the height of 2000 feet above the level of the sea, and the summit of which is so extensive that it once contained a whole town. The situation of Corinth, and the possession of its eastern and western harbors, Cenchreae and Lechaeum, are the secrets of its history. Corinth was a place of great mental activity, as well as of commercial and manufacturing enterprise. Its wealth was so celebrated as to be proverbial; so were the vice and profligacy of its inhabitants. The worship of Venus where was attended with shameful licentiousness. Corinth is still an episcopal see. The city has now shrunk to a wretched village, ont he old site and bearing the old name, which, however, is corrupted into Gortho . St. Paul preached here, (Acts 18:11) and founded a church, to which his Epistles to the Corinthians are addressed. [EPISTLES TO THE CORINTHIANS]