<p>18:18 <i>And Paul, having stayed after this for many days, took his leave of the believers</i>- See on 18:10 <em>No one shall attack...</em></p><p><em>And with Priscilla and Aquila</em>- Mentioned because they appear to have had a temporary parting of the ways; see on 18:7 <em>He departed from there</em>. But see too on :19. Such things happened and still happen.</p><p><i>Sailed to Syria, having shorn his head in Cenchrea.</i> <em>For he had made a vow</em>- Such vows were usually made in thankfulness for deliverance; or it could have been a Nazirite vow. These vows were typically ended in Jerusalem on a feast day. In commentary on chapter 20 I develop the idea that Paul was obsessed with going to Jerusalem because he dreamt of converting mass numbers of Jews there as Peter had done on Pentecost. I suggest that his obsession was misplaced, in that it was partly fuelled by jealousy of Peter, and was in disregard of the Lord's will that Paul focus on Gentiles and leave the Jews to Peter. So his voluntary vow, requiring a trip to Jerusalem at the end of it, may have been a device he developed to give him an excuse to be in Jerusalem at a feast. See on :21.</p><p>I suggest that the vow may well have been of Naziriteship. Paul was called to be a preacher of the Gospel, and yet he speaks of his work as a preacher as if it were a Nazarite vow- which was a totally voluntary commitment. Consider not only the reference to him shaving his head because of his vow (Acts 18:18; 21:24 cp. Num. 6:9-18), but also the many descriptions of his preaching work in terms of Naziriteship: Separated unto the Gospel&rsquo;s work (Rom. 1:1; Gal. 1:15; Acts 13:2); &ldquo;I am not yet consecrated / perfected&rdquo; (Phil. 3:12)- he&rsquo;d not yet finished his &lsquo;course&rsquo;, i.e. his preaching commission. He speaks of it here as if it were a Nazarite vow not yet ended. Note the reference to his &lsquo;consecration&rsquo; in Acts 20:24. &nbsp;His undertaking not to drink wine lest he offend others (Rom. 14:21) is framed in the very words of Num. 6:3 LXX about the Nazarite. &nbsp;Likewise his being &lsquo;joined unto the Lord&rsquo; (1 Cor. 6:17; Rom. 14:6,8) is the language of Num. 6:6 about the Nazarite being separated unto the Lord. The reference to having power / authority on the head (1 Cor. 11:10) is definitely some reference back to the LXX of Num. 6:7 about the Nazarite. What are we to make of all this? The point is perhaps that commitment to active missionary work is indeed a voluntary matter, as was the Nazarite vow. And that even although Paul was called to this, yet he responded to it by voluntarily binding himself to &lsquo;get the job done&rsquo;. And the same is in essence true for us today in our various callings in the Lord&rsquo;s service.</p>