Acts 19:1-10 Paul returns to Ephesus

Acts 19:1-7 Paul returns to Ephesus. Acts 18:23 mentions that Paul passed through Galatia and Phrygia. Quite possibly he visited the same cities that he had on his first two journeys - Derbe, Lystra,  Iconium, and  Psidian Antioch assuming he traveled overland. He eventually got back to Ephesus on the western end of the province of Asia, as he had promised (Acts 18:21). By the time he got there, Apollos had already gone to Achaia and was in Corinth. In Ephesus he found some believers who had not heard of the Holy Spirit. This seems odd, since Aquila and Priscilla had been there and they had been taught by him in Corinth and then travelled to Ephesus and remained there when Paul returned to Judea. Perhaps they had returned to Corinth with Apollos. We know that as of the writing of I Corinthians, they were back in Corinth and led a house church (I Cor 16:19).

          Paul found these disciples who were not acquainted with either the doctrine or practice of the Holy Spirit. The statement that they were disciples implies they believed in and followed Jesus, but evidently their instruction had been incomplete. At Paul's hand, they were baptized in water, in the name of Jesus, and then Paul laid hands on them and prayed for them. There was a mini-Pentecost, this time in Asia, but not unlike Peter's visit to Cornelius recorded in Acts 10.  

Acts 19:8-10 Paul teaches in Ephesus. After all this, Paul spent three months presenting the gospel in the synagogue in Ephesus. He tried to persuade but some rejected it, and began to badmouth believers. He then left the synagogue and began teaching in the school of Tyrannus, which lasted for two years. At this school, Gentiles were also able to hear the gospel. There is no additional information in Acts on this school, whether Tyrannus was a believer who allowed his school to be used for teaching, or whether it was rented space.