Ruler of the synagogue in Corinth who was seized and beaten in front of the Roman proconsul Gallio after Gallio dismissed Jewish charges against Paul; likely the same Sosthenes Paul later calls 'our brother' as co-sender of 1 Corinthians, suggesting a later conversion.
For younger readers
Sosthenes was a ruler of the synagogue in Corinth. When some Jewish leaders brought Paul before the Roman official Gallio with accusations, Gallio refused to even hear the case, seeing it as a dispute about Jewish law rather than a real crime. Right there in front of the judgment seat, a crowd seized Sosthenes and beat him, though Gallio didn't do anything about it. Interestingly, years later, when Paul wrote his first letter to the Corinthian church, he included someone named 'Sosthenes our brother' as a co-sender -- and many believe this is the very same man, now a fellow believer working alongside Paul instead of opposing him.
Interpretive note: Whether the Sosthenes beaten in Acts 18:17 (apparently a synagogue ruler hostile to or at least uninvolved in defending Paul) is the same Sosthenes Paul later calls 'our brother' and co-sender of 1 Corinthians is not stated explicitly in the text, but the shared name, shared city of Corinth, and the plausibility of a conversion between the two events lead many interpreters to identify them as the same man; this site notes the identification as likely but not certain.
Life Story
Sosthenes is introduced as ruler of the synagogue in Corinth at the moment Jewish leaders brought Paul before Gallio, the Roman proconsul of Achaia, accusing him of persuading people to worship God in ways contrary to the law (Acts 18:12-13). Gallio refused to hear the case at all, judging it a matter of Jewish terminology and law rather than any real crime or serious wrong deserving Roman judicial attention, and drove the accusers away from the judgment seat (18:14-16). In the aftermath, 'they all took hold of Sosthenes... and began beating him in front of the judgment seat,' while Gallio, notably, 'was not concerned about any of these things' and did nothing to intervene (18:17) -- leaving unclear even in the text itself whether it was a hostile crowd punishing Sosthenes for a failed prosecution, or something else entirely. Years later, Paul opens his first letter to the Corinthian church with, 'Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ... and Sosthenes our brother' as co-sender (1 Corinthians 1:1) -- a striking detail, since it suggests this may be the very same synagogue ruler, once associated with opposition to Paul's ministry in that city, who had since come to faith and was now laboring alongside Paul as a trusted fellow believer. If the identification holds, Sosthenes' story becomes a quiet but remarkable account of transformation, from public humiliation connected to opposing the gospel to genuine partnership in spreading it.
First named in Acts 18:17
References: Acts 18:17; 1 Corinthians 1:1
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