Bible Commentaries

Verse 1. - When it came to pass float we were parted from them, and had set sail for it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, A.V.; Cos for Coos, A.V. and T.R.; next day for day following, A.V. Parted from them (ἀποσπασθέντας). "Non sine desiderio magno" (Bengel). "He shows the violence of the parting by saying, ' Having torn ourselves away '" (Chrysostom). The word is properly applied to those who have been unwillingly torn away from their friends (Schleusner and Kuinoel); "denotes the painful separation wrung from them by necessity" (Meyer) In Acts 20:30 it was used in the active voice of false teachers "drawing away" the disciples, i.e. Christians, after them. In 2 Macc. 12:10 it means simply" withdrawn," and so perhaps also in Luke 22:41, though Meyer thinks that St. Luke chose the unusual word to denote the urgent emotion by which our Lord was as it were compelled to leave the companionship of the apostles, and be alone. Σπᾶν (whence spasm) and its derivatives, of which Luke uses four - two of which are peculiar to him - are much employed by medical writers, as Hippocrates, Galen, Antaeus, etc. (Hobart, on Luke 22.). Had set sail (ἀναχθῆναι ἡμᾶς). The word means" to go up to the sea from the land," as Luke 8:22; Acts 13:13; Acts 16:11; Acts 27:12; just as, on the contrary, κατάγειν and κατάγεσθαι αρε υσεδ of coming down to land from the sea (see ver. 3 in the T.R., and Acts 27:3; Acts 28:12). The same conception of putting out to sea being a going up, led to the phrase μετέωρος (high up) being applied to ships out at sea. From μετέωρος comes, of course, our word "meteor." Cos, or Coos, for it is written both ways, now called by the Turks Stanko (ἐς τὰν Κῶ), a beautiful island, nearly opposite the Gulf of Halicarnassus, and separated from Cnidus by a narrow strait, about six hours' sail from Miletus. There is a city of the same name on its eastern coast. It was one of the six Dorian colonies which formed the confederation called the Dorian Hexapolis. It was famous for its wine and its textile fabrics (Howson, and Lewin, and 'Dict. of Geog.'). Rhodes (Ρόδος); perhaps the "Isle of Roses;" the well-known mountainous island in the AEgean Sea, which lies nine or ten miles from the coast of Carts. Its inhabitants were Dorians, and it was one of the places which claimed the honor of being the birthplace of Homer. The towns are all situated on the seacoast, "Rhodes was the last Christian city to make a stand against the Saracens" (Howson). Patara ([τὰ] Πάταρα). A flourishing commercial city on the south-west coast of Lycia, with a good harbor. It was the port of Xauthus, the capital of Lycia. The name Patera is still attached to some extensive ruins on the seashore not far from the river Xanthus.

Verse 2. - Having found a ship crossing for finding a ship sailing, A.V.; Phoenieia for Phenicia, A.V.; set sail for set forth, A.V. Having found a ship. The ship in which St. Paul and his companions had hitherto sailed was probably a coasting-vessel, intending to continue its course all along the south coast of Asia Minor. But at Patara they found a ship on the point of sailing across the open sea direct to Tyre, by which the voyage would be shortened many days. They accordingly immediately took their passage by it, and put out to sea (ἀνήχθημεν, ver. 1, note). A glance at the map will show what a great corner was thus cut off. A straight line from Patara to Tyro leaves Cyprus just on the left.

Verse 3. - And for when, A.V.; come in sight of for discovered, A.V.; leaving it... we sailed for we left it... and sailed, A.V.; unto for into, A.V. Had come in sight of; literally, had been shown Cyprus; had had Cyprus made visible to us; i.e. had sighted Cyprus. It is a nautical expression. Meyer compares the phrase πεπίστευμαι τὸ εὐαγγέλιον for the grammatical construction. The verb ἀναφαίνω is peculiar to St. Luke, occur-tug elsewhere in the New Testament only in Luke 19:11. It is, however, used repeatedly in the LXX. of Job. Landed; κατήχθημεν, T.R., just the opposite to the ἀνήθημεν of ver. 2; but the R.T. has κατήλθομεν, with the same meaning, "we came to shore." At Tyre, which they may have reached in about forty-eight hours from Patara with a fair wind (Howson). Tyre at this time was still a city of some commercial importance, with two harbors, one north and one south of the causeway which connected the island with the mainland (see Acts 12:20). Howson thinks the ship in which St. Paul sailed may have brought wheat from the Black Sea, and taken up Phoenician wares in exchange. The sight of Cyprus as he sailed by must have brought many and very various memories to the apostle's mind, of Barnabas, of Sergius Paulus, of Elymas, and many others.

Verse 4. - Having found the disciples for finding disciples, A.V. and T.R.; and these for who, A.V.; set foot in for go up to, A.V. and T.R. Having found the disciples, If the R.T. is right, the meaning is that they had sought out the Christians, apparently not a large body, scattered in the city, and perhaps with some difficulty found them and their place of meeting. This would look as if they were not Jews, as the synagogue was always known. He should not set foot in Jerusalem. The R.T. reads ἐπιβαίνειν for ἀναβαίνειν. It is true that, in the LXX. of Deuteronomy 1:36, Τὴν γῆν ἐφ η}ν ἐπέβη means "The land that he hath trodden upon;" and that in Joshua 1:3 again, ποδῶν ὑμῶν means "Every place on which you shall tread with the sole of your feet;" but the phrase ἐπιβαίνειν εἰς Ιερουσαλήμ must surely mean simply "to go to Jerusalem." Through the Spirit. The Holy Spirit revealed to them, as he did to many ethers (ver. 11 and Acts 20:23), that bonds and affliction awaited St. Paul at Jerusalem. The inference that he should not go to Jerusalem was their own.

Verse 5. - It came to pass that we had accomplished for we had accomplished, A.V.; the days for those days, A.V.; on our journey for our way, A.V.; they all, with wives and children, brought us on our way for they all brought us on our way, with wires and children, A.V.; kneeling down on the beach we prayed for we kneeled down on the shore and prayed., A.V. and T.R. Accomplished the days. There is no other example of this use of the word ἐξαρτίζειν, which always means "to fit out, to equip thoroughly," as e.g. Josephus, 'Ant. Jud.,' 3. 2:2, where he speaks of soldiers τοῖς ἅπασι καλῶς ἐξηρτισμένους well equipped in all respects; and in the only other passage in the New Testament where it occurs, 2 Timothy 3:17, where it is rendered "thoroughly furnished," or "furnished completely." R.V. Hence some would render the passage here "when we had refitted (the ship) during these days." But this is a very harsh construction, and it is better, with the glossaries, lexicons, the Vulgate, and most commentators, to take the word here in the unusual sense of "to complete," applied to time. The days are the seven days mentioned in ver. 4, which were probably determined by the time it took to unlade the ship and get the new cargo on board.

Verse 6. - And bade each other farewell; and we went on board the ship, but, etc., for and when we had taken our leave one of another, we took ship; and, etc., A.V. and T.R. The ἀπασπάζεσθαι of the R.T. occurs nowhere else, except in Himerius in the fourth century after Christ. Went on board; ἐπέβημες εἰς, the same phrase as ἐπιβαίνειν εἰς Ἱερουσαλήμ in ver. 5.

Verse 7. - The voyage for our course, A.V.; arrived at for came to, A.V.; we saluted for saluted, A.V. When we had finished; διανύσαντες, only found here in the New Testament, but not uncommon in classical Greek for finishing a voyage, or a journey, or a race-course (Euripides, Hesiod, Xenophon, etc.). St. Luke seems to indicate by the phrase that the sea-voyage ended here. Arrived at; κατηντήσαμεν, a favorite word of St. Luke's for arriving at a place (Acts 16:1; Acts 18:19, 24; Acts 20:15; Acts 25:13; Acts 27:12, etc.), Ptolemais. The ancient Accho of Judges 1:31, then a Canaanite city in the tribe of Asher, but not subsequently mentioned in the Old Testament. In 1 Macc. 5:15, 22 and elsewhere it is called, as here, Ptolemais, having received the name from one of the Ptolemies, probably either Sorer or Lagi; but in the Middle Ages it appears as St. Jean d'Acre, and is now commonly called Acre. It lies on the north side of the spacious bay of Carmel, but is not in all weathers very safe harborage. It is an easy day's sail, under thirty miles, from Tyre. When St. Paul was there it had recently been made a Roman colony by the Emperor Claudius, and was important as a commercial city. Saluted the brethren. The Christians there. We have no account of the evangelization of Ptolemais. Perhaps the gospel was first preached there to the Jewish colony by those who traveled "as far as Phoenico," after "the persecution that arose about Stephen" (Acts 11:19); for Ptolemais was reckoned as belonging to Phenicia (Ptol., 5:15; Strabo, 16. p. 758; Pliny, 'Nat. Hist.,' 5:17; all quoted by Meyer).

Verse 8. - On the morrow for the next day A.V.; we for we that were of Paul's company, A.V. and T.R.; entering we for we entered... and, A.V.; who for which, A.V. Unto Caesarea. They seem to have come from Ptolemais to Caesarea by land, a two days' journey; the word. ἐξελθόντες, as Howson justly remarks, pointing to a land-journey. Philip the evangelist. When last we heard of him (Acts 8:40) he had just reached Caesarea; apparently he had been working there as an evangelist ever since. His old home at Jerusalem (Acts 6:5) had been broken up by the persecution (Acts 8:5), and thus the deacon had become an evangelist (Acts 8:12). Evangelists are mentioned by St. Paul(Ephesians 4:11) as one of the higher orders of the Christian ministry; and Timothy is bid "do the work of an evangelist" (2 Timothy 4:5). In later times the term was restricted to the four writers of the Gospels. Philip's old association with Stephen in the diaconate must have been keenly remembered by St. Paul. We abode with him. This seems to imply that Philip was well to do, and had a good house.