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In this chapter we have, I. Paul's travels up and down about Macedonia, Greece, and Asia, and his coming at length to Troas, Ac 20:1-6. II. A particular account of his spending one Lord's day at Troas, and his raising Eutychus to life there, Ac 20:7-12. III. His progress, or circuit, for the visiting of the churches he had planted, in his way towards Jerusalem, where he designed to be by the next feast of pentecost, Ac 20:13-16. IV. The farewell sermon he preached to the presbyters at Ephesus, now that he was leaving that country, Ac 20:17-35. V. The very sorrowful parting between him and them, Ac 20:36-38. And in all these we find Paul very busy to serve Christ, and to do good to the souls of men, not only in the conversion of heathen, but in the edification of Christians.

Paul retires to Macedonia, Acts 20:1. He goes into Greece, where he tarries three months and, purposing to sail to Syria, he returns through Macedonia, Acts 20:2, Acts 20:3. Several persons accompany him into Asia, and then go before and tarry for him at Troas, Acts 20:4, Acts 20:5. Paul and Luke sail from Philippi, and in five days reach Troas, where they meet their brethren from Asia, and abide there seven days, Acts 20:6. On the first day of the week, the disciples coming together to break bread, Paul preaching to them, and continuing his speech till midnight, a young man of the name of Eutychus, being in a deep sleep, fell from the third loft and was killed, Acts 20:7-9. Paul restores him to life, resumes his discourse, and continuing it till daybreak, then departs, Acts 20:10-12. Luke and his companions come to Assos, whither Paul comes by land, Acts 20:13. He embarks with them at Assos, comes to Mitylene, Acts 20:14. Sails thence, and passes by Chios, arrives at Samos, tarries at Trogyllium, and comes to Miletus, Acts 20:15. Purposing to get as soon as possible to Jerusalem, he sends from Miletus, and calls the elders of the Church of Ephesus, to whom he preaches a most directing sermon, gives them the most solemn exhortations, kneels down and prays with them, takes a very affecting leave of them, and sets sail for Caesarea, in order to go to Jerusalem, vv. 16-38.

CHAPTER 20

Acts 20:1. καὶ ἀσπασ.] A B D E א, min. vss. have καὶ παρακαλὲσας, ἀσπασ. So Lachm. Yet D has πολλά before παρακαλ. (so Born.), and E καί before ἀσπασ. Other witnesses have καὶ παρακ. ἀσπασ. τε. So Rinck. παρακαλ. has certainly preponderant attestation in its favour, but against it the internal decisive consideration, that no reason is apparent for its subsequent omission, whereas it might very easily suggest itself from Acts 20:2; Acts 16:40 as a pious marginal remark to ἀσπασ.

Acts 20:4. Πύῤῥου] is wanting in Elz., and is condemned by Mill as an addition from tradition. But it has greatly preponderant attestation, and might be passed over quite as well on the ground of a varying tradition, as by mistake of the transcribers on account of the similar sound of the initial syllable in the following name.

Acts 20:5. οὗτοι] Lachm. reads οὗτοι δέ, after A B E א, min. A connective addition.

Acts 20:7. ἡμῶν] Elz. has τῶν μαθητῶν, in opposition to A B D E, min. Chrys. Aug. and most vss. An interpolation on account of the following αὐτοῖς. Still stronger witnesses support ἦμεν in Acts 20:8, for which Elz. has ἦσαν.

Acts 20:9. καθήμενος] Instead of this, καθεζόμενος (Lachm. Tisch. Born.) is preponderantly attested. Comp. on Acts 2:2.

Acts 20:11. ἄρτον] Lachm. Tisch. Born. read τὸν ἄρτον, according to A B C D* א*. Rightly; the article was neglected after Acts 20:7, because its force was overlooked.

Acts 20:15. καὶ μείν. ἐν Τρωγ., τῇ] A B C E א, min. have merely τῇ δέ. So Lachm. Several vss. and some more recent codd. have καὶ τῇ. But there was no occasion for the insertion of μείν. ἐν Τρ., whereas its omission is very capable of explanation, because Trogyllium was not situated in Samos, as the context seemed to say.

Acts 20:16. κεκρίκει] Recommended by Griesb., adopted by Lachm. Tisch. Born., according to greatly preponderating evidence. But Elz. Scholz have ἔκρινε. A church-lesson begins at Acts 20:16, and therefore the tense, which has its reference in what precedes, was altered.

ἦν] Lachm. reads εἴη, following considerable witnesses. A grammatical improvement.

Acts 20:18. After πρὸς αὐτόν A has ὁμοῦ ὄντων αὐτῶν, which Lachm. adopted; others have ὁμοθυμαδόν; and others ὁμόσε ὄντων αὐτῶν (so Born., according to D). Different additions for the sake of completion.

Acts 20:19. Before δακρ. Elz. has πολλῶν, which already Griesb. rejected, according to decisive testimony. A strengthening addition from 2 Corinthians 2:4.

Acts 20:22. According to decisive testimony read ἐγώ, with Lachm. Tisch., after δεδεμ.

Acts 20:23. μοι] is wanting in Elz., but is decidedly attested, and was easily passed over as quite unnecessary.

με] is, according to decisive evidence, to be placed after θλίψεις (Lachm. Tisch.). Born. has μοι ἐν Ἱεροσολύμοις, according to D, vss. Lucif., and that only after μένουσιν. But μοι is a mechanical repetition from the preceding, and ἐν Ἱεροσολ. is an addition by way of a gloss; the two, moreover, are not equally attested.

Acts 20:24. ἀλλʼ οὐδενὸς … ἐμαυτῷ] very many variations. Lachm. has ἀλλʼ οὐδενὸς λόγον ἔχω, οὐδὲ ποιοῦμαι τὴν ψυχὴν τιμίαν ἐμαυτῷ. Tisch. reads ἀλλʼ οὐδενὸς λόγου ποιοῦμαι τὴν ψυχὴν τιμίαν ἐμαυτῷ, according to B C D** א*, vss. Lucif. Born. reads essentially as Lachm., yet adding μοι after ἔχω, and μου after ψυχήν. The Recepta is founded on E G H, Chrys. Theophyl. Oec.; but G, Chrys. have not μου. The reading of Lachm. (A D* א, min. Vulg.), as well as the Recepta, are to be considered as alterations and expansions of the reading of Tisch., which was not understood.

After δρόμον μου Elz. Scholz have μετὰ χαρᾶς, which is wanting in A B D א, min. Lucif. Ambr. and several vss. A scholion.

Acts 20:25. τοῦ Θεοῦ] is wanting in A B C א, 13, 15*, 36, Copt. Syr. p. Arm. Chrys. Rightly deleted by Lachm. and Tisch. A supplementary addition. D has τοῦ Ἰησοῦ. So Born.

Acts 20:26. ἐγώ] Considerable witnesses have εἰμι, which Griesb. has recommended and Lachm. adopted. Rightly; ἐγώ came from Acts 18:6.

Acts 20:28. τοῦ Κυρίου] Elz. has τοῦ Θεοῦ, which is adhered to among recent critics (following Mill, Whitby, Wolf, Bengel, and others), by Scholz, Alford, Rinck, Lucubr. crit. p. 82 f. The weight of evidence is externally decisive for τοῦ Κυρίου; A C* D E, 13, 15, 18, 36, 40, 69, 73, 81, 95*, 130, 156, 163, 180, Copt. Sahid. Syr. p. (on the margin) Arm. Aeth. Constitutt. (2:61), Ir. (Acts 3:14), Eus. (on Isaiah 35), Ath. (ad Serap. 1 in ms.), Didym. (de Sp. St. 11), Chrys. Lucif. Aug. Jer. al. τοῦ Θεοῦ is found among uncial mss. only in B א, and, besides, only in about twenty more recent and inferior codd., and among vss. in the Vulg. Syr. p. (in the text); but among the Fathers in none before Epiph. and Ambros. See the more detailed statement of the evidence in Tisch. The internal decisive argument for τ. Κυρίου lies in the fact that in the Pauline Epistles ἐκκλ. τ. Κυρ. never occurs, but ἐκκλ. τ. Θεοῦ eleven times; hence at our passage the Pauline expression was written on the margin as a parallel, and then, welcome to hyper-orthodoxy (already in Ignat. ad Ephesians 1, and in Tert. ad ux. ii. 3, there is found the expression blood of God, which others, even Ath., censured as unbiblical; see Wetstein and Tisch.), was taken into the text and transmitted. This appears far more accordant with the dogmatic tendency of those times and the monastic spirit than the usual justification of τοῦ Θεοῦ: “Probabilius est ob sequentia mutatum, quam e scriptis Pauli illatum esse” (Rinck, l.c.). The readings τοῦ Κυρίου Θεοῦ, τοῦ Θεοῦ κ. Κυρίου, and τοῦ Κυρίου κ. Θεοῦ (this latter Griesb. recommends, without, however, approving it, but Matth. received it), are combinations of the original reading with the Pauline parallel written on the margin. Teller’s and van Hengel’s proposal to read only τὴν ἐκκλ. is destitute of all critical support.

τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου] Elz. has τοῦ ἰδίου αἵματος, in opposition to A B C D E א, min. vss. Ir. Lucif. An alteration, which arose from the adoption of τ. Θεοῦ, in order to establish the interpretation of the blood of God.

Acts 20:29. After ἐγώ Elz. Scholz, Tisch. have γάρ, against A C* D א, min. Vulg. Fathers. The more to be rejected, as others read ὅτι ἐγώ (B), others ἐγὼ δέ (א*), others still καὶ ἐγώ. A connective addition. τοῦτο also, which Elz. Scholz, Tisch. have after οἶδα, has such preponderating evidence against it, and in such essential agreement with those witnesses which condemn γάρ, that it cannot be considered as original, although, taken by itself, it might be more easily omitted than added.

Acts 20:32. After ὑμᾶς Elz. Scholz have ἀδελφοί, which Lachm. Tisch. Born. have deleted, according to A B D א, 33, 34, 68, Syr. Erp. Copt. Sahid. Vulg. Jer. If it had been original, there is no apparent reason for its omission; on the other hand, its insertion at this solemn passage was very natural.

οἰκοδ.] Approved by Griesb., adopted by Lachm. Born. But Elz. Scholz, Tisch. have ἐποικοδ., against decisive testimony. A more precise definition corresponding to the persons in question; and therefore, also, D E, vss. add ὑμᾶς

Acts 20:35. τῶν λόγων] G and more than thirty min. Vulg. Sahid. Arm. Aeth. Chrys. Theophyl. have τὸν λόγον. So Rinck. Others have τοῦ λόγου after min.; so Bengel. Both are alterations, because only one saying of Christ afterwards follows.

The order μᾶλλον διδόναι (Elz. inverts it) is decidedly attested.

Ac 20:1-12.

PAUL FULFILS HIS PURPOSE OF PROCEEDING AGAIN TO MACEDONIA AND GREECE--RETURNING THENCE, ON HIS ROUTE FOR JERUSALEM, HE REVISITS PHILIPPI AND TROAS--HIS MINISTRATIONS AT TROAS.

This section of the apostle's life, though peculiarly rich in material, is related with great brevity in the History. Its details must be culled from his own Epistles.

1, 2. departed--after Pentecost

(1Co 16:8).

to go into Macedonia--in pursuance of the first part of his plan

(Ac 19:21).

From his Epistles we learn; (1) That, as might have been expected from its position on the coast, he revisited Troas

(2Co 2:12;

see on

Ac 16:8).

(2) That while on his former visit he appears to have done no missionary work there, he now went expressly "to preach Christ's Gospel," and found "a door opened unto him of the Lord" there, which he entered so effectually as to lay the foundation of a church there

(Ac 20:6, 7).

(3) That he would have remained longer there but for his uneasiness at the non-arrival of Titus, whom he had despatched to Corinth to finish the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem

(1Co 16:1, 2; 2Co 8:6),

but still more, that he might bring him word what effect his first Epistle to that church had produced. (He had probably arranged that they should meet at Troas). (4) That in this state of mind, afraid of something wrong, he "took leave" of the brethren at Troas, and went from thence into Macedonia.

It was, no doubt, the city of PHILIPPI that he came to (landing at Nicopolis, its seaport, see on

Ac 16:11, 12),

as appears by comparing

2Co 11:9,

where "Macedonia" is named, with

Php 4:15,

where it appears that Philippi is meant. Here he found the brethren, whom he had left on his former visit in circumstances of such deep interest, a consolidated and thriving church, generous and warmly attached to their father in Christ; under the superintendence, probably, of our historian, "the beloved physician" (see on

Ac 16:40).

All that is said by our historian of this Macedonian visit is that "he went over those parts and gave them much exhortation." (5) Titus not having reached Philippi as soon as the apostle, "his flesh had no rest, but he was troubled on every side: without were fightings, within were fears"

(2Co 7:5).

(6) At length Titus arrived, to the joy of the apostle, the bearer of better tidings from Corinth than he had dared to expect

(2Co 7:6, 7, 13),

but checkered by painful intelligence of the efforts of a hostile party to undermine his apostolic reputation there

(2Co 10:1-18).

(7) Under the mixed feelings which this produced, he wrote--from Macedonia, and probably Philippi--his SECOND EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS (see

Introduction

to Second Corinthians); despatching Titus with it, and along with him two other unnamed deputies, expressly chosen to take up and bring their collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, and to whom he bears the beautiful testimony, that they were "the glory of Christ"

(2Co 8:22, 23).

(8) It must have been at this time that he penetrated as far as to the confines of "Illyricum," lying along the shores of the Adriatic

(Ro 15:19).

He would naturally wish that his second Letter to the Corinthians should have some time to produce its proper effect ere he revisited them, and this would appear a convenient opportunity for a northwestern circuit, which would enable him to pay a passing visit to the churches at Thessalonica and Berea, though of this we have no record. On his way southward to Greece, he would preach the Gospel in the intermediate regions of Epirus, Thessaly, and Boeotia (see

Ro 15:19),

though of this we have no record.

The uproar - The tumult excited, by Demetrius and the workmen. After it had been quieted by the town-clerk, Acts 19:40-41.

Embraced them - Saluted them; gave them parting expressions of kindness. Compare the Luke 7:45 note; Romans 16:16 note; 1 Corinthians 16:20 note; 2 Corinthians 13:12 note; 1 Thessalonians 5:26 note; 1 Peter 5:14 note. The Syriac translates this, "Paul caned the disciples, and consoled them, and kissed them."

To go into Macedonia - On his way to Jerusalem, agreeably to his purpose, as recorded in Acts 19:21.

After the uproar was ceased - The tumult excited by Demetrius apparently induced Paul to leave Ephesus sooner than he had intended. He had written to the Corinthians that he should leave that place after pentecost, 1 Corinthians 16:8; but it is very probable that he left it sooner.

And after the uproar was ceased,.... Which Demetrius, and the craftsmen, had raised at Ephesus, and which was put an end to by the speech of the town clerk, or register keeper of the theatre:

Paul called unto him the disciples; the members of the church at Ephesus, whom he convened, either at his own lodgings, or at their usual place of meeting:

and embraced them; or "saluted them"; that is, with a kiss, which was sometimes done at parting, as well as at meeting; see Acts 20:37 and so the Syriac version renders it, and "kissed" them, and so took his leave of them, and bid them farewell; the Alexandrian copy, and some other copies, and the Syriac and Vulgate Latin versions before this clause insert, "and exhorted, or comforted" them; that is, exhorted them to continue steadfast in the faith, and hold fast the profession of it without wavering, and comforted them under all their tribulations, and in a view of what afflictions and persecutions they must expect to endure for the sake of Christ, with the exceeding great and precious promises of the Gospel:

and departed to go into Macedonia; to visit the churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, and to establish them in the faith of the Gospel: he did not choose to leave Ephesus till the tumult was over, partly on his own account, that he might not bring upon himself an imputation of fear and cowardice; and partly on the account of the church at Ephesus, that he might not leave them in distress, and add to it; but now it was over, he judged it proper to take his leave of them, and visit other churches, the care of which equally lay upon him.