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Acts 21:1-9 Paul, journeying to Jerusalem, calleth at the house

of Philip the evangelist, whose four daughters prophesied.

Acts 21:10-16 Agabus foretelling what should befall him at Jerusalem,

he will not be dissuaded from going thither.

Acts 21:17-26 Arriving at Jerusalem, he is persuaded to purify

himself in the temple

Acts 21:27-36 where he is set upon by the Jews of Asia, and in

danger of losing his life in an uproar, but is

rescued by the chief captain, and carried to the

castle in chains.

Acts 21:37-40 He requesteth, and is permitted, to speak to the people.

Were gotten from them; had parted with them, as dearest friends and relations do one from the other, with much difficulty and reluctance.

Coos; an island in the Mediterranean Sea, nigh unto Crete, where Hippocrates and Apelles are said to have been born.

Rhodes; another island in the same sea, of great fame for the Colossus, or vast image of brass, which was there, accounted one of the wonders of the world.

Patara; a haven town of Lycia, and its metropolis.

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 In 2 Macc. 12:10 it means simply" withdrawn," and so perhaps also in Luke 22:41, though Meyer thinks that St. Luke chose the unusual word to denote the urgent emotion by which our Lord was as it were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.

XXI.

(1) After we were gotten from them . . .—The Greek verb is more emphatic, and might almost be rendered, “When we had torn ourselves away from them.”

We came with a straight course unto Coos . . .—The navigation is, as before (Acts 20:14-15), from port to port. It would hardly be within the scope of a Commentary to enter at length into the history of each place. It will be enough to note that Coos was famous both for its wines and its silk fabrics, of fine and almost transparent tissue; that Rhodes, then famous for its Colossus, was one of the largest and most flourishing islands of the Archipelago, and is memorable for us in later history as connected with the history of the Knights Hospitallers of St. John; that Patara was a harbour on the coast of Lycia. For this harbour the ship in which the travellers had left Troas and Miletus was bound, and they had therefore to look out for another. Happily there was no long delay, and they embarked at once on a merchant-ship bound for Phœnicia.

Acts 21:1-6. Paul’s Voyage from Miletus, and his Stay in Tyre

1. And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched] The Rev. Ver. has reproduced the Greek construction, but the sentence is not a happy one, nor the gain worth the sacrifice. “And when it came to pass that we were parted from them, and had set sail.” It gives perhaps a little more of the sense of difficulty in tearing themselves away which is in the original, but it is not what an Englishman would say.

The vessel in which they sailed from Troas to Patara seems to have been under the Apostle’s control, and they could stay wherever and as long as they pleased.

we came … Cos] The name, sometimes spelt Coos, should be written Cos. It is a small island, now called Stanchio, on the coast of Asia Minor, just at the entrance of the Archipelago, and in old times was famous for its wines and some light-woven fabrics. There was also in the island a temple of Aesculapius to which was attached a medical school.

and the day following unto Rhodes] In Acts 20:15 the A. V. gave three times over “the next day,” and in each case the Greek was different, and here we have a fourth form in the original for the same sense. In one case in the former chapter the Rev. Ver. left “next day,” and they make that change here, but as the Greek is not the same it is not easy to see why the A.V. should not be left alone.

Rhodes is the famous island at the south-west extremity of Asia Minor, off the coast of Caria and Lycia. The city of Rhodes and the island of which it is the capital were famous in the times of the Peloponnesian war. It was well supplied with timber fit for shipbuilding and hence became famous for its navy, and its position has caused the island to play a conspicuous part in European history from that time onward. It was celebrated for the great Temple of the Sun, whose worship in the island is marked by the head of Apollo on the coinage. With this worship was connected the great statue known as the Colossus, which was meant as a figure of the sun, and was one of the wonders of the world. In the Roman times many privileges were granted to Rhodes by the Roman emperors, while in mediæval history this was the last Christian city which resisted the advance of the Saracens.

Patara] This was a city on the coast of Lycia. It was devoted to the worship of Apollo, who is hence sometimes called by classical writers Patareus. The city was not far from the river Xanthus, and Patara was the port of the city of Xanthus. We can understand, therefore, why St Paul’s voyage in the coasting vessel should end here, because at such a port he would be likely to find a larger vessel to carry him to Syria.

Gotten from (ἀποσπασθέντας)

Withdrawn. Some see in the word an expression of the grief and reluctance with which they parted, and render having torn ourselves away. See on Luke 22:41.

With a straight course

See on Luke 16:11.

Were parted from them (αποσπασθεντας απ' αυτων). First aorist passive participle of αποσπαω same verb as in Acts 20:30; Luke 22:41. Had set sail (αναχθηνα). First aorist passive of αναγω, the usual verb to put out (up) to sea as in verse Acts 21:2 (ανηχθημεν). We came with a straight course (ευθυδρομησαντες ηλθομεν). The same verb (aorist active participle of ευθυδρομεω) used by Luke in Acts 16:11 of the voyage from Troas to Samothrace and Neapolis, which see. Unto Cos (εις την Κο). Standing today, about forty nautical miles south from Miletus, island famous as the birthplace of Hippocrates and Apelles with a great medical school. Great trading place with many Jews. The next day (τη εξης). Locative case with ημερα (day) understood. The adverb εξης is from εχω (future εξω) and means successively or in order. This is another one of Luke's ways of saying "on the next day" (cf. three others in Acts 20:15). Unto Rhodes (εις την Ροδον). Called the island of roses. The sun shone most days and made roses luxuriant. The great colossus which represented the sun, one of the seven wonders of the world, was prostrate at this time. The island was at the entrance to the Aegean Sea and had a great university, especially for rhetoric and oratory. There was great commerce also. Unto Patara (εις Παταρα). A seaport on the Lycian coast on the left bank of the Xanthus. It once had an oracle of Apollo which rivalled that at Delphi. This was the course taken by hundreds of ships every season.

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Acts 21:1. ἀναχθῆναι, see above on Acts 13:13.—ἀποσ., cf. Acts 20:30, “were parted from them,” R.V. The word expresses a separation difficult and painful; it adds to the pathos of the scene, and marks the close affection which could not bear the thought of a parting, “divulsi ab eorum complexu,” Blass (see Chrys., comment, in loco).—εὐθυδ., see on Acts 16:11.—Κῶν, Stanchio or Stanko, an island of great trading importance off the coast of Caria, south of Miletus and Samos, and north of Rhodes. Historically it had several points of connection with the Jews, cf. 1Ma 15:23, Jos., Ant., xiv., 7, 2, and 10, 15, B. J., i., 21, 11, and owing to its commerce it became one of the centres of Jewish life in the Ægean. It lay about forty nautical miles from Miletus, and it was famous as the birthplace not only of Hippocrates, but of Apelles, and as being one of the great medical schools of the ancient world. See further “Cos” (Ramsay), Hastings’ B.D., and B.D.2; Farrar, Saint Paul, ii. 284; Lewin, St. Paul, ii. 96; cf. Strabo, xiv., 2, Hor., Od., iv., 13, 13, Tac., Ann., xii., 61. C. and H. think that the chief town of the same name at the east of the island is referred to in the narrative before us. The place must have had, as C. and H. note, a special interest for St. Luke.—Ῥόδον: off the south coast of Caria. According to the proverb the sun shone every day on Rhodes, and it might well be called the sunny island of roses. Her coins, stamped on one side with Apollo’s head radiated, and on the other with the rose-flower, bear their witness to the brightness and fertility of the island. Moreover, it was a seat not only of commerce but of learning. St. Paul does not appear to have landed, but only to have touched at the island. The great Colossus representing the sun, counted as one of the wonders of the world, lay prostrate, having been broken down by an earthquake, Pliny, N. H., xxxiv., 18; Strabo, xiv., 2. In the time of the Peloponnesian War Rhodes had been famous for its strong navy, as its timber was abundant. A notice of Jewish residents in Rhodes meets us in 1Ma 15:23. On subsequent history see the excellent account in C. and H., small edit., p. 357; Farrar, Saint Paul, 2, p. 285.—Πάταρα: a seaport on the Lycian coast, now in ruins, but probably a place of some importance and splendour. C. and H. say that Patara was to the city Xanthus what the Piræus was to Athens. On the modern discoveries in Patara see C. and H., small edit., note p. 560, cf. Herod., i., 182, Hor., Od., iii., 4, 64, Lewin, St. Paul, ii. 99, O. Holtzmann, Neutest. Zeitgeschichte, p. 101. “The voyage may be taken as typical of the course which hundreds of ships took every year,” Ramsay, St. Paul, p. 297, and cf. the illustrations from Roman history in C. and H., p. 560 note.

Acts 21:1-2. Ἀποσπασθ.] denotes the painful separation, wrung from them by the consciousness of necessity. See on Luke 22:41.

On the small island Cos, now Co, or Stanchio in the Aegean Sea, celebrated for its wine and manufacture of costly materials for dress, see Küster, de Co insula, Hal. 1833. On the accusative form, see Locella, ad Xen. Eph. p. 165 f.

τὰ Πάταρα] a great seaport of Lycia, with an oracle of Apollo active only during the six winter months. For its ruins, see Fellows, Asia Minor, p. 219 f.

διαπερῶν] which was in the act of sailing over. For ἀναχθῆναι, comp. on Acts 13:13.