Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 20:13

"But we going before to the ship set sail for Assos, there intending to take in Paul: for so had he appointed, intending himself to go by land." — Acts 20:13 (ASV)

And sailed to Assos.—The port of Assos lay about twenty-four miles south of Troas. We can only conjecture St. Paul’s motives for going there himself by land while his companions went by sea.

In Acts 16:8, we find that he had avoided Mysia to press on to Troas. However, he may well have extended his labours there during his two-year sojourn in Asia and wished, before he started for Jerusalem, in the full belief that he was never to return to those regions (Acts 20:25), to say a few words of parting counsel.

Possibly, also, after the exciting scene at Troas, he may have been glad to have even a couple of days of comparative solitude for meditation and prayer about the great work that lay before him, before embarking on the ship with its motley crew of passengers and sailors.