Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 21:1

"And when it came to pass that were parted from them and had set sail, we came with a straight course unto Cos, and the next day unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:" — Acts 21:1 (ASV)

After we were gotten from them...—The Greek verb is more emphatic and could almost be translated, “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 discuss at length the history of each place.

It will be enough to note that Coos was famous for both 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.

The ship in which the travellers had left Troas and Miletus was bound for this harbour, and they therefore had to look out for another.

Fortunately, there was no long delay, and they embarked at once on a merchant ship bound for Phoenicia.