Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 20:34

"Ye yourselves know that these hands ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me." — Acts 20:34 (ASV)

Following his blessing, Paul adds a few words of exhortation (as in his letters), urging the elders of the Ephesian church to care for the needs of God’s people without thought of material reward. He asks them to follow his example (cf. Php 3:17) and calls on them to remember the words of Jesus applicable here: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” Paul often related his ethical exhortations to the teachings of Jesus (cf. Romans 12–14; 1 Thessalonians 4:1–12) and the personal example of Jesus (cf. Php 2:5–11), so he does that here. The specific words attributed to Jesus here do not appear in any of the Gospels. But they can be approximately paralleled by Lk 6:38.