Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 21:3

"And when we had come in sight of Cyprus, leaving it on the left hand, we sailed unto Syria, and landed at Tyre; for there the ship was to unlade her burden." — Acts 21:3 (ASV)

Paul and company sailed the four hundred miles from Patara to Tyre, the famous Phoenician seaport of Syria. A church had been established at Tyre through the witness of the Christian Hellenists forced to leave Jerusalem at the time of Stephen’s martyrdom (cf. 11:19). While the ship was unloading, Paul had fellowship with the believers there for a week, who tried to dissuade him “through the Spirit” from going on to Jerusalem. This phrase most likely means that the Spirit’s message, given through a Christian prophet, was the occasion for the believers’ concern because they knew what lay in store for him (cf. vv.10– 15).