Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 27:3

"And the next day we touched at Sidon: and Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him leave to go unto his friends and refresh himself." — Acts 27:3 (ASV)

At Sidon, the ancient Phoenician port some seventy miles north of Caesarea, the boat took on cargo. Here Paul was permitted to visit the Christians of the city, who, like those at Tyre (cf. comment on 21:4), had probably become believers through the witness of Christian Hellenists forced to leave Jerusalem at the time of Stephen’s martyrdom (cf. 11:19). The centurion Julius had probably been advised by Festus to be lenient with Paul, and doubtless Paul had already made a good impression on him. Yet a soldier would have been always with him during his visit.