John Gill Commentary Acts 20

And after the uproar was ceased
Which Demetrius, and the craftsmen, had raised at Ephesus, and which was put an end to by the speech of the town clerk, or register keeper of the theatre:

Paul called unto him the disciples ;
the members of the church at Ephesus, whom he convened, either at his own lodgings, or at their usual place of meeting:

and embraced them ;
or "saluted them"; that is, with a kiss, which was sometimes done at parting, as well as at meeting; see (Acts 20:37) and so the Syriac version renders it, and "kissed" them, and so took his leave of them, and bid them farewell; the Alexandrian copy, and some other copies, and the Syriac and Vulgate Latin versions before this clause insert, "and exhorted, or comforted" them; that is, exhorted them to continue steadfast in the faith, and hold fast the profession of it without wavering, and comforted them under all their tribulations, and in a view of what afflictions and persecutions they must expect to endure for the sake of Christ, with the exceeding great and precious promises of the Gospel:

and departed to go into Macedonia ;
to visit the churches at Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea, and to establish them in the faith of the Gospel: he did not choose to leave Ephesus till the tumult was over, partly on his own account, that he might not bring upon himself an imputation of fear and cowardice; and partly on the account of the church at Ephesus, that he might not leave them in distress, and add to it; but now it was over, he judged it proper to take his leave of them, and visit other churches, the care of which equally lay upon him.

And when he had gone over those parts
Of Macedonia, and the cities in it before mentioned;

and had given them much exhortation ;
to abide by the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel, and to walk worthy of it in their lives and conversations; and this exhortation he was frequently giving, as often as he had opportunity, improving his time much this way, and continued long at it: and, having pursued it to a sufficient length,

he came into Greece ;
or Hellas; which, according to Ptolomy ^F5 and Solinus, ^F6 , is properly true Greece; the former makes it to be the same with Achaia, where Corinth was; and the latter says it was in his time called Attica, where Athens was; so Pliny ^F7 , who also says, that Thessaly was so called: this Hellas included Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Achaia, which is properly Greece, Peloponnesus, and the adjacent islands.

FOOTNOTES:

• F5: Geograph. l. 3. c. 15.
• F6: Polyhist, c. 12.
• F7: Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 7.

And there abode three months
In Greece:

and when the Jews laid wait for him, as he was about to sail into
Syria ;
from some part of Greece, in order to go to Jerusalem; which the Jews in the parts of Greece understanding, laid wait for him, either by sea or land, with an intention either to take the money from him, which he had collected in Macedonia, and in Greece, for the poor saints at Jerusalem, or to take away his life, or both; of which lying in wait for him, the apostle had some notice, either by divine revelation, or from somebody who was in the secret, or had got knowledge of it from such as were: upon which he

purposed to return through Macedonia ;
through which he came from Ephesus to Greece: this wicked design being made known to him, obliged him, in point of prudence, and both for his own safety, and the good of the churches, to alter his scheme, and steer his course another way, to the disappointment of his enemies; in which the wisdom of providence, the care of God over his ministers, and his concern for his churches manifestly appeared.

And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea

This Sopater is thought to be the same with Sosipater in (Romans 16:21). In three of Beza's copies, and in as many of Stephens's, he is so called here. The Ethiopic version calls him Peter, a citizen of Berea, and the Arabic version Sopater of Aleppo.

The Alexandrian copy, Beza's most ancient copy, and others, the Complutensian edition, and the Vulgate Latin version, read, Sopater of Pyrrhus, the Berean; that is, the son of Pyrrhus. He is reckoned among the seventy disciples, and is said to be bishop of Iconium; (See Gill on Luke 10:1).

This name was common among the Greeks. There was one of this name a native of Paphus, in the times of Alexander the great, a comical poet, and who also is sometimes called Sosipater, as this man was. There was another Sopater the sophist, who wrote the affairs of Alexander; and there was another of this name, who, among other things, collected much concerning painters and statuaries.

The name signifies "a father saved". Pyrrhus is a Grecian name well known, being the name of a famous king of Greece who engaged in war with the Romans.

This man went along with the apostle into Asia. It seems, that of the persons here mentioned, he only accompanied him, for the verb is in the singular number. The other six persons following did not go along with him, as Sopater did, but went before him to Troas, which was in Asia, and there waited for him. Though the Syriac version reads in the plural number, it renders the words, "they went forth with him", as they might do from Greece, and yet not accompany him into Asia. The phrase into Asia is left out in the Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions.

And of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus ;

the former of these is before said to be a Macedonian, (Acts 19:29) and here he appears to be of Thessalonica, and his name is a Greek one; but Secundus is a Roman name, though he might be born at Thessalonica, or at least have lived there, and so be said to be of it.

His name signifies "Second"; very likely was his father's second son, and therefore so called; though the name was used among the Grecians.

We read of Secundus an Athenian, the master of Herod the sophist, who flourished under the emperor Adrian; there are sentences under his name still extant. We also read of another called Secundus the grammarian, a friend of Poleman, a philosopher at Athens, who corrected his writings. So that this man might be a Grecian, and a native of Thessalonica; mention is made of him nowhere else.

And Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus ;

The former of these is so called to distinguish him from Gaius the Macedonian in (Acts 19:29). The latter, by being joined with him, should be of the same place, as he might be; see (Acts 16:1).

Though the Syriac version reads, "and Timotheus of Lystra", and so does the Arabic version used by De Dieu; and this is mentioned with Derbe in the above cited place.

And of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus :

of the former see (Ephesians 6:21) (Colossians 4:7) (2 Timothy 4:12) and of the latter see (2 Timothy 4:20) (Acts 21:29) where he is called an Ephesian, as they both are here in Beza's most ancient copy; Ephesus being the metropolis of Asia, strictly so called.

These are both of them said to be among the seventy disciples. Trophimus, we are told, taught at Arles in France, and suffered martyrdom with the Apostle Paul. Tychicus was bishop of Chalcedon in Bithynia, and another of the same name was bishop of Colophon; (See Gill on Luke 10:1).

Trophimus signifies "nourished", and is a name to be found in a funeral inscription of the Romans ^F8 , though Greek, and in the fragments of the poet Menander:

and Tychicus signifies "fortunate"; whether the same with Fortunatus in (1 Corinthians 16:17) may be inquired.

FOOTNOTES:

• F8: Kirchman. de Funer. Roman. l. 3. c. 26. p. 525.

These going before The apostle into Asia, all but Sopater, who accompanied him.

tarried for us at Troas; a city in Asia Minor; see (Acts 16:8) whither they went beforehand a nearer way, to provide for the apostle, and where they waited for him, and for Sopater, and for Luke, the writer of this history, who appears from hence to be in company with the apostle, and for as many others as were along with him.