Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece.[4]
"That region" (King James Version: "those parts"),[5] would have included Philippi, Thessalonica and Beroea, and the churches Paul had established there. It may also have been at this time that Paul made the journey intoIllyricum referred to inRomans 15:19.[6]
And there accompanied him into Asia Sopater of Berea; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, andTimotheus; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus.[7]
"Sopater" (Greek:Σώπατρος,Sṓpatros, meaning "saviour of his father"[8][a]) was the son of Pyrhus,[1] a man from the city ofBerea
The believers in Troas (cf.2 Corinthians 2:12–13) had a "meeting" on the first day of the week (verse 7; cf.Acts 2:42), which started on Saturday night (at that time, Sunday was a working day, so the practice was to gather on Saturday night or early on Sunday morning as noted by Pliny, Ep. 10.96.7), perhaps after work for some people, includingEutychus, which is a common slave name.[1] It comprised a long teaching session by Paul (verse 7), 'breaking of bread' and a communal meal (verse 11), then finished at dawn.[1]
And in a window sat a certain young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep. He was overcome by sleep; and as Paul continued speaking, he fell down from the third story and was taken up dead.[14]
Eutychus was a young man of(Alexandria) Troas tended to bySt. Paul. The nameEutychus means "fortunate". Eutychus fell asleep due to the long nature of the discourse Paul was giving and fell from his seat out of a three-story window.[15] Paul's immediate action to resurrect Eutychus (verse 10) recalls the miracles of Elijah and Elisha (1 Kings 17:21–22;2 Kings 4:34–35).[1] The term "dead" (Greek:nekros) is used to emphasize that this is to be seen as a real miracle (verse 10).[1]
"Third story": this indicates a 'working-class insula or apartment block', not the atrium of a villa or town house.[1]
Paul raiseth Eutychus to life, fromFigures de la Bible, 1728.
But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, "Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him."[16]
After Eutychus fell down to his death, Paul then picked him up, insisting that he was not dead, and carried him back upstairs; those gathered then had a meal and a long conversation which lasted until dawn. After Paul left, Eutychus was found to be alive. It is unclear whether the story intends to relate that Eutychus was killed by the fall and Paulraised him, or whether he simply seemed to be dead, with Paul ensuring that he is still alive.[17][18]
Satellite view ofChios island (NASA)Satellite 3D view ofSamos island (NASA)
Paul's journey through the northernAegean Sea is detailed in verses 13 to 16. The text states that Paul, having left Philippi after theDays of Unleavened Bread, had a desire urgently to travel to Jerusalem and needed to be there by theDay of Pentecost, even choosing to avoid returning to Ephesus and being delayed there. As there are fifty days from the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover) to Pentecost, and five days were taken on travel from Philippi to Troas and seven days spent waiting in Troas, Paul and his party had around 38 days available for travel to Jerusalem.
Paul appears to have made the arrangements to charter a ship, but Luke and his companions began the journey fromTroas and sailed aroundCape Baba toAssos. Paul travelled overland from Troas to Assos and embarked there. The ship sailed southwards toLesbos, calling atMitylene, then passedChios and arrived atSamos, staying atTrogyllium. They passed Ephesus and came into port atMiletus, calling for theelders of the church in Ephesus to travel to Miletus for a meeting.[20] Theelders of the church (Greek:τους πρεσβυτερους της εκκλησιας,tous presbyterous tes ekklesias) were also referred to asoverseers (Greek:επισκοπους,episkopous) in verse 28.
Miletus is about 40 miles south of Ephesus. TheJamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary noted that in view of Paul's haste, more time might have been lost in calling for the elders to come from Ephesus than would have been lost if Paul had actually gone to Ephesus himself, but surmised that either his decision was made because of 'unfavorable winds and stormy weather [which] had overtaken them' or 'he was unwilling to run the risk of detention at Ephesus by the state of the church and other causes'.[21]
Paul's speech to the Ephesian elders (verses 18–38)
This section records the only direct speech of Paul to Christian believers in the book of Acts, thus the only passage which strictly parallels the epistles (cf.Philippians 3;2 Timothy 3–4;Romans 15, and the autobiographical sections in2 Corinthians 10-12.[1]
[Paul said:]"But none of these things move me; nor do I count my life dear to myself, so that I may finish my race with joy, and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God."[22]
[Paul said:]“Take heed therefore unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over the which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood.”[23]
"Overseers": translated from the Greek wordἐπισκόπους,episkopous, which is usually also rendered as "bishops". Both "elders" and "bishops" have been originally and apostolically synonymous, that the distinction between these offices cannot be certainly traced until the second century, nor was it established until late in that century.[21]
"To feed": translated from the Greek wordποιμαίνειν,poimainein; the proper word for "tending" in relation toτὸ ποίμνιον (to poimnion), "the flock", asποιμήν (poimen), the "pastor", or "shepherd".[24] A 'pastor' is 'to feed the flock' (ofChrist cf.John 10:11, 16;John 21:17;Hebrews 13:20;1 Peter 5:2, 3).Peter applies the titles of "Shepherd and Bishop of souls" to the LordJesus (1 Peter 2:25).Paul does not use the metaphor elsewhere, except indirectly, and in a different aspect (1 Corinthians 9:7).[24]
"Church of God": translated from the Greek phraseἐκκλησίαν τοῦ θεοῦ,ekklēsiantou Theou.[24]Textus Receptus hasτοῦ Θεοῦ,tou Theou, whereas many uncials haveτοῦ Κυρίου, "of [the] Lord" but the phraseἐκκλησία τοῦ Κυρίου occurs nowhere else in Paul's writings, while the phraseἐκκλησία τοῦ Θεοῦ occurs ten times in Pauline epistles.[24] Both theCodex Vaticanus (B;03) and theCodex Sinaiticus (א;01), regarded as two oldest manuscripts, haveΘεοῦ (Θυ), as well as the Latin Vulgate and the Syriac versions.[24] The early Church Fathers Ignatius (in his Epistle to the Ephesians) and Tertullian use the phrase, "the blood of God," which seems to have been derived from this passage.[24]
[Paul said:]"I have shown you in every way, by laboring like this, that you must support the weak. And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"[27]
This verse is unusual in that it records a saying of Jesus that did not come to be recorded in any of the gospels.[28] In his homily on the Acts of the Apostles,John Chrysostom says,
And where said He this? Perhaps the Apostles delivered it by unwritten tradition; or else it is plain from (recorded sayings, from) which one could infer it."[29]
^Meyer, Heinrich August Wilhelm (1880).Commentary on the New Testament. Acts 20. Translation by Peter Christie from Meyer's sixth edition. Accessed February 14, 2019.
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