And when he had met with us at Assos, we took him in and came to Mitylene.
ως δε συνεβαλεν ημιν εις την ασσον αναλαβοντες αυτον ηλθομεν εις μιτυληνην
5 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Why, you ask, does the writer set forth in detail where they arrived, from where they departed, where Paul stayed, and what places he passed by? To show that he traveled rather slowly and passed through some places according to human judgment.
In the spring, about Pascha of the year 58 or 59, Paul left Corinth. Some of his companions had crossed over before him to Troas (Acts 20:4-5). Paul kept Pascha in Philippi and there took Luke, who had been left there earlier.
He spent a week in Troas to make up for the brevity of his previous stay there. That earlier brevity had been caused by his desire to learn quickly about the state of the Corinthian Church (2 Cor 2:12).
Here, on the first day of the week, he was present at the Church’s worship and spoke with the brethren in a house. Providence saw the need to confirm the faithful in the teaching they had received and to spread it among the Gentiles.
It therefore opened an occasion for the divine power acting in the Apostle to show itself in a most striking form. A young man fell from the third story of the house and was taken up dead, but Paul restored him to life.
Yet Paul was hastening to Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost, and did not wish to remain there longer. His companions boarded the ship. He himself, as long as possible, still went on foot with the brethren of Troas as far as Assos.
To avoid delay in Ephesus, he decided to pass it by. He merely arranged that the leaders of the Church of Ephesus, and probably of some other Churches, should come to him in Miletus.
Ένοίς διήλϑον (Acts 20:25) does not indicate one place or community, but many. Irenaeus, the disciple of Polycarp, bishop of those regions, speaks directly of the bishops and presbyters of Ephesus and the other neighboring cities (Contr. Haeres; III, 4. § 12). This also agrees with the testimony that Paul preached in Ephesus for two years and three months (Acts 19:8, 10).
This stay of the Apostle Paul in Troas was marked by one of the greatest works of the grace of God that accompanied Paul in his apostolic labor. This was the resurrection of a young man named Eutychus, who had fallen from the window of a house.
From Troas the Apostle Paul continued his journey in haste, directing his way toward Jerusalem, where he wished to be on the day of Pentecost.
Therefore, desirable as it was for him to visit the Christians in Ephesus on the way to Jerusalem, he passed that city by so as not to be delayed there. He came instead to Miletus, a coastal city south of Ephesus.
To Mitylene: the chief city of the island of Lesbos, on its eastern shore.
Paul’s journey from Troas to Miletus is described in detail, evidently because the writer of Acts was with Paul the whole time. In most of the places named, Paul was there for the first time.
As is known, he considered this important, so as not to enter into another man’s labor.
Concerning Paul’s walking some distance on foot while his companions traveled by ship, Saint John Chrysostom remarks: “He grants them the easier course and chooses the harder for himself.
He goes on foot both in order to arrange many things along the way and so that they should not fall behind him. And see how they hasten after Paul. They do not stop, but pass by the islands.”
Assos is a coastal city in Mysia, south of Troas, about ten miles from it, opposite the island of Lesbos. Mitylene is the chief city of Lesbos, on its eastern shore.
Sailing from there, they went southward between the islands and the western coast of Asia Minor. Chios and Samos are islands within sight of the shores of Asia Minor.
Trogyllium is a coastal city not far from Ephesus. Miletus also is a coastal city south of Trogyllium and Ephesus, about ten miles from the latter.
“Perhaps the masts of ships standing in Panormus, near Ephesus, were visible here. Perhaps ships either heading to Ephesus or already returning from it were continually encountered along the way.
The Apostle’s heart could not be calm. He was evidently pondering and reckoning, and finally he judged it best to pass Ephesus by.”
Greek text, 12 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS