Acts 21:3Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

"For there the ship was to unload its cargo." This was the reason for going to Tyre. "When we had come in sight of Cyprus and left it on the left." This is not said without cause. It shows that they did not even wish to approach it, but sailed straight to Syria. So greatly did they hasten.

And they left Cyprus and Syria aside. The expression "having left it on the left" is not added without purpose, but to show that they did not even think of approaching Syria.

The prophecy was fulfilled which speaks to the Church in the song: "And the daughter of Tyre with gifts, and the richest of the people, shall entreat Your face" (Ps 44:13), and so forth to the end of the Psalm. For no city received the apostle, supported him, and sent him away with greater joy than Tyre. Even now they show the place in the sands where they prayed together.

The Apostle’s words made a deep impression on the hearts of his hearers (Acts 20:36). All wept. All fell upon Paul’s neck. All kissed him. The travelers could hardly tear themselves from their hands (21:1). This scene was afterward repeated in Tyre, and finally in Caesarea Philippi. The nearer Paul came to Jerusalem, the more clearly and strikingly the fate awaiting him there appeared before him. In Caesarea, Agabus came to him. This was the same man who, fourteen or fifteen years earlier, had opened Paul’s way to Jerusalem with alms by his prophecy of famine. Now, meeting him again with alms, he bound the hands and feet of the benefactor himself with his own belt. This means, said the prophet, that this man will be bound in Jerusalem and delivered into the hands of the Gentiles.

After taking leave of the Ephesian pastors, the Apostle Paul boarded the ship and set out toward Jerusalem with his companions, among whom was also the writer of Acts. Passing by the islands of Cos and Rhodes, they soon reached Patara, a large maritime trading city in the province of Lycia in Asia Minor. There they transferred to a merchant ship bound for Phoenicia. This ship brought them to Tyre, where the Apostle found Christians and stayed among them seven days. From some of them he received a new revelation of the Spirit of God, that bonds and afflictions awaited him in Jerusalem. From Tyre, through Ptolemais, a maritime city within the borders of Palestine, the Apostle and his companions sailed on and came to Caesarea. There, in the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the seven deacons, they remained many days.

The ship safely arrived in Patara. From there the apostle transferred to another ship bound for Phoenicia and set out for Tyre, famous for its maritime trade.

"In sight of Cyprus," a nautical term, and "leaving it on the left," that is, on their left side, since they had to sail to Syria, specifically to Tyre, a Phoenician maritime city (see note on Mt 11:21). The word Syria is taken here in the broad sense. According to the Roman division of provinces, Phoenicia and all Palestine were also joined to Syria proper.

The account of the journey from Miletus to Tyre proceeds with the same geographical precision as before. Yet the events that occurred on this journey are not indicated. Evidently the journey was made, as far as possible, without stops. "Cos was a small town southwest of Miletus, famous for winemaking and the production of costly fabrics. Fifteen Roman miles, about twenty-three versts, southeast of it lies the large island of Rhodes. Patara was a large maritime trading city in the province of Lycia in Asia Minor, with an oracle of Apollo famous in antiquity. From Troas to Patara, Paul and his companions sailed on one ship. Judging from certain arrangements made by the Apostle (cf. Acts 20:13, 16), it was fully at his disposal.