Acts 21:8Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Arriving in Caesarea, he says, they stayed with Philip, one of the seven deacons. In Ptolemais they remain one day, but in Caesarea several.

Philip the deacon had daughters. But note that his daughters were virgins and prophetesses, and that they attained this gift chiefly through piety, so that they were counted worthy even of the gift of prophecy. The writer would not have added that they were virgins if this were not worthy of attention.

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.

There he stayed for several days, and these were the last happy days of the freedom he had enjoyed until then. It was God’s good pleasure to refresh his spirit with a brief interval of joyful fellowship and rest. In Caesarea they were guests of one who was bound to the Apostle Paul by close bonds of deepest sympathy, namely Philip the evangelist. Like him an enlightened Hellenist, Philip the deacon, as is known, was among the first to show the Apostle Paul that sympathy and clear understanding without which the very work of the Apostle of the nations would have been impossible. This was Philip who evangelized the hated Samaritans and had the courage to baptize the Ethiopian eunuch. The fate of these two noble laborers was closely linked.

To Caesarea Stratonis: see the note on Acts 8:40. Having gone out: consequently, the journey from Acco to Caesarea was not made by sea. The distance between the two cities was no more than a day’s journey. The road passed through the beautiful valley of Jezreel, past magnificent Carmel. The house of Philip, one of the seven deacons: see Acts 6:5 and the note on Acts 8:40. Evangelist means a preacher of the Gospel. He was probably known among Christians by this title afterward as well, because of his preaching activity in Samaria (Acts 8:5 and following), and along the Palestinian coast of the Mediterranean Sea (Acts 8:40). Here he is mentioned for the last time. According to Church tradition, he later became bishop of Tralles, in the province of Caria in Asia Minor, and died in extreme old age.

The journey from Tyre to Ptolemais was made by sea. Farther on, toward Caesarea and Jerusalem, they went on foot. Therefore it was natural for all the travelers to strengthen themselves with at least a one-day rest before the journey ahead. They also stayed with Philip the deacon in Caesarea Stratonis. Both he and his four daughters were filled with great gifts of grace. Among these, the gift of prophecy, which these maidens possessed, was then held in especially high honor (cf. Acts 11:27). "Ptolemais is the ancient maritime city of Acco, south of Phoenicia, within the borders of Palestine. According to the ancient division, it lay in the tribe of Asher (cf. Judg 1:31), somewhat north of Mount Carmel. The distance between Acco and Caesarea is no more than a day’s journey.