Acts 20:15-16

20:15 We set sail ¹  from there, and on the following day we arrived off Chios. ²  The next day we approached ³  Samos, ⁴  and the day after that we arrived at Miletus. ⁵  20:16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus ⁶  so as not to spend time ⁷  in the province of Asia, ⁸  for he was hurrying ⁹  to arrive in Jerusalem, ¹⁰  if possible, ¹¹  by the day of Pentecost.

Acts 21:1-3

Paul’s Journey to Jerusalem

21:1 After ¹²  we ¹³  tore ourselves away ¹⁴  from them, we put out to sea, ¹⁵  and sailing a straight course, ¹⁶  we came to Cos, ¹⁷  on the next day to Rhodes, ¹⁸  and from there to Patara. ¹⁹  21:2 We found ²⁰  a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, ²¹  went aboard, ²²  and put out to sea. ²³  21:3 After we sighted Cyprus ²⁴  and left it behind on our port side, ²⁵  we sailed on to Syria and put in ²⁶  at Tyre, ²⁷  because the ship was to unload its cargo there.

[20:15]  ¹ tn Grk “setting sail from there.” The participle ἀποπλεύσαντες (apopleusante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[20:15]  ² tn Or “offshore from Chios.”

[20:15]  ³ tn Or “crossed over to,” “arrived at.” L&N 54.12 has “παραβάλλω: (a technical, nautical term) to sail up to or near – ‘to approach, to arrive at, to sail to.’ παρεβάλομεν εἰς Σάμον ‘we approached Samos’ or ‘we arrived at Samos’ Ac 20:15.”

[20:15]  ⁴ sn Samos is an island in the Aegean Sea off the western coast of Asia Minor.

[20:15]  ⁵ sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 40 mi (70 km) south of Ephesus. From Mitylene to Miletus was about 125 mi (200 km).

[20:16]  ⁶ map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.

[20:16]  ⁷ tn Grk “so that he might not have to spend time.” L&N 67.79 has “ὅπως μὴ γένηται αὐτῷ χρονοτριβῆσαι ἐν τῇ ᾿Ασίᾳ ‘so as not to spend any time in the province of Asia’ Ac 20:16.”

[20:16]  ⁸ tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.

[20:16]  ⁹ tn Or “was eager.”

[20:16]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[20:16]  ¹¹ tn Grk “if it could be to him” (an idiom).

[21:1]  ¹² tn Grk “It happened that when.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated. Since the action described by the participle ἀποσπασθέντας (apospasqenta", “tearing ourselves away”) is prior to the departure of the ship, it has been translated as antecedent action (“after”).

[21:1]  ¹³ sn This marks the beginning of another “we” section in Acts. These have been traditionally understood to mean that Luke was in the company of Paul for this part of the journey.

[21:1]  ¹⁴ tn BDAG 120 s.v. ἀποσπάω 2.b has “pass. in mid. sense ἀ. ἀπό τινος tear oneself away Ac 21:1”; LSJ 218 gives several illustrations of this verb meaning “to tear or drag away from.”

[21:1]  ¹⁵ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

[21:1]  ¹⁶ tn BDAG 406 s.v. εὐθυδρομέω has “of a ship run a straight course”; L&N 54.3 has “to sail a straight course, sail straight to.”

[21:1]  ¹⁷ sn Cos was an island in the Aegean Sea.

[21:1]  ¹⁸ sn Rhodes was an island off the southwestern coast of Asia Minor.

[21:1]  ¹⁹ sn Patara was a city in Lycia on the southwestern coast of Asia Minor. The entire journey was about 185 mi (295 km).

[21:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “and finding.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeuronte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. Because of the length of the Greek sentence, the conjunction καί (kai) has not been translated here. Instead a new English sentence is begun in the translation.

[21:2]  ²¹ sn Phoenicia was the name of an area along the Mediterranean coast north of Palestine.

[21:2]  ²² tn Grk “going aboard, we put out to sea.” The participle ἐπιβάντες (epibante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:2]  ²³ tn BDAG 62 s.v. ἀνάγω 4, “as a nautical t.t. (ἀ. τὴν ναῦν put a ship to sea), mid. or pass. ἀνάγεσθαι to begin to go by boat, put out to sea.”

[21:3]  ²⁴ sn Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[21:3]  ²⁵ sn The expression left it behind on our port side here means “sailed past to the south of it” since the ship was sailing east.

[21:3]  ²⁶ tn BDAG 531 s.v. κατέρχομαι 2 states, “arrive, put in, nautical t.t. of ships and those who sail in them, who ‘come down’ fr. the ‘high seas’…ἔις τι at someth. a harbor 18:22; 21:3; 27:5.”

[21:3]  ²⁷ sn Tyre was a city and seaport on the coast of Phoenicia. From Patara to Tyre was about 400 mi (640 km). It required a large cargo ship over 100 ft (30 m) long, and was a four to five day voyage.