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Dagon. We do not know the reason which caused the Apostle to disembark at Patara. It
may be that Paul desire a more direct journey than by the coastal route. This is suggested
by the expression, "finding a ship sailing out to Phenicia", where diaperon is used. The
fact that this word is chosen to describe a journey across a lake (Matt. 9: 1) reveals the
intention of Luke here in Acts 21: 2. If the reader will take a map of Paul's journeys
and join Patara on the sea coast of Asia Minor with Tyre on the coast of Palestine, the
line so drawn will pass Cyprus, which will be "on the left hand" (Acts 21: 3). Upon
arrival at Tyre, the Apostle "sought out" some disciples, and tarried there seven days.
Aneurischo means not merely "to find" but "to find out".
There was now no cause for anxiety as to reaching Jerusalem in time for Pentecost,
since the providential discovery of the ship at Patara, and the favourable journey which
they had made, left him with a fortnight to spare. There was no reason why the Apostle
should proceed immediately to Jerusalem, for he knew only too well that every day he
remained in Jerusalem would increase the possibility to passionate opposition and enmity
arising. Had Paul the slightest uncertainty regarding his mission to Jerusalem, or had he
been desirous of finding a "reason" for altering his place, he, like the tested souls of
whom he wrote of Heb. 11:, "might have had opportunity to return". During the seven
days which he spent at Tyre, some of the disciples there, speaking through the Spirit,
intimated that he should not go up to Jerusalem. This has been interpreted by some to
indicate that when Paul thereafter proceeded to Jerusalem, he did it in disobedience to the
Spirit's warning; we will deal with this point when we reach verse 11.
At the end of the seven days the little band moved on to their goal, and the disciples
who earlier had heard the warning "not to go up", now "brought" the Apostle and his
companions on their way. The Greek word propempo translated here "brought us on our
way", is translated "accompanied" in Acts 20: 38. "And being brought on their way by
the church" in Acts 15: 3; see also Rom. 15: 24, I Cor. 16: 6, Titus 3: 13, and
III John 6. This appears to indicate that maturer consideration had revealed the will of
the Lord, and that the words spoken by the Spirit in Acts 21: 4 were in the nature of a
test and a warning--not a prohibition.
From Tyre, the last stage of the voyage was made, and the little band landed at
Ptolemais, now known as Acre. The Apostle, having saluted the brethren, stayed
one day. The journey to Cęsarea, a distance of some 40 miles, was probably
accomplished overland. Here the Apostle waited until the eve of the feast, and found
delightful and encouraging fellowship in the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the
seven (Acts 6: 1-5) who was intimately linked with the fortunes of Paul, through Stephen
the first Christian martyr. Philip was a Hellenist (Acts 6: 1-5), and had manifested the
same spirit which moved the Apostle to the Gentiles, in that he carried the gospel to the
hated Samaritans and preached it to the despised Ethiopian. What heart-searching
conversation these two servants of the Lord must have had. The persecution that arose
about the stoning of Stephen influenced the career of Philip, but it also was associated
with the conversion, the conviction and the commission of Saul of Tarsus.