Acts 20:2

Act 20:2. And when he had gone over those parts — Zealously pursuing everywhere the work in which he was engaged; and had given much exhortation — To the Christians whom he found there, or had exhorted them with much discourse; he came into Greece — That part of it which lay between Macedonia and Achaia. In going through Macedonia, the apostle had those outward fightings and inward fears, of which he speaks, 2Co 7:5. But, after great anxiety in his mind, he was at length comforted by the coming of Titus, who brought him a pleasing account of the state of affairs at Corinth. And in particular, what he said of their liberal disposition gave the apostle reason to glory in them, and to excite the Macedonians to imitate their generosity in assisting the contribution he was now raising for the poor Christians in Judea, which was one part of his business in this journey, 2Co 9:2; 2Co 8:1-14. The second epistle to the Corinthians was therefore written from Macedonia at this time, as these passages manifest, and was sent by Titus, who, on this occasion, returned to get the collection in still greater forwardness. This journey through the different towns of Macedonia, in which churches were established, of course took up several months; and no doubt many circumstances occurred, at most of these places, which made his presence with them for a while highly expedient. Perhaps also it was at this time that he preached the gospel on the confines of Illyricum, as mentioned, Rom 15:19.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

20:2-3 From Macedonia, Paul traveled down to Greece—i.e., Corinth in the province of Achaia (see study note on 18:1)—where he stayed for three months (cp. 2 Cor 13:1). Paul probably wrote his letter to the Romans during this time (see Romans Book Introduction, “Date, Place, and Occasion of Writing”). • a plot . . . against his life: Cp. Acts 9:23-25, 28-30; 23:12-35; 25:3.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 20:2. Ἐκεῖνα, those) parts of Macedonia.—λόγῳ πολλῷ, with much exhortation) Paul was especially abounding (overflowing with edifying speech; at this time, Act 20:7; Act 20:9; Act 20:11; wherefore also he at that time wrote several epistles.—Ἑλλάδα, Greece) that part of Greece which was between Macedonia and Achaia.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 20:2 . διελθὼν δὲ , see above on Act 13:6 , “and when he had gone through,” in a missionary progress τὰ μέρη ἐκεῖνα , i.e. , of Macedonia, the places where he had founded Churches, Thessalonica, Berœa, Philippi. From Rom 15:19 it would appear that his work continued some time, and that round about even unto Illyricum he fully preached the Gospel. On the connection of 2 Cor. with this part of Acts, see “II. Corinthians” (Robertson), Hastings’ B.D., i., pp. 493, 495; Ramsay, St. Paul , p. 286; and on the coincidence between Acts and Romans, l. c. , see Paley, Horæ Paulinæ , ii., 4. τὴν Ἑλλάδα , i.e. , Achaia in its Roman sense (approximately at all events); the stay might have included a visit to Athens, but at all events Corinth was visited. A wider sense of the epithet “Greek” would comprise Macedonia also, and Macedonia and Achaia are thus spoken of in close connection as forming the Greek lands in Europe, cf. Act 19:21 , and Rom 15:26 , 2Co 9:2 , 1Th 1:8 , “Achaia” (Ramsay), Hastings’ B.D.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

For after so great trouble there was need of a long exhortation.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

he came into Greece--or Achaia, in pursuance of the second part of his plan (Act 19:21).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 2. He came into Greece] εις την ελλαδα, Into Hellas, Greece properly so called, the regions between Thessaly and Propontis, and the country of Achaia. He did not, however, go there immediately: he passed through Macedonia, Ac 20:1, in which he informs us, 2Co 7:5-7, that he suffered much, both from believers and infidels; but was greatly comforted by the arrival of Titus, who gave him a very flattering account of the prosperous state of the Church at Corinth. A short time after this, being still in Macedonia, he sent Titus back to Corinth, 2Co 8:16-17, and sent by him the second epistle which he wrote to that Church, as Theodoret and others suppose. Some time after, he visited Corinth himself, according to his promise, 1Co 16:5. This was his third voyage to that city, 2Co 12:14; 2Co 13:1. What he did there at this time cannot be distinctly known; but, according to St. Augustin, he ordered every thing relative to the holy eucharist, and the proper manner in which it was to be received. See Calmet.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(2) And when he had gone over those parts.—Here also we can fill up the outline of the narrative from the Epistles. We may take for granted that St. Paul would revisit the churches which he had himself founded at Thessalonica and Beræa, as well as at Philippi. The names in Act_20:4 indicate that delegates were chosen, probably by his direction, for the great journey to Jerusalem, which he now began to contemplate. Rom_15:19 indicates a yet wider range of activity. He had taken the great Roman road across Macedonia, and going westward to the shores of the Adriatic, had preached the gospel in Illyricum, where as yet it had not been heard.

He came into Greece.—The word Hellas, or Greece, seems used as synonymous with Achaia, the southern province. This may have led to an unrecorded visit to Athens. It certainly brought him to Corinth and Cenchreæ. There, we may hope, he found all his hopes fulfilled. Gaius was there to receive him as a guest, and Erastus was still a faithful friend. There, if not before, he found Timotheus, and he had with him Jason of Thessalonica and Sosipater of Berœa (Rom_16:21-23). In one respect, however, he found a great change, and missed many friends. The decree of Claudius had either been revoked or was no longer acted on. Aquila and Priscilla had gone straight from Ephesus to Rome on hearing that they could do so with safety, and with them the many friends, male and female, most of them of the libertini class, whom he had known in Corinth, and whose names fill so large a space in Romans 16. The desire which he had felt before (Act_19:21) to see Rome was naturally strengthened by their absence. His work in Greece was done, and he felt an impulse, not merely human, drawing him to the further west. A rapid journey to Jerusalem, a short visit there, to show how generous were the gifts which the Gentile Churches sent to the Churches of the Circumcision, and then the desire of his life might be gratified. To preach the gospel in Rome, to pass on from Rome to the Jews at Cordova and other cities in Spain (Rom_15:24-28),—that was what he now proposed to himself. How different a path was actually marked out for him the sequel of the story shows.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2. And when he had gone over those parts] Visiting specially, of course, the churches of Philippi, Thessalonica and Berœa, among which St Luke may have been left from the former visit, and have laboured to carry on the work which St Paul had begun. Some have judged this to be very probable, and that in this Macedonian residence St Luke’s Gospel may have been written. It was also, as it seems, at this time that St Paul made the journey into Illyricum alluded to in Rom_15:19.

and had given them much exhortation] We may form some idea of the topics which would be embraced by such exhortation, if we read the two Epistles to the Thessalonians which had been written to that Church since St Paul’s former visit to Macedonia. The most marked language in the first Epistle is against sorrowing immoderately for the dead. By the words of St Paul on this subject the Christian congregation had been much troubled concerning the nearness of the coming of the Son of Man, and the second letter is written to bring them to a calm and thoughtful mind. The Apostle’s much exhortation would be an echo of what he had said in his letters, “Watch and be sober,” “Abstain from every form of evil,” “Be at peace among yourselves.”

he came into Greece] There is nothing said of the places which St Paul visited in this journey, but as he was always anxious to strengthen any work which he had before begun we may feel sure that Athens and Corinth, on this account, as well as for their importance as centres of intellectual and commercial life, were the places in which he spent the greater part of his three months’ stay. In the latter Church especially there were many things to be set in order. He had already written to the Corinthians his two Epistles. In the first, sent from Ephesus, he had found it necessary to rebuke them for the party-spirit in the Church, some calling themselves by the name of Peter, some of Apollos and some of Paul himself, instead of finding true unity in Christ; he had also censured the disorders in the Eucharistic feast, had given his judgment on a notorious offender, and on many topics raised by the difficulties of a Christian Church rising up amid heathen surroundings. These matters, and the guidance into a right channel of the exercise of those special gifts of preaching and speaking with tongues with which God endowed the Church in Corinth, would give the Apostle little rest during his brief stay even if he bestowed his whole time on Corinth alone.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when he had gone over those parts,.... Of Macedonia, and the cities in it before mentioned;

and had given them much exhortation; to abide by the doctrines and ordinances of the Gospel, and to walk worthy of it in their lives and conversations; and this exhortation he was frequently giving, as often as he had opportunity, improving his time much this way, and continued long at it: and, having pursued it to a sufficient length,

he came into Greece; or Hellas; which, according to Ptolomy (e) and Solinus, (f), is properly true Greece; the former makes it to be the same with Achaia, where Corinth was; and the latter says it was in his time called Attica, where Athens was; so Pliny (g), who also says, that Thessaly was so called: this Hellas included Macedonia, Epirus, Thessaly, Achaia, which is properly Greece, Peloponnesus, and the adjacent islands.

(e) Geograph. l. 3. c. 15. (f) Polyhist, c. 12. (g) Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 7.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

2 And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,

Ver. 2. Into Greece] sc. To Corinth, whence he wrote the Epistle to the Romans.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Over those parts - The parts of country in and near Macedonia. He probably went to Macedonia by Troas, where he expected to find Titus 2Co 2:12; but, not finding him there, he went by himself to Philippi, Thessalonica, etc., and then returned to Greece proper.

Into Greece - Into Greece proper, of which Athens was the capital. While in Macedonia he had great anxiety and trouble, but was at length comforted by the coming of Titus, who brought him intelligence of the liberal disposition of the churches of Greece in regard to the collection for the poor saints at Jerusalem, 2Co 7:5-7. It is probable that the Second Epistle to the Corinthians was written during this time in Macedonia, and sent to them by Titus.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Much exhortation; which after so great a stir and opposition against them, the disciples could not but stand in great need of, that they might not be offended at the cross of Christ: and also mingling consolations with his exhortations, as the word indifferently signifies, as the case would well bear, there being a special blessing promised unto such as are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, Mat 5:10; 1Pe 3:14.

Came into Greece; Attica, in which province Athens was: otherwise Macedonia was in Greece largely taken.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. Gone over those parts—He travelled into, or at least as far as, Illyricum, (Rom_15:19.)

Greece—Southern Greece, distinguished, as was often the case, from Macedonia.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Through for over, A.V. When he had gone through (dielqwn); see above, Act_8:4, 40 10:38 13:6 18:23, note, etc.; rh, Luk_9:6. Those parts; me a word especially used of geographical districts: tarh thv Galilaiav: tarh Turou kai Sidwnov Mat_2:22 Mat_15:21; see too. (Act_2:10 Act_19:1) Greece. (JEllada, not jAcai"an, as Act_19:21 Act_18:12, and elsewhere) Macedonia and Achaia are always coupled together (see Tacit., "Ann.." 1:76) as in Rom_15:26; 1Th_1:7, 1Th_1:8. In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, written from Macedonia, it is always Achaia. (2Co_1:1, etc.) In fact, JEllav is found nowhere else in the New Testament, Achaia being the name of the Roman province. Bengel and others understand Hellas here of the country between Macedonia and the Peloponnesus, especially Attica; which would make it probable that St. Paul revisited Athens. But Meyer, Kuinoel, Alford, "Speaker"s Commentary," etc., think it is synonymous with Achaia. There must, however, be some reason for this unusual use of Hellas instead of Achaia.

None seems so likely as that it was meant to cover wider ground than Achaia would naturally indicate, namely Attica.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He came into Greece - That part of it which lay between Macedonia and Achaia.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

2, 3. Spending the summer in the churches of Northern Greece, meanwhile Timothy and Titus with their comrades at different times have gone down into Achaia and preached to the Corinthians; bringing him word in reference to the effect of his first epistle, he writes the second [methinks at Berea] and sends it on before him, prosecuting his peregrinations through the north, and arriving at Corinth late in the fall, spending the winter of A. D.

57-58 in that genial southern climate. Meanwhile he writes the epistle to the Romans, setting out in the spring for the great East again and returning through Macedonia.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2, 3. The career of the apostle for the next few months is not given in detail, but the whole is condensed into this brief statement: (2) " And when he had gone through those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he went into Greece; (3) and having spent three months there, he resolved to return through Macedonia, because a plot was laid against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria. " Several events transpired in the interval thus hurriedly passed over, a knowledge of which is accessible through epistles written at the time, and which we shall briefly consider.

When Paul and Barnabas were in Jerusalem on the mission from the Church in Antioch, as recorded in the fifteenth chapter of Acts, it was formally agreed, among the apostles then present, that Peter, James, and John should labor chiefly among the Jews, and Paul and Barnabas among the Gentiles. It was stipulated, however, that the latter should assist in providing for the poor in Judea. "This," says Paul, "I was also forward to do." In accordance with this agreement, we find that he was now urging a general collection in the Churches of Macedonia and Achaia for this purpose. The Churches in Achaia, indeed, were ready for the contribution a whole year before this, and Paul had written to them in the First Epistle to the Corinthians, "Upon the first day of the week, let each of you lay by him in store, as God has prospered him, that there be no collections when I come." For prudential considerations, such as prompted him so often to labor without remuneration from the Churches, he was not willing to be himself the bearer of this gift, although the Churches in Macedonia had entreated him to do so. He at first, indeed, had not fully intended to go to Jerusalem in connection with it, but had said to the Churches, "Whomsoever you will approve by letters, them will I send to take your gift to Jerusalem; and if it be proper that I should go also, they shall go with me." The importance of the mission, however, grew more momentous as time advanced, so that he resolved to go himself, and the enterprise became a subject of most absorbing interest.

The circumstance which led to this result was the increasing alienation between the Jews and the Gentiles within the Church. The decree of the apostles and inspired brethren in Jerusalem, though it had given comfort to the Church in Antioch, where the controversy first became rife, and had done good everywhere that it was carried, had not succeeded in entirely quelling the pride and arrogance of the judaizing teachers. They had persisted in their schismatical efforts, until there was not a wide-spread disaffection between the parties, threatening to rend the whole Church into two hostile bodies. By this influence the Churches in Galatia had become almost entirely alienated from Paul, for whom they once would have been willing to pluck out their own eyes, and were rapidly led back under bondage to the law of Moses. The Church in Rome, at the opposite extremity of the territory which had been evangelized, was also disturbed by factions, the Jews insisting that justification was by works of law, and that the distinctions of meats and holy days should be perpetuated. Such danger to the cause could but be to Paul a source of inexpressible anxiety; and while it was imminent he concentrated all his energies to its aversions.

Already engaged in a general collection among Churches composed chiefly of Gentiles, for the benefit of Jewish saints in Judea, and knowing the tendency of a kind action to win back alienated affections, he pushes the work forward with renewed industry, for the accomplishment of this good end. He presents this motive to the Corinthians, in the following words: "For the ministration of this service not only supplies the wants of the saints, but also superabounds to God, by means of many thanksgivings (they glorifying God, through the proof supplied by this ministration of your subjection to the gospel of Jesus Christ which you have confessed, and of the liberality of your fellowship for them and for all,) and by their prayers in your behalf, having a great affection for you on account of the exceeding favor of God which is in you." He here expresses as great confidence in the good result of the enterprise, as if it were already accomplished, and the Jews were already overflowing with affection to the Gentiles, and offering many thanksgivings and prayers to God in their behalf. Thus he felt while stimulating the liberality of the brethren; but when the collections were all made in the Churches, and he was about to start from Corinth to Jerusalem with it, his anxiety was most intense, and he began to fear the alienation of the Jews was so great that they would not accept the gift, and thus the breach he was trying to close would be opened wider. We know this by the almost painful earnestness with which he calls upon the brethren at Rome to pray with him for the success of his efforts. He says: "Now I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that you strive together with me in prayer to God for me, that I may be delivered from the disobedient in Judea, and that my service which I have for Jerusalem may be accepted by the saints. " If he called thus earnestly for the prayers of the distant Church at Rome, how much more must he have enlisted those of the Churches in Achaia and Macedonia, who were immediately concerned in the enterprise itself! We have here the spectacle of a man who was regarded with suspicion, if not with positive dislike, by a large portion of his brethren, securing from others who were involved with him in the same reproach, a self-denying contribution for the temporal wants of the disaffected party; and, then, fearing lest their disaffection was so great as to lead them to reject the gift-a fear which would cause most men to withhold it entirely-he calls upon all the donors to unite in persistent prayer that it might not be rejected. The object of it all, too, was to gain no selfish ends, but to win back the alienated affections of brethren, and to preserve the unity of the body of Christ. No nobler instance of disinterested benevolence can be found in the history of men. The prosecution of the enterprise as we will hereafter see, was in keeping with the magnanimity of its inception. But before we consider it further, we must briefly notice some kindred facts.

For the same grand purpose which prompted the great collection, Paul wrote, during his three months' stay in Corinth, the two epistles to the Galatians and the Romans. This we have already assumed in our references to them as cotemporaneous with the collection. The most conclusive evidence for assigning to them this date may be briefly stated as follows: In the epistle to the Romans, Paul expressly states that he was about to start for Jerusalem with the contribution which had been collected. But this could have been said only toward the close of his present stay in Corinth. Moreover, Gaius, who lived in Corinth, was his host at the time of writing to the Romans; and Phoebe, of the Corinthian seaport Cenchrea, was the bearer of the epistle. As for Galatians, it contains a reference to Paul's first visit to them, implying that he had been there a second time. His words are: "You know that it was on account of sickness that I preached the gospel to you at the first." It was written, then, after his second visit. But this leaves the date very indefinite, and there are no other notes of time within the epistle itself to fix it more definitely. There is, however, a close correspondence in subject-matter between it and the epistle to the Romans, indicating that they were written under the same condition of affairs, and about the same time. This, in the absence of conflicting evidence, is considered conclusive. It is not certain which of the two was written first, but, as in Romans, Paul speaks of his departure for Jerusalem as about to take place, it is more probable that Galatians was written previous to this. In both, the apostle contends by authority and by argument against the destructive teaching of the judaizing party, striving, by this means, to put them to silence at the same time that he was aiming, by a noble act of self-denial, to win back their good-will, both to himself and to the Gentiles, whose cause he had espoused.

Having dispatched these two epistles, and collected about him the messengers of the various Churches, the apostle was about to start for Syria by water, when, as the text last quoted affirms, he learned that a plot was laid against him by the Jews, which determined him to change his course. This plot was probably an arrangement to waylay him on the road to Cenchrea, and perhaps both rob and murder him. Having timely notice of the danger, "he determined to return through Macedonia," and started by another road.

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

2. διελθών δὲ τὰ μέρη ἐκεῖνα, and when he had gone over those parts, visiting especially, of course, the Churches of Philippi, Thessalonica and Berœa, among which St Luke may have been left from the former visit, and have laboured to carry on the work which St Paul had begun. Some have judged this to be very probable, and that in this Macedonian residence St Luke’s Gospel may have been written. It was also, as it seems, at this time that St Paul made the journey into Illyricum alluded to in Rom 15:19.

λόγῳ πολλῷ, with much exhortation. We may form some idea of the topics which would be embraced by such exhortation, if we read the two Epistles to the Thessalonians which had been written to that Church since St Paul’s former visit to Macedonia. The most marked language in the first Epistle is against sorrowing immoderately for the dead. By the words of St Paul on this subject the Christian congregation had been much troubled concerning the nearness of the coming of the Son of Man, and the second letter is written to bring them to a calm and thoughtful mind. The Apostle’s ‘much exhortation’ would be an echo of what he had said in his letters, ‘Watch and be sober,’ ‘Abstain from every form of evil,’ ‘Be at peace among yourselves.’

The use of the masculine pronoun αὐτούς after τὰ μέρη is not unexampled. The people are understood when the land is mentioned. See above on Act 8:5.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

2.] Notices of this journey may be found 2Co 2:12, 2Co 2:13; 2Co 7:5, 2Co 7:6. He delayed on the way some time at Troas, waiting for Titus,—broke off his preaching there, though prosperous, in distress of mind at his non-arrival, 2Co 2:12, 2Co 2:13,—and sailed for Macedonia, where Titus met him, 2Co 7:6. That Epistle was written during it, from Macedonia (see 2Co 9:2, καυχῶμαι, ‘I am boasting’). He seems to have gone to the confines at least of Illyria, Rom 15:19.

αὐτούς] The Macedonian brethren: so ch. 16:10 al., see reff., and Winer, edn. 6, § 22.3.

Ἑλλάδα] Achaia, see ch. 19:21.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Greece. The Roman province of Achaia, comprehending Greece proper and the Peloponnesus. Luke uses Achaia (ch. 29 21) and Greece synonymously, as distinguished from Macedonia.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.