Acts 20:13

ἡμεῖς δέ προελθόντες ἐπὶ τὸ πλοῖον, but we going before to the ship. St Luke now describes what he and the rest, without St Paul, did next. They started from Troas before St Paul’s departure, and coasted along while the Apostle went by land.

ἀνήχθημεν ἐπὶ τὴν Ἄσσον, and set sail for Assos. ἀνάγειν is the verb for ‘putting out to sea.’ Assos was in Mysia, on the north shore of the gulf of Adramyttium. Opposite and about seven miles out at sea lay the island of Lesbos. There was a Roman road from Troas passing through Assos. So while the ship went round the cape Lectum, the Apostle was able to come by land and be taken on board by his companions.

οὕτως γὰρ διατεταγμένος ἦν, for so he had arranged. This is used as a middle perfect, and intimates the personal provision of the Apostle. This is also emphasized by the αὐτός in the next clause.

πεζεύειν, to go by land. πεζεύω when opposed to a journey by sea need not necessarily signify a pedestrian journey, and it seems better not to press that meaning here. For although the distance between Troas and Assos is only 20 miles, yet after the labours and excitement of the past night, a walk of that length would scarcely have been contemplated by the Apostle, when his companions in the ship already had the start of him. Many reasons have been suggested why St Paul separated for a few hours from his friends: that he wished for solitude: that he would not be at sea one moment before he could help it: that there was some Christian duty which he could perform on the way: or for his health’s sake. The historian, who probably knew, has not told us, and conjectures in such a case are valueless.