Acts 21:1

ἀναχθῆναι ἡμᾶς�' αὐτῶν, when we were gotten from them and had set sail. The vessel in which they sailed from Troas to Patara seems to have been under the Apostle’s control, so that they could stay wherever and as long as they pleased.

The verb ἀποσπασθέντας expresses the great wrench of the separation: so Chrysostom δείκνυσι δὲ τὴν βίαν τῷ εἰπεῖν�.

εὐθυδρομήσαντες ἤλθομεν εἰς τὴν Κῶ, we came with a straight course unto Cos. Cos is a small island, now called Stanchio, on the coast of Asia Minor, just at the entrance of the Archipelago, and in old times was famous for its wines and some light-woven fabrics. There was also in the island a temple of Aesculapius to which was attached a medical school.

τῇ δὲ ἑξῆς εἰς τὴν Ῥόδον, and the day following unto Rhodes. Rhodes is the famous island at the south-west extremity of Asia Minor, off the coast of Caria and Lycia. The city of Rhodes and the island of which it is the capital were famous in the times of the Peloponnesian war. It was well supplied with timber fit for ship-building and hence became famous for its navy, and its position has caused the island to play a conspicuous part in European history from that time onward. It was celebrated for the great Temple of the Sun, whose worship in the island is marked by the head of Apollo on the coinage. With this worship was connected the great statue known as the Colossus, which was meant as a figure of the sun, and was one of the wonders of the world. In the Roman times many privileges were granted to Rhodes by the Roman emperors, while in mediæval history this was the last Christian city which resisted the advance of the Saracens.

Πάταρα, Patara. This was a city on the coast of Lycia. It was devoted to the worship of Apollo, who is hence sometimes called by classical writers Patareus. The city was not far from the river Xanthus, and Patara was the port of the city of Xanthus. We can understand, therefore, why St Paul’s voyage in the coasting vessel should end here, because at such a port he would be likely to find a larger vessel to carry him to Syria.