Acts 23:31

οἱ μὲν οὔν στρατιῶται … ἀναλαβόντες τὸν Παῦλον, so the soldiers … took Paul and, &c., i.e. they formed a party for his escort and placed him in their midst.

On this escort Chrysostom remarks: καθάπερ βασιλέα τινὰ δορυφόροι παρέπεμπον μετὰ τοσούτου πλήθους καὶ ἐν νυκτὶ φοβούμενοι τοῦ δήμου τὴν ὀργὴν τῆς ὁρμῆς ἐπεὶ οὗν τῆς πόλεως αὐτὸν ἐξέβαλον τότε�. οὐκ ἂν δὲ ὁ χιλίαρχος μετὰ τοσαύτης αὐτὸν�, καὶ ἐκείνων ᾔδει τὸ φονικόν.

ἀναλαμβάνω is thus used LXX. Genesis 24:61, of the servant of Abraham, when he escorts Rebecca to his master.

διὰ νυκτός, by night, i.e. that same night, starting off early in the night and travelling during night-time, thus getting clear away from Jerusalem before the ambush of the Jews was prepared.

εἰς τὴν Ἀντιπατρίδα, to Antipatris. This place was 42 miles from Jerusalem and 26 from Cæsarea. It was in early times called Capharsaba, but Herod the Great rebuilt it and named it Antipatris in memory of his father Antipater. It lay in a beautiful part of the Vale of Sharon and was both well watered and rich in wood. There-mains of a Roman road have been found close by it. For notices of the older city, see Josephus, Ant. XVI. 5. 2; 1Ma 7:31; of the place as rebuilt, see Josephus, B. J. I. 4. 7; II. 19. 1 and 9; IV. 8. 1.