Acts 21:1

Acts 21:1. Paul's Voyage from Miletus, and his Stay in Tyre

1. And it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched The Rev. Ver.has reproduced the Greek construction, but the sentence is not a happy one, nor the gain worth the sacrifice. "And when it came to pass that we were parted from them, and had set sail." It gives perhaps a little more of the sense of difficulty in tearing themselves away which is in the original, but it is not what an Englishman would say.

The vessel in which they sailed from Troas to Patara seems to have been under the Apostle's control, and they could stay wherever and as long as they pleased.

we came … Cos The name, sometimes spelt Coos, should be written Cos. It 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.

and the day following unto Rhodes In Acts 20:15 the A. V. gave three times over "the next day," and in each case the Greek was different, and here we have a fourth form in the original for the same sense. In one case in the former chapter the Rev. Ver.left "next day," and they make that change here, but as the Greek is not the same it is not easy to see why the A.V. should not be left alone.

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 shipbuilding 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.

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.