Acts 17:15

καθιστῶντες, see critical note, i.e., the Berœan brethren. In N.T. only here in this sense, cf. Joshua 6:23; 2 Chronicles 28:15, so also in classical Greek and in later Greek (instances in Wetstein); they accompanied Paul probably for protection as well as guidance (it has sometimes been supposed that disease of the eyes rendered the guidance necessary, but the word is used quite generally); see further additional note at end of chapter and critical note above, Ramsay, Church in the Roman Empire, pp. 159, 160. If we compare Acts 18:5 it looks as if Timothy and Silas only overtook Paul at Corinth, and that he had left Athens before they reached that city. But from 1 Thessalonians 3:1 it appears that Timothy was with Paul at Athens, and was sent from thence by him to Thessalonica, and this is quite in accordance with Paul's earnest wish that Timothy and Silas should come to him as quickly as possible (if we suppose that they only rejoined him in Acts 18:5, they must have taken a much longer time than was necessary for the journey). But if Paul remained alone, as he states, 1 Thessalonians 3:1, at Athens, Silas must also have been sent away; and we may well suppose that as Timothy was sent to comfort the Thessalonians for St. Paul's delay in returning to them, so Silas may have been sent to Philippi, with which St. Paul was frequently in communication at this time, Philippians 4:15. But after their return to Corinth from their mission, they found that St. Paul had already gone on to Corinth, and there they rejoined him. See on the whole subject, Ramsay, St. Paul, pp. 233, 240, as against McGiffert; Wendt (1899) and Felten, in loco; Paley, Horœ Paulinæ, ix., 4.