Acts 20:23

πλὴν ὅτι : The collocation is found nowhere else in N.T. except in Philippians 1:18, only that (so Alford, Lightfoot, W.H [335], see Lightfoot, l. c., for parallels), i.e., knowing one thing only, etc., “I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me,” so from step to step κατὰ πόλιν, on his journey, St. Paul was warned and guided, cf. Acts 21:4; Acts 21:11. κατὰ πόλιν, Lucan-Pauline; κατά used several times by Luke, alone amongst the synoptists, in his Gospel and in the Acts with this distributive force in connection with πόλις; Luke 8:1; Luke 8:4; Luke 13:22; cf. Luke 15:21; in the text, as also in Titus 1:5; the only other passage in which the collocation occurs in N.T., the phrase is adopted by St. Paul. δεσμὰ καὶ θλίψεις : δεσμὰ in St. Luke; Luke 8:29; Acts 16:26, but it is noticeable that the two nouns are found together in Philippians 1:17, and in 2 Corinthians 1:8. θλίψις is used of the affliction which befel the Apostle in Asia, including that of public danger, as well as illness and mental distress. On the variation between masculine and neuter in δεσμός and in other nouns see Blass, Gram., p. 28. μένουσιν : only twice in N.T., with accusative of the person, here and in Acts 20:5.

[335] Westcott and Hort's The New Testament in Greek: Critical Text and Notes.