Acts 23:31

οἱ μὲν οὖν … τῇ δὲ ἐπαύριον : Rendall, appendix on μὲν οὖν, p. 162. Page finds the antithesis in μετὰ δὲ, Acts 24:1, referring the five days there not to Paul's arrival in Cæsarea, but to his despatch from Jerusalem by Lysias, “so then the soldiers, etc.… but after five days …” (see also note below). ἀναλαβόντες, cf. Acts 20:13. διὰ (τῆς) νυκτὸς : “by night,” this use of διά with genitive of time passed through (cf. Acts 1:3) is comparatively rare, Luke 5:5; Hebrews 2:15, except in almost adverbial phrases as here, cf. Acts 5:19; Acts 16:9; Acts 17:10, Simcox, Language of the N.T., p. 140. εἰς τὴν Ἀντιπατρίδα : founded by Herod the Great, on the road from Jerusalem to Cæsarea, not apparently as a fortress but as a pleasant residence, giving it its name in honour of his father, most probably on the site now called Râs el ‘Ain, “the spring-head,” and not where Robinson placed it, on the site of the present Kefr Saba. The more modern site, the discovery of which is due to Conder, is more in accordance with the abundant supply of water referred to by Josephus. It is to be noted that while Josephus in one passage identifies Antipatris with Kefr Saba, in another his description is more general, and he places it in the Plain of Kefr Saba (for notices cf. Ant., xiii., 15, 1, xvi. 5, 2, B.J., i., 21, 9). They were now more than half way to Cæsarea, and the road traversed the open plain so that they were no longer in danger of surprise, G. A. Smith, Historical Geography, p. 165, B.D. 2, Hastings' B.D. (Conder). On the Greek article in notices of stations on journeys, peculiar to Acts, see Blass, Gram., p. 149, cf. Acts 17:1; Acts 20:13; Acts 21:1; Acts 21:3 (but Acts 20:14 no article).