Acts 20:4

"And there accompanied him as far as Asia, Sopater of Beroea, the son of Pyrrhus; and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus; and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy; and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus"There accompanied him": Luke temporarily interrupts Paul's journey to tell us who was traveling with him. Primarily all these Christians were traveling with Paul, because they were the messengers of the congregations that were sending funds to Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:3). In selecting their own messengers, "Paul sought to avoid even the suspicion that he was only collecting the money to put it in his own pocket (2 Corinthians 8:20). Too, there were no such things as checks or paper currency, so that the money had to be carried in gold or silver coin on the persons of the messengers. It was important that no one be so loaded as to indicate the fact of the sharp eyes of would-be-robbers" (Reese p. 729). During this time, Paul is very concerned that this collection (from predominately Gentile Christians) will be accepted in the right spirit by the brethren in Jerusalem (Romans 15:31). "As far as Asia": This expression is not found in certain MSS and is omitted in the NASV. We definitely know that Trophimus went with Paul all the way to Jerusalem (Acts 21:29), and men like Aristarchus (Acts 27:2), Tychicus (Ephesians 6:21) and Timothy (1 Peter 1:1), went with Paul all the way to Rome. "Sopater": (SOW pa tur), may be the same man named Sosipater (Romans 16:21). Pyrrhus": (PIR uhs). "Aristarchus": (air ihs TAR kus). "Secundus": (sih KUN duhs). "Gaius": (GAY US). "Tychicus": (TIKE ih kuhs). Later on this man will deliver the letter to the Ephesians (Ephesians 6:21) and Colossians (Colossians 4:7). Paul will send him to Crete (Titus 3:12) and later on to Ephesus (2 Timothy 4:12). "Trophimus": (TROF ih muss) (Acts 21:28; 2 Timothy 4:20). Apparently, Tychicus and Trophimus were from Ephesus.