Acts 20:2 - Exposition

Through for over, A.V. When he had gone through ( διελθών ); see above, Acts 8:4 , Acts 8:40 ; Acts 10:38 ; Acts 13:6 ; Acts 18:23 , note, etc.; Luke 9:6 . Those parts; μέρη , a word especially used of geographical districts: τὰ μέρη τῆς γαλιλαίας : τὰ μέρη τύρου καὶ σιδῶνος ( Matthew 2:22 ; Matthew 15:21 ; see too Acts 2:10 ; Acts 19:1 ). Greece ( ἑλλάδα , not ἀχαΐαν , as Acts 19:21 ; Acts 18:12 , and elsewhere). Macedonia and Achaia are always coupled together (see Tacit., 'Ann..' 1.76). as in Romans 15:26 ; 1 Thessalonians 1:7 , 1 Thessalonians 1:8 . In the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, written from Macedonia, it is always Achaia ( 2 Corinthians 1:1 , etc.). In fact, ἑλλάς is found nowhere else in the New Testament, Achaia being the name of the Roman province. Bengel and others understand Hellas here of the country between Macedonia and the Peloponnesus, especially Attica; which would make it probable that St. Paul revisited Athens. But Meyer, Kuinoel, Alford, 'Speaker's Commentary,' etc., think it is synonymous with Achaia. There must, however, be some reason for this unusual use of Hellas instead of Achaia. None seems so likely as that it was meant to cover wider ground than Achaia would naturally indicate, namely Attica.