Acts 20:1-27 KJV

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:15

(15) We sailed thence . . .—After the usual manner of the Mediterranean navigation of the time, the ship put into harbour, where it was possible, every evening. Each of the stations named—Lesbos, Chios, Samos—has legendary and historical associations of its own, full of interest for the classical student; but these, we may well believe—the revolt of Mitylene in the Peloponnesian War (Thuc. Book iii.), the brilliant tyranny of Polycrates at Samos (Herod. iii. 39-56), even “the blind old man of... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:16

(16) For Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus.—The English phrase is unfortunately ambiguous. What is meant is that he had decided to continue his voyage without going to Ephesus—to pass it by.To be at Jerusalem the day of Pentecost.—The motives for this wish lie on the surface. (1) It was, as has been said in the Note on Acts 2:1, the Feast that attracted most pilgrims from all parts of the world, and therefore gave most scope for his work as an Apostle, especially for the great task of... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:17

(17) And from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called the elders of the church.—We find, from Acts 20:28, that they were known also as episcopi (“bishops,” or “overseers”), the two names being interchangeable at this period, and the Apostle standing in relation to those who bore them as the later Bishop did to the elders under him. (See Notes on Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:5-6; 1 Peter 5:1-2.) The many presbyters represented probably, each of them, a distinct church or congregation. Most, if not... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:18

(18) Ye know, from the first day that I came into Asia . . .—No discourse recorded in the Acts is so full of living personal interest. St. Luke would naturally be present at the meeting, and able to take notes of the address, and reproduce it almost, if not altogether, word for word. It bears upon the face of it internal marks of genuineness. No writer of a history adorned with fictitious speeches could have written a discourse so essentially Pauline in all its turns and touches of thought and... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:19

(19) Serving the Lord with all humility of mind . . .—The participle exactly answers to the epithet of the “servant” or “slave” of Christ which St. Paul so often uses of himself (Romans 1:1; Galatians 1:10; Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:1). The “tears,” too, are characteristic of the Apostle, whose intense sensitiveness and sympathy had not been hardened into a Stoic apathy, and therefore found vent in a form which the Stoic would have scorned as unmanly. (Comp. Acts 20:31; 2 Corinthians 2:4.)... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:20

(20) How I kept back nothing that was profitable.—The verb is one which belongs to the vocabulary of sailors, and was used for taking in or reefing sails. He, St. Paul seems to say of himself, had used no such reticence or reserve, but had gone on his course, as it were, before the wind, with all his canvas spread. It must be noted, however, that even here, as in the more limited range of teaching imparted to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 3:1-2), he confines his statement to the things that... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:21

(21) Repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.—These, under all varieties of form, whether speaking to Jews or Gentiles, to philosophers at Athens (Acts 17:30) or peasants of Lystra (Acts 14:15), formed the substance of his teaching. It is obvious, however, that out of these might be developed a whole system of theology—why repentance was needed, and what it was, and how it should show itself, what was involved in the statement that Jesus was the Christ, and why men should... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:22

(22) And now, behold, I go bound in the spirit.—The question meets us as before (see Note on Acts 19:21), whether the words refer to the direct action of the Holy Spirit or to the higher element of St. Paul’s own nature, as in 1 Corinthians 5:3; 2 Corinthians 2:13. On the whole, the latter seems the more probable, subject, as before, to the reservation that the word is used because it points to that part of his being which was most in communion with the Divine Spirit. (Comp. Romans 8:16.) He... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:23

(23) The Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city.—This can hardly refer to mere internal previsions of the future, but implies, like the analogous phraseology of 1 Timothy 4:1, predictions uttered by the mouth of prophets, such as that which was afterwards spoken by Agabus (Acts 21:11). In every city, Corinth, Berœa, Thessalonica, Philippi, Troas, there had been like utterances, of which, though they are here implied, we have no separate record. There was a general dread as to the results of his... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:24

(24) But none of these things move me . . .—Literally, But I take account of nothing, nor do I hold my life . . . We note the parallelism with Luther’s famous declaration, when warned by his friends not to go to Worms, “I will go thither, though there should be devils on every house-top.”So that I might finish my course with joy.—The two last words are wanting in many of the best MSS., and were probably inserted as a rhetorical improvement. The passage is grander without them. What St. Paul... read more

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:15

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:16

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:17

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:18

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:19

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:20

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:21

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:22

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:23

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Acts 20:24

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