Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 20:14
And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.
14. And Mitylene ] The voyage was a coasting voyage, the nights being each spent in some harbour. Mitylene was the capital of Lesbos, to which place they went from Assos, because probably it had a better anchorage. There could have been little time for anything on St Paul’s land journey like meeting Christian friends, since the vessel left Troas in the morning, and by an indirect course came to Mitylene before nightfall.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Came to Mitylene – This was the capital of the island of Lesbos. It was distinguished by the beauty of its situation, and the splendor and magnificence of its edifices. The island on which it stood, Lesbos, was one of the largest in the Aegean Sea, and the seventh in the Mediterranean. It is a few miles distant from the coast of Aeolia, and is about 168 miles in circumference. The name of the city now is Castro.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. Came to Mitylene.] This was a seaport town in the isle of Lesbos: see its place in the map.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
An island, as also a city in it so called, in the Aegean Sea. Some think the island is called Lesbos, in which this Mitylene is.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14. came to Mitylenethecapital of the beautiful and classical island of Lesbos, which liesopposite the eastern shore of the gean Sea, about thirty milessouth of Assos; in whose harbor they seem to have lain for the night.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And when he met with us at Assos,…. According to appointment:
we took him in; to the ship, and so sailed on:
and came to Mitylene; a city in Lesbos u, an island in the Aegean sea, now Metelino: sometimes the island is so called, and is about seven miles and a half from the continent: of this city Vitruvius w says, that it was magnificently and elegantly built, but not prudently situated; for when the south wind blew, men were sick in it, and when the northwest wind blew they had coughs, and when the north wind blew, they were restored to health. Some say it had its name from Mitylene, the daughter of Macaria or Pelops; others from Myto, the son of Neptune and Mitylene; and others from Mityle, the builder of it. x Hillerus inquires, whether it may not be so called from the Chaldee word, , “Matlana”, used in the Targum on Job 40:13 which signifies “a bar”, this city being as a bar to Lesbos, which shut it up. It was famous for being the native place of Pittacus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, a great philosopher and legislator, who, with others, conquered Melanchrus the tyrant of Lesbos, whom the inhabitants of Mitylene greatly honoured, and made him their governor; and a field, which they gave him, was called after his name Pittacius y: of this place was Theophanes, a famous historian, who wrote the history of Pompey the great, and was familiar with him, and honoured by him, as Cicero z relates: other persons of note are said to be of this place, as Alcaeus a lyric poet, and Diophanes a rhetorician. It does not appear that the apostle stayed and preached the Gospel here, or that any Gospel church was here by him raised; no mention is made of it in ecclesiastical history until late: in the “second” century Heathenism prevailed in the island, the Lesbians sacrificed a man to Dionysius. In the “fifth” century we read of a bishop of this island in the Chalcedon council: in the “sixth” century there was a bishop of Mitylene, in the fifth Roman synod: in the seventh century, Gregory, bishop of Mitylene, assisted in the sixth council at Constantinople, and Theodorus of the same place: in the eighth century Damianus, bishop of the same place, was present in the Nicene council a.
u Plin. l. 5. c. 31. Mela, l. 2. c. 14. w De Architectura, l. 1. c. 6. p. 27, x Onomasticum Sacrum, p. 887. y Laert, Vit. Philosoph. l. 1. p. 50. z Orat. 26. pro Archia, p. 814. a Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 2. c. 15. p. 193. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 6. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 6. cent. 7. c. 2. p. 4. c. 10. p. 253, 254. cent. 8. c. 2. p. 6.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Met us ( ). Imperfect active where the aorist (, as C D have it) would seem more natural. It may mean that as soon as () Paul “came near or began to meet us” (inchoative imperfect), we picked him up. Luke alone in the N.T. uses to bring or come together either in a friendly sense as here or as enemies (Lu 14:31).
To Mitylene ( ). The capital of Lesbos about thirty miles from Assos, an easy day’s sailing.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “And when he met with us at Assos,” (hos de suneballen hemin eis ten Asson) “Now when he met with (joined) us in Assos,” when he joined the mission bound band at Assos, for the Jerusalem and Judean objective of helping the needy saints.
2) “We took him in, and came to Mitylene. (analabontes auton elthomen eis Mitulenen) “When we had taken him up (aboard the ship) we came into Mitylene,” (the capitol of Lesbos, about thirty miles south of Assos. The island is now called Metelino.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
9.
AT ASSOS. Act. 20:14 a.
Act. 20:14 a
And when he met us at Assos, we took him in,
Act. 20:14 a The ship in which the voyage was made must have been a local merchant vessel that had a regular route of pick-up and delivery to these various parts. Assos was one of them, as Paul had no doubt previously learned, and when the ship arrived here he was already at the dock to board the ship and sail the rest of the way.
797.
What type of vessel was it in which Paul sailed?
10.
AT MITYLENE. Act. 20:14 b.
Act. 20:14 b
and came to Mitylene.
Act. 20:14 b This was the chief town on the island of Lesbos. It was on the east side of the island about ten miles from Asia Minor. Mitylene was originally built on a small island, and perhaps joined to Lesbos by a causeway which offered two excellent harbors, one on the North and the other on the South. (Ibid.) Here they anchored overnight as was customary.
798.
What was Mitylene?
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(14) We took him in, and came to Mitylene.This was the capital of Lesbos, and furnished the island with its modern name of Mitilini.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. At Assos Paul is taken, in, and sails past “ Mitylene the beautiful;” and Chios, birthplace of Homer, on Tuesday; and Samos, birthplace of AEsop, on Wednesday. Pensively must he have gazed toward Ephesus as he passed! One year ago Demetrius and his mob were plotting his life in the great theatre!
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Act 20:14-15 . ] The element of the previous movement the notion of coming -together still prevails. Khner, II. p. 317. So also the landing , Act 20:15 .
, the beautiful (Hor. Od. i. 7. 1, Ep. i. 11. 17) capital of Lesbos, on the east coast.
] over against. See Lobeck, ad Phryn . p. 444.
. .] Thus on the same day they had sailed over from Samos, where they had touched ( .), to Trogyllium (a town and promontory on the Ionian coast, Strabo, xiv. p. 636 f.; Plin. N. H . v. 29), distant only forty stadia, and there passed the night. On the different modes of writing the name ., see Bornemann.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
14 And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene.
Ver. 14-15. Mytilene ] An island of the Cyclades, now called Meteline. See what great difficulties these good men devoured for the glory of God and good of his people. The love of Christ constrained them ( amor addidit alas ) and the recompence of reward in heaven quickened them; Quis enim non patiatur, ut potiatur? Who would not suffer for such a felicity?
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
14. ] The capital of Lesbos, on the E. coast of the island, famed (Hor. Od. i. 7. 1: Epist. i. 11.17) for its beautiful situation. It had two harbours: the northern, into which their ship would sail, was . , , Strabo, xiii. 2, p. 137.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 20:14 . , cf. Act 17:18 . The verb is peculiar to St. Luke; its meaning here is classical, cf. also Jos., Ant. , ii., 7, 5. Rendall thinks that the imperfect (see critical note) may mean that Paul fell in with the ship while still on his way to Assos, and was taken on board at once; he therefore renders “as he came to meet us at Assos”. : the capital of Lesbos, about thirty miles from Assos, and so an easy day’s journey; Lewin, St. Paul , ii. 84, cf. Hor., Od. , i., 7, 1; Ep. , i., 11, 17. Its northern harbour into which the ship would sail is called by Strabo, xiii., 2, , (Wetstein).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
met. Greek. sumballo. See note on Act 4:15.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
14. ] The capital of Lesbos, on the E. coast of the island, famed (Hor. Od. i. 7. 1: Epist. i. 11.17) for its beautiful situation. It had two harbours: the northern, into which their ship would sail, was . , , Strabo, xiii. 2, p. 137.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
4
Act 20:14. At Assos the boat landed and took in Paul, then proceeded and came to Mitylene, a town on the island of Lesbos.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 20:14. And when he met with us at Assos, we took him in, and came to Mitylene. Mitylene is about thirty miles from Assos, and is the capital of the island of Lesbos. Horace styles it fair Mitylene (Epist. i. (1-17). It is famed for its beautiful situation and the magnificence of its buildings. It was the birthplace of Sappho and the poet Alcus. The modern city on the same site is called Castro.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
14-16. The ship and the footman arrived together. (14) “And when he met us at Assos, we took him on board and went to Mitylene. (15) Sailing thence, the next day we arrived opposite Chios. In another day we came to Samos, and remaining all night at Trogyllium, on the following day we went to Miletus; (16) for Paul had determined to sail by Ephesus, so that he might not spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.” If the ship had been under Paul’s control, he could have spent at Ephesus the time which was spent at Miletus, without delaying his arrival in Jerusalem. The fact, therefore, that he avoided Ephesus, to keep from losing time, shows that the vessel was not under his control, but that a visit to Ephesus would have required him to leave the ship he was on, and take passage on some other bound for that port. This might have caused delay, and the uncertainty of meeting at Ephesus a vessel bound for Syria might have protracted the delay too long to reach Jerusalem in the time desired. The mention of the matter by Luke shows that Paul felt some inclination to revisit Ephesus, that he might witness the present results of his protracted labors there. The day of Pentecost, however, furnished the only occasion which he could expect before fall, on which the Jews would be generally congregated in Jerusalem, and he desired to be there to distribute the contribution for the poor without visiting the rural districts individually for that purpose. We will yet see that he made the journey in time for the feast.
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
14-16. Mitylene is on the east coast of the Island of Lesbos. Chios is celebrated as the birthplace of Homer, the prince of uninspired poets, author of the Illiad and Odyssey. They pass in front of the Bay of Ephesus, run on and land at Miletus, the ancient capital of Ionia, thirty miles from Ephesus,