3rd Missionary Trip - Lorin

the group transferred to another ship headed for Phoenicia: καὶ εὑρόντες
πλοῖον διαπερῶν εἰς Φοινίκην ἐπιβάντες ἀνήχθημεν, When we found a
ship bound for Phoenicia, we went on board and set sail. This flourishing seacoast
town in the ancient world is best remembered as the birth place of
St. Nicholas. No indication is given about how long Paul and the group
stayed in Patara, nor whether a Christian community existed there or
not. Assuming it took at least a day or two to find another ship that was
heading the right direction, the group did have some time in the city before
continuing their journey.
The next leg of the journey was somewhat more dangerous because
it involved sailing in the open sea quite some distance from land:
ἀναφάναντες δὲ τὴν Κύπρον καὶ καταλιπόντες αὐτὴν εὐώνυμον ἐπλέομεν
εἰς Συρίαν καὶ κατήλθομεν εἰς Τύρον, We came in sight of Cyprus; and leaving
it on our left, we sailed to Syria and landed at Tyre, because the ship was to
unload its cargo there. This much longer stretch involved an overnight stay
on the sea rather than putting into a port. Luke notes that the ship did come close enough to Cyprus that they
could see it from the ship. After putting into port at Tyre, the group -- as Luke indicates -- looked up the believers
in the city in order to spend some time with them.
Page 474
269 The city of Tyre was one of the oldest Phoenician cities
on the coast. 270 Used as a major port city by the Persians, the city stubbornly resisted Alexander the Great until
he crushed the city in 332 BCE. It suffered economic ups and downs under Greek rule but with the Romans it
regained most of its strategic role as a major trade city. When Paul and his group landed there in the spring of
57 AD the city was a thriving city of considerable size and importance.
A Christian community was already existing in the city and the members of this congregation hosted Paul
and his travel companions for a week: ἀνευρόντες δὲ τοὺς μαθητὰς ἐπεμείναμεν αὐτοῦ ἡμέρας ἑπτά, We looked
up the disciples and stayed there for seven days. What a time of fellowship that must have been. But a cloud hung
over the gatherings: οἵτινες τῷ Παύλῳ ἔλεγον διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος μὴ ἐπιβαίνειν εἰς Ἱεροσόλυμα, Through the Spirit
they told Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. This is a fascinating statement by Luke, especially in light of 20:22, Καὶ
νῦν ἰδοὺ δεδεμένος ἐγὼ τῷ πνεύματι πορεύομαι εἰς Ἰερουσαλὴμ, And now, as a captive to the Spirit, I am on my way
to Jerusalem. Who was interpreting the message of the Holy Spirit correctly? Paul or the believers at Tyre? 271 At
Caesarea coming up on their stops, the Christian leader Agabus would symbolically bind Paul’s feet and hands
as a warning of the dangers ahead for Paul in Jerusalem (cf. 21:10-13). This prompted these believers to urge
through their involvement in Roman politics.”
[John D. Wineland, “Patara (Place)” In vol. 5, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York:
Doubleday, 1992), 177-78.]
269 “εἰς Φοινίκην. Phoenicia was the strip of coast between Carmel in the south and Nahr-el-Kelb in the north. The Libanus and
Anti-Libanus provided a curtain which shut off the interior and meant that the district looked primarily towards the Mediterranean. The
chief towns lay on the coast, some of them (e.g. Tyre, v. 3) situated on islands, which gave them great defensive strength.” [C. K. Barrett,
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004),
989.]
270 “TYRE (PLACE) [Heb ṣōr (רֹצ)]. TYRIAN. One of the most ancient towns on the Phoenician coast. Tyre (M.R. 168297) is
situated about 40km S of Sidon, and about 45km N of Acco. In antiquity it was an island ca. 600–750m from the mainland (Curtius Hist.
of Alex. 4.2.7), but since the time of Alexander the Great (actually beginning in the summer of 332 B.C.) the island has been linked with
the mainland by a causeway, which has broadened over the centuries. Thus, Tyre is now a peninsula. With a few exceptions, it has been
occupied continuously from the middle of the 3d millennium B.C. through the Greco-Roman and Byzantine periods. Consequently, the
Bible is full of references to this important city.” H. J. Katzenstein, “Tyre (Place)” In vol. 6, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David
Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 686.-
271 “διὰ τοῦ πνεύματος: presumably, showing the phenomena of inspiration. Luke does not express himself clearly. His words
taken strictly would mean either that Paul was deliberately disobedient to the will of God or that the Spirit was mistaken in the guidance
given. It is unthinkable that Luke intended either of these. It is probable that what he meant but failed adequately to express was
something like what is written in vv. 10–14. The Spirit acting through prophets foretold that the journey to Jerusalem would bring Paul
suffering, and his friends acting under the influence not of the Spirit but of human concern sought to dissuade him from going there.
So, more or less, Calvin (2:193): ‘There are different gifts of the Spirit, so that it is no wonder that those who are strong in the gift
of prophecy are sometimes lacking in judgement or courage’; and Bengel (470): ‘Spiritus significabat, Paulo imminere vincula: inde
rogabant discipuli eum, ne iret.’ Weiser (589f.) summarizes at length Bovon’s explanation of the contrast with 20:23. ‘Lukas folge bei
der Gestaltung der Abschiedsszenen (20:36–21:16) dem Muster griechischer Darstellungen des Abschieds berühmter Helden von ihren
Familien oder Freunden.’ See Bovon in Kremer, Actes (Actes 339–58).” [C. K. Barrett, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the
Acts of the Apostles, International Critical Commentary (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 2004), 990-91.]