3rd Missionary Trip - Lorin

He is mentioned as having caught the brunt of hostility along with Gaius in Ephesus at the end of Paul’s ministry
there (Acts 19:29), He accompanies Paul on the trip to Rome (Acts 27:2). He is included in the greetings sent
by Paul in Colossians 4:10 and Philemon 1:24, indicating he was known in the Lycus Valley of Asia. In Col. 4:10
Paul labels him “my fellow prisoner” (ὁ συναιχμάλωτός μου) indicating that Aristarchus had suffered imprisonment
together with Paul at some point down the way. Whether this was an allusion to the Ephesian experience or not
is unknown. Secundus, Σεκοῦνδος, is only mentioned here in Acts 20:4, so we only know that he came from the
Thessalonican church.
The next two mentioned are Gaius and Timothy: καὶ Γάϊος Δερβαῖος καὶ Τιμόθεος, by Gaius from Derbe
and by Timothy. This Gaius is from Derbe in the Galatian province. He is to be distinguished from the Gaius from
Macedonia, mentioned together with Aristarchus as Macedonians in Acts 19:29. Also he is different from the
Gaius who lived in Corinth and hosted Paul some of the time he was there (Rom. 16:23). This Gaius is the same
one mentioned by Paul in 1 Corinthians 1:14 as having been baptized by Paul in Corinth. The Gaius mentioned
in 3 John 1 is not known in terms of his home town. And, of course, Timothy needs no further qualification simply
because as a traveling associate of Paul he was not representing any particular church in the relief offering.
The last two mentioned by name come from Asia: Ἀσιανοὶ δὲ Τύχικος καὶ Τρόφιμος, as well as by Tychius
and Trophimus from Asia. Tychicus is mentioned mostly in connection to Ephesus later on in Paul’s ministry: Eph.
6:21; 2 Tim. 4:12. He did travel to Colossae as part of the group delivering the letter to the Lycus Valley (Col. 4:7).
He may have been sent by Paul to Crete, but at the writing of Second Timothy Paul wasn’t sure whether to send
him or Artemas to Crete to relieve Titus so he could meet Paul at Nicopolis. In these references Paul calls him ὁ
ἀγαπητὸς ἀδελφὸς καὶ πιστὸς διάκονος ἐν κυρίῳ, a dear brother and faithful minister in the Lord.(Eph. 6:21). In Col.
4:7, he is ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἀδελφὸς καὶ πιστὸς διάκονος καὶ σύνδουλος ἐν κυρίῳ, a beloved brother, a faithful minister,
and a fellow servant in the Lord.
If you pay close attention to the chronology of these references, you notice that the great majority of them
surface later on in Paul’s ministry after the trip to Jerusalem. This voyage to Judea from the Aegean Sea region
bonded all these men together in ministry for years to come.
Luke tells us virtually nothing about ministry actions during this trip through Macedonia. What we are
given is a glimpse at the end of this leg of the journey in v. 6: ἡμεῖς δὲ ἐξεπλεύσαμεν μετὰ τὰς ἡμέρας τῶν
ἀζύμων ἀπὸ Φιλίππων καὶ ἤλθομεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς εἰς τὴν Τρῳάδα ἄχρι ἡμερῶν πέντε, ὅπου διετρίψαμεν ἡμέρας
ἑπτά, but we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we joined them in Troas, where we
stayed for seven days. The Jewish Passover celebration was actually the combination of two festivals: Passover
with the high point on Nisan 15, followed the seven day feast of Unleavened Bread. 197 This means that Paul was
in Philippi in early April of 57 AD. 198 He celebrated the Jewish Passover with Christian friends in the church at
Philippi, which for them included the death and resurrection of Christ added to the Jewish tradition.
It is interesting how much difference direction made on the sea. When Paul came across from Troas to
Neapolis, the port city of Philippi, earlier it took them two days going east to west (Acts 16:11-12). But now going
from west to east the same trip took five days. In Troas where Paul had visited several times before, 199 he and
Luke and the others with them met up with these seven men who had gone on ahead and were waiting for them.
Luke mentions that they only spent seven days in the city after Paul arrived, before traveling on south. But what
an eventful seven days!
7.1.4.2 Ministry in Troas, Acts 20:7-12
7 Ἐν δὲ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων συνηγμένων ἡμῶν κλάσαι ἄρτον, ὁ Παῦλος διελέγετο αὐτοῖς μέλλων ἐξιέναι
τῇ ἐπαύριον, παρέτεινέν τε τὸν λόγον μέχρι μεσονυκτίου. 8 ἦσαν δὲ λαμπάδες ἱκαναὶ ἐν τῷ ὑπερῴῳ οὗ ἦμεν
197 “‘Passover’ is the name of the sacrifice that is slaughtered on the 14th day of Nisan and eaten toward evening, at the end of
the day or soon after sunset marking the beginning of the 15th day of Nisan. Scripture presents the Passover as the key element of a rite
commemorating the Exodus from Egypt and the bounty of divine redemption. ‘Unleavened Bread’ is the name of an originally distinct
7-day festival which began on sunset of the 15th day of Nisan. Scripture combines the Passover sacrifice with the feast of Unleavened
Bread, and in post-biblical times the two festivals were fully integrated as a single holiday.” [Baruch M. Bokser, “Unleavened Bread
and Passover, Feasts of” In vol. 6, The Anchor Yale Bible Dictionary, ed. David Noel Freedman (New York: Doubleday, 1992), 755.]
198If the internet based calender converter is correct, the Nisan 15 in 57 AD would have fallen on April 5.
199Paul’s recorded visits to Troas:
Second missionary journey: Macedonian vision, Acts 16:8, 11
Third missionary journey: after leaving Ephesus on his way to Macedonia, 2 Cor. 2:12
Third missionary journey: met the seven men waiting for him, Acts 20:6
Ministry after first Roman imprisonment: spent time in the city and left his coat there, 2 Tim. 4:13
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