3rd Missionary Trip - Lorin

συνηγμένοι. 9 καθεζόμενος δέ τις νεανίας ὀνόματι Εὔτυχος ἐπὶ
τῆς θυρίδος, καταφερόμενος ὕπνῳ βαθεῖ διαλεγομένου τοῦ
Παύλου ἐπὶ πλεῖον, κατενεχθεὶς ἀπὸ τοῦ ὕπνου ἔπεσεν ἀπὸ
τοῦ τριστέγου κάτω καὶ ἤρθη νεκρός. 10 καταβὰς δὲ ὁ Παῦλος
ἐπέπεσεν αὐτῷ καὶ συμπεριλαβὼν εἶπεν· μὴ θορυβεῖσθε, ἡ
γὰρ ψυχὴ αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ ἐστιν. 11 ἀναβὰς δὲ καὶ κλάσας τὸν
ἄρτον καὶ γευσάμενος ἐφʼ ἱκανόν τε ὁμιλήσας ἄχρι αὐγῆς, οὕτως
ἐξῆλθεν. 12 ἤγαγον δὲ τὸν παῖδα ζῶντα καὶ παρεκλήθησαν οὐ
μετρίως.
7 On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread,
Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended
to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight. 8
There were many lamps in the room upstairs where we were
meeting. 9 A young man named Eutychus, who was sitting in
the window, began to sink off into a deep sleep while Paul talked
still longer. Overcome by sleep, he fell to the ground three floors
below and was picked up dead. 10 But Paul went down, and
An insula (apartment house) dating from the early
2nd century A.D. in the Roman port town of Ostia
Antica
bending over him took him in his arms, and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” 11 Then Paul went upstairs,
and after he had broken bread and eaten, he continued to converse with them until dawn; then he left. 12
Meanwhile they had taken the boy away alive and were not a little comforted.
At the end of that week long stay in Troas, Paul and those traveling with him met together with the believers
in the city of Troas. 200 Although Luke indicates that it was Ἐν δὲ τῇ μιᾷ τῶν σαββάτων, on the first day of the
week, whether this was Saturday evening or Sunday evening completely depends on whether Luke is using a
Roman or a Jewish method of calculating the days of the week. 201 Assuming the Roman time calculation here
then they met on Sunday evening, and the group’s departure was on Monday. 202 The meeting at night has some
interesting implications in a first century Greco-Roman setting. 203 Luke’s depiction very likely is in part a defense
200 “Most religious associations in the Greco-Roman world met together once a month. Although some early Christians may
have met daily (2:46), they seem to have gathered especially on the first day of the week (Sunday), probably because of the resurrection
(Lk 24:1) and to avoid conflicting with synagogue gatherings on the sabbath (Saturday).” [Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background
Commentary: New Testament (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), Ac 20:7.]
201 “The disciples in Troas gathered together on the first day of the week (Luke 24:1) to break bread and to have a last opportunity
of listening to Paul. The breaking of bread is the term used especially in Acts for the celebration of the Lord’s Supper (2:42; cf. 1
Cor. 10:16), and this passage is of particular interest in providing the first allusion to the Christian custom of meeting on the first day of
the week for the purpose.
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12 It is not altogether clear what method of time-reckoning Luke is employing. According to the Jewish method
of calculating the new day from sunset, Paul would have met with the Christians on what was Saturday evening by our reckoning, and
would thus have resumed his journey on Sunday morning. 13 According to the Roman method of reckoning the new day as beginning at
dawn, the Christians would have met in the evening of either Sunday (the first day of the Jewish week) or Saturday (the first day of the
Roman week). Since elsewhere Luke reckons the hours of the day from dawn (3:1), he appears to follow the Roman method of timereckoning
and the Jewish calendar (cf. Luke 24:1). Bruce (Book, p. 408 n. 25) argues that he regards the following morning, on which
Paul intended to depart as the morrow, and that ‘daybreak’ in verse 11 signifies the beginning of the new day; hence the meeting was on
Sunday evening and Paul departed on Monday morning. 14 ” [I. Howard Marshall, vol. 5, Acts: An Introduction and Commentary, Tyndale
New Testament Commentaries (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1980), 344.]
202 “Charges of nocturnal assemblies and associated immoralities were a cultural commonplace among and within religious
groups of the ancient Mediterranean world. The charges and countercharges existed from pre-Christian times well into our era. It would
have been difficult for an ancient auditor not to have heard Acts 20:7–12 as a protection of Messianist disciples against at least implicit
charges connected with nocturnal meetings: in particular, love of the darkness and killing of a child. In contrast, Luke’s narrative shows
that a Messianist Sunday evening eucharist involves lots of lights (and so nothing immoral) and restoration of a child to life (rather than
child sacrifice). The story, so told, would function as a legitimation device for Lord’s Day worship.” [Charles H. Talbert, Reading Acts :
A Literary and Theological Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, Rev. ed., Reading the New Testament Series (Macon, GA: Smyth
& Helwys Publishing, 2005), 179.]
This summation comes after the presenting of six different ancient texts negatively viewing religious meetings taking place at
night time in the Greco-Roman world.
203 “One can only hear the story with the ears of an ancient Mediterranean auditor if sufficient background is provided. The
important thing to know is that nocturnal meetings were perceived negatively by Mediterranean society. On the one hand, nocturnal
meetings were associated with political conspiracy: for example, Cicero, Catiline 1.1; 3.5–6; Juvenal, Satires 8.231–35; Pliny, Epistles
10.96 — Christians had ceased their night meetings after Pliny’s edict in which, in accordance with Trajan’s orders, he had forbidden
secret societies. On the other hand, night gatherings were thought to be connected with human sacrifice and sexual immorality. The following
examples make this clear (so Daniel Hilty).” [Charles H. Talbert, Reading Acts : A Literary and Theological Commentary on the
Acts of the Apostles, Rev. ed., Reading the New Testament Series (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys Publishing, 2005), 177.]