The Acts of the Apostles

12 THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES
shows, the most lively interest. For ascertaining the
absolute chronology of the Acts these exact statements,
together with the references to contemporary history,
afford almost the only material we can use.
With these ten notices concerning a lengthy ministry
of St. Paul in definite localities are connected the five
notices of similar character wherein it is a question
only of a period of days : seven days we abode in
Troas, seven days in Tyre, a day in Ptolemais ; ten
days was the length of St. Paul's last visit to Jeru-
salem ; seven days we abode in Puteoli (brethren
were found in all these places).
2. But of these five notices, four—and of the
ten, one—belong to another connection, namely, to
the diary of the " we "-account. Here in twenty-
one instances dates are given in days (including one
instance of like character—the stay in Malta—where
the duration is given in months vide supra), and
within this « we ""-account the times spent in the
different stages of the journey are to the author seem-
ingly of equal importance with the times spent in
visits at various places.^ From chap. XX. 6 until
the arrival in Jerusalem it is possible to make a
connected calculation of the time spent. According
to XX. 6 the start was made from Philippi after
the days of unleavened bread, and St. Paul wished
to be in Jerusalem for the feast of Pentecost. He
had therefore about 44 days for his journey. The
1 The passage, chap, xxvii. 12, should also be added to the
chronological passage of the " we "-account. We are here told
that it was at the beginning of winter that the ship touched at
Crete on the voyage to Rome.
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