Acts Chapter 27 verse 2 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 2. - Embarking in for entering into, A.V.; which was about to sail unto the places on the coasts of Asia, we put to sea for we launched, meaning to sail by the coast of Asia, A.V. and T.R.; Aristarchus for one Aristarchus, A.V. Adramyttium (now Adra-myti, where ships are still built), on the north-western coast of Asia Minor, south of Troas, on the gulf opposite which lies the island of Lesbos, was a place of considerable trade, situated on the great Roman road which connected the Hellespont with Ephesus and Miletus. Which was about to sail; μέλλοντι (not μέλλοντες, as in the T.R.), describing the ship as a coasting-vessel, trading between Adramyttium and other ports on the coast of Asia. She was now on her homeward voyage. Aristarchus. He is first mentioned in Acts 19:29, as a Macedonian, and one of Paul's companions at Ephesus, pro-badly, therefore, the fruit of his first visit to Thessalonica. We find him again with St, Paul on his last journey from Corinth to Asia (Acts 20:4), and we gather from the present notice of him that he kept with him till he arrived at Jerusalem, and followed him to Caesarea. It would appear at first sight, from Colossians 4:10, that he not only stayed with St. Paul during his two years' imprisonment at Rome, but was his "fellow-prisoner," if at least the word συναιχμάλωτος μου ισ to be taken literally. This, however, is very doubtful, because in the Epistle to the Romans (Romans 16:7) St. Paul calls Andronicus and Junius his "fellow-prisoners," though he was not then in prison himself; and also because, in the Epistle to Philemon (Philemon 1:23, 24), he gives this epithet to Epaphras, with the addition ἐν Ξριστῷ Ἰησοῦ ("my fellow-prisoner in Christ Jesus"), and does not give it to Aristarchus, who is named in the same sentence as his συνεργός (see Bishop Lightfoot, on Colossians 4:10, and Bishop Ellicott, on ibid.). If συναιχμάλωτος is to be taken of a bodily captivity, nothing is known of the occasion which gave rise to it in the case of any of the persons to whom it is applied.

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(2) Entering into a ship of Adramyttium.--Better, embarking in. Adramyttium was a town on the coast of Mysia, opposite Lesbos. It lay on the Roman road from Assos and Troas to Pergamus, Ephesus, and Miletus. It was a port of considerable importance, and the Gulf of Adramyti still retains its name. There would seem to have been but little direct intercourse by sea between Caesarea and Rome, and the voyage had therefore to be made, now in one ship, now in another. Changes of this kind occurred, it will be remembered, in St. Paul's journey from Philippi to Caesarea. Possibly it was at first intended that the prisoners should go to Adramyttium, cross to Greece, and then proceed by land. "Asia" is, of course, the proconsular province so called. Looking to the fact that the "fast," i.e., the Day of Atonement (falling this year on Sept. 24th), was over when St. Paul reached Crete (Acts 27:9), the date of embarkation may be fixed, with much probability, in the middle, or towards the end, of the previous August.One Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica.--It is reasonable to infer that Aristarchus, who had come with St. Paul to Jerusalem (Acts 20:4), had remained in Palestine during the two years of the Apostle's imprisonment, and was now intending to return to his native city. The subsequent alteration of plan (Acts 27:6), however, led to his accompanying him to Rome, and we find him there with St. Paul in Colossians 4:10, sharing his imprisonment.