Acts 18:19

κατήντησαν with אABE. Vulg. supports the singular.

19. κατήντησαν δὲ εἰς Ἕφεσον. and they came to Ephesus. Ephesus was the famous city, the capital of Ionia, and afterwards the scene of a large portion of St John’s labours. It stood not far from the sea on some hilly ground, by a small river which flows into the sea in the district lying between the greater rivers, the Hermus and the Meander. In St Paul’s day it was by far the busiest and most populous city in Proconsular Asia. For a more complete account of its inhabitants and the special worship of Artemis (Diana) for which it was celebrated, a fitting place will be found in the notes on chap. 19.

κἀκείνους κατέλιπεν αὐτοῦ, and he left them there, ‘They probably had business connexions with the large city of Ephesus, which caused them to end their journey here. These people though working at their trade appear to have been above the position which would be implied by Dr Farrar’s expression (St Paul I. 573), ‘his lodging in the squalid shop of Aquila and Priscilla.’ They travelled about and lived now at Rome, now at Ephesus, and now in Corinth (1 Corinthians 16:19; Romans 16:3; 2 Timothy 4:19), and on their condition when in Ephesus, see above on Acts 18:2.

εἰς τὴν συναγωγήν, into the synagogue. He could not give up his own people, though he was constantly exposed to hard usage by them. He seeks them out again here as soon as he arrives. In Ephesus however his message seems to have been received with less hostility, for those who heard him begged him to stay a longer time. The cosmopolitan character of the Ephesian population may have had something to do with this.