Acts 20:4

And there accompanied him into Asia The literal rendering of the last words is "as far as Asia," but they are altogether omitted by the oldest MSS. We find Trophimus went to Jerusalem (Acts 21:29) and that Aristarchus was with St Paul in the voyage to Rome (Acts 27:2).

Sopater of Berea The oldest MSS. add the son of Pyrrhus. A various reading here has Sosipater, a name which is found in Romans 16:21, but there is no reason for connecting the two persons. We know nothing of Sopater beyond the mention of him in this verse.

and of the Thessalonians, Aristarchus and Secundus Aristarchus has been before mentioned (Acts 19:29), and in the Epistles written during the Roman imprisonment, to Philemon (24) he is one of those who sends greeting, and also to the Colossians (Acts 4:10) in which place the Apostle calls him his fellow-prisoner, shewing that he shared in a great degree the whole hardships of St Paul's life at Rome. Secundus is only mentioned here.

and Gaius of Derbe, and Timotheus As Timotheus was probably of Lystra, these men may have been friends from an early period and the former may have been a convert at the same time as the latter. We only know of him from this verse, and he has no connexion with any other Gaius named in the New Testament.

and of Asia, Tychicus and Trophimus Of the former of these we have mention several times. In Ephesians 6:21, he is called a beloved brother and faithful minister, and St Paul states that he is about to send him to Ephesus. To the Colossians (Acts 4:7) he writes, "All my state shall Tychicus declare unto you." From both which notices we see that Tychicus was with St Paul in his first Roman imprisonment. He was also at hand when the Apostle wrote to Titus (Titus 3:12), and also had been with St Paul in the later imprisonment, when the second Epistle to Timothy was written (Acts 4:12) and had again been sent to Ephesus. Perhaps Tychicus like Trophimus was by birth an Ephesian. Trophimus also continued much with St Paul, for we read (2 Timothy 4:20) that the Apostle at that time had left him detained by sickness at Miletus.