Acts 21:1

CHAPTER XXI.

Paul and his company sail from Miletus, and come to Coos,

Rhodes, and Patara, 1.

Finding a Phoenician ship at Patara, they go on board, sail

past Cyprus, and land at Tyre, 2, 3.

Here they find disciples, and stay seven days, and are kindly

entertained, 4, 5.

Having bade the disciples farewell, they take ship and sail to

Ptolemais, salute the brethren, stay with them one day, come to

Caesarea, and lodge with Philip, one of the seven deacons, 6-9.

Here they tarry a considerable time, and Agabus the prophet

foretells Paul's persecution at Jerusalem, 10, 11.

The disciples endeavour to dissuade him from going; but he is

resolute, and he and his company depart, 12-16.

They are kindly received by James and the elders, who advise

Paul, because of the Jews, to show his respect for the law of

Moses, by purifying himself, with certain others that were

under a vow; with which advice he complies, 17-26.

Some of the Asiatic Jews, finding him in the temple, raise an

insurrection against him, and would have killed him had he not

been rescued by the chief captain, who orders him to be bound

and carried into the castle, 27-36.

Paul requests liberty to address the people, and is permitted,

37-40.

NOTES ON CHAP. XXI.

Verse Acts 21:1. Came with a straight course] Having had, as is necessarily implied, wind and tide in their favour.

Coos] An island in the Archipelago, or AEgean Sea, one of those called the Sporades. It was famous for the worship of AEsculapius and Juno; and for being the birthplace of Hippocrates, the most eminent of physicians, and Apelles, the most celebrated of painters.

Rhodes] Another island in the same sea, celebrated for its Colossus, which was one of the seven wonders of the world. This was a brazen statue of Apollo, so high that ships in full sail could pass between its legs. It was the work of Chares, a pupil of Lysippus, who spent twelve years in making it. It was 106 feet high, and so great that few people could fathom its thumb. It was thrown down by an earthquake about 224 years before Christ, after having stood sixty-six years. When the Saracens took possession of this island, they sold this prostrate image to a Jew, who loaded 900 camels with the brass of it; this was about A.D. 660, nearly 900 years after it had been thrown down.

Patara] One of the chief seaport towns of Syria.