Discovery BoxActs 20:15-20 
Context20:15 We set sail 1 from there, and on the following day we arrived off Chios. 2 The next day we approached 3 Samos, 4 and the day after that we arrived at Miletus. 5 20:16 For Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus 6 so as not to spend time 7 in the province of Asia, 8 for he was hurrying 9 to arrive in Jerusalem, 10 if possible, 11 by the day of Pentecost. 20:17 From Miletus 12 he sent a message 13 to Ephesus, telling the elders of the church to come to him. 14
20:18 When they arrived, he said to them, “You yourselves know how I lived 15 the whole time I was with you, from the first day I set foot 16 in the province of Asia, 17 20:19 serving the Lord with all humility 18 and with tears, and with the trials that happened to me because of the plots 19 of the Jews. 20:20 You know that I did not hold back from proclaiming 20 to you anything that would be helpful, 21 and from teaching you publicly 22 and from house to house,
1 tn Grk “setting sail from there.” The participle ἀποπλεύσαντες (apopleusante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
2 tn Or “offshore from Chios.”
sn Chios was an island in the Aegean Sea off the western coast of Asia Minor with a city of the same name.
3 tn Or “crossed over to,” “arrived at.” L&N 54.12 has “παραβάλλω: (a technical, nautical term) to sail up to or near – ‘to approach, to arrive at, to sail to.’ παρεβάλομεν εἰς Σάμον ‘we approached Samos’ or ‘we arrived at Samos’ Ac 20:15.”
4 sn Samos is an island in the Aegean Sea off the western coast of Asia Minor.
5 sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 40 mi (70 km) south of Ephesus. From Mitylene to Miletus was about 125 mi (200 km).
6 map For location see JP1 D2; JP2 D2; JP3 D2; JP4 D2.
7 tn Grk “so that he might not have to spend time.” L&N 67.79 has “ὅπως μὴ γένηται αὐτῷ χρονοτριβῆσαι ἐν τῇ ᾿Ασίᾳ ‘so as not to spend any time in the province of Asia’ Ac 20:16.”
8 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia, made up of about one-third of the west and southwest end of modern Asia Minor. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
9 tn Or “was eager.”
10 map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.
11 tn Grk “if it could be to him” (an idiom).
12 sn Miletus was a seaport on the western coast of Asia Minor about 45 mi (72 km) south of Ephesus.
13 tn The words “a message” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
14 tn The words “to him” are not in the Greek text but are implied. L&N 33.311 has for the verb μετακαλέομαι (metakaleomai) “to summon someone, with considerable insistence and authority – ‘to summon, to tell to come.’”
15 tn Grk “You yourselves know, from the first day I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time.” This could be understood to mean “how I stayed with you the whole time,” but the following verses make it clear that Paul’s lifestyle while with the Ephesians is in view here. Thus the translation “how I lived the whole time I was with you” makes this clear.
16 tn Or “I arrived.” BDAG 367 s.v. ἐπιβαίνω 2, “set foot in…εἰς τ. ᾿Ασίαν set foot in Asia Ac 20:18.” However, L&N 15.83 removes the idiom: “you know that since the first day that I came to Asia.”
17 tn Grk “Asia”; see the note on this word in v. 16.
18 sn On humility see 2 Cor 10:1; 11:7; 1 Thess 2:6; Col 3:12; Eph 4:2; Phil 2:3-11.
19 sn These plots are mentioned in Acts 9:24; 20:13.
20 tn Or “declaring.”
21 tn Or “profitable.” BDAG 960 s.v. συμφέρω 2.b.α has “τὰ συμφέροντα what advances your best interests or what is good for you Ac 20:20,” but the broader meaning (s.v. 2, “to be advantageous, help, confer a benefit, be profitable/useful”) is equally possible in this context.
22 tn Or “openly.”
