Nor was the start on the l9t M.J. made immediately after their return to Antioch. The description introduced at this point (13') of the perKonnfl of the Antiochene ' prophets and teat^hers ' su^^ests at least some further period of settled work ; and ikS the journey westwards meant a start either by sea or over theTaunis, it would not be entered upon in the winter months, — indeed it will be assumed in the following' fliscussion as axiomatic that St. Paul's journeys are as far as possible to be pla -ed in the Hunnner (March or April to Nov.), and thatdurinc the other months he was in general stationary. Thus the tiprinjf of a.d. 47, or more jtarticularly the end of the paschal season (in that year circa Mar. 'iS-Apr. 4), is the earliest atartintcpoint at nil probable.
Duration of the First Misitionary Journey (Ac 134-14'^!).— CroHsinjt to Cyprus the apostles londed at Salamis and ^»ii>yed throui^h the whole Island as far as Paphos, preachinir in the Jewish synacoiiues {\^ "). The stay in Cj-prus can hardly Imve been less than some months ; the results, at any rale, en couraj^ed tlie Cvjiriote Barnabas to select it as his share of the cnnununilies visitcnl or founded in common (1.^3'i- ^). At earliest, then, in the Hummer of the same year, A.D. 47, the party crosscii to ibe mainland of Painphylia ; and whether or not itanisay's attractive conjecture lie tnie, that the ' inllrrnity of the tlesh ' was a malarial fever caui,'hl there in the lowlands and necesiiiliit- inp an immediate move up into the hills, no ^4tay is rcconlnl anywhere short of Pisidian Antioch (Antioch i'.). To the e^anifelization of this city and of Iconium, Lystra, and l>erl<o, the main elTorts of the journey were devoted ; ami as the return was uumIc by the same route, the three Mrst-named cities wer« visileil twice. The first sojourn in Antioch P. was lonj; ermuijh for the word to be ' spread abroa>l through the whole tlistrict ' (134t> ; cf. the similar butstroui^er pbruso iu 101'^ of the two yeaib'
422 CHKONOLOGY OF NEW TEST.
CHRONOLOGY OF NEW TEST.
■taj- at Ephesus). At Iconium a Mong time' was spent {U^'^' xpet9*, 14^). With Lvstra and Derbe the ' aurroundiny country ' waa evantfelized (14^- ^\ and at Derbe the disciplea made were many' (*»Mi*ei-e, 1421). jlie return visita were no douht ahorter; but aa they included the work of confirming and organizing the new conimunities (iTie'-Tyio>^o*'rt!, ytipcTovr.ffeorK T^i(r^(/Ti/joi/f , 14*^ 23)^ they cannot well have been hurried. The Becoiid stay at Perga, unlike the first, was sulticiently 1""K 'or the preaching of the word (14^5 ; contrast 13'^. i-i). From the Pamphylian coast the voyage homeward was made direct.
Where the indications are expressed in such general language, opinions will differ aa to the length of time signified. Hut as it la certain that no one will estimate the atay in the interior at leas than six montha, and the hills between Antioch F. and Perga would not have been recrossed in the winter (Dec-March), the whole absence from Antioch in Syria (Antioch S.) must have prolonged itself beyond a year ; indeed the smallest space of lime which wilt reasonably cover the details of the Acts is 18 montha. Let it be supposed roughly that the apostles arrived in Oyprue In April and left it in July ; that they reached Antioch P. by Aug. 1, Iconium by Nov. 1, spending there the five winter months, down to the paschal season (probably circa Mar. 1S~26) of A.D. 48, Lystra by April 1, Derbe by May 15, the two latter being far less populous or important cities than the two former ; that they began the return journey about July 1, getting down to the Pamphylian lowlands at the beginning of Out., and back to Antioch S. a month later, say Nov. 1, a.d. 48. it is easy to allow more than this, and Ramsay raises the total from a year uid 7 montha to 2 yeara and 3 or 4 months, ending in July a.d. 49 iCh. in Horn. Emp. pp. 65-73). But the shorter estimate, if it satisflea St. Luke'a language, and it seems to do so, is to be pre- ferred on the ground that it seems unUkely that the apostles on thia their flrat missionary experiment should have separated themselves from their base at Antioch S., which waa yet so near them, for as long a period as over 2 yeara.
Interval between the Firtt and Second MUsionary Journey : the Apostolic Councii (Ac 1427-1535)^— The two apostles after their return from the lat M.J., and before their visit to Jerua., 'reaided' at Antioch 8. 'for no short time' (hitrpiSo* xfi^*^'* °^* •Xi-yoiy 1428); and although it is just possible that the phrase may be meant to cover the whole period up to the starting-point of the 2nd M.J., yet even so the earlier portion itself cannot have been less than the four winter months from Nov. 1, a.d. 48, onwards. For the Council, it may be taken for granted, would not have been held dunng those montha ; and indeed since the Twelve were by thia time do longer settled at Jerus., the opportunity for the Council must have been found in their assembling' for one of the great Jewish feasts. Thus the earliest Dossible orcasion will have been the passover of a.d. 49, circa April 6-12. But as Paul and Barnabas are said to have ' passed through Phcenice and Samaria, expounding the conversion of the OeatUea ' (IS^X— and though thia does not, of course, imply the flame delay as the foundation of new comnmnities, it does exclude the idea of hurried movements, — it is really more likely that they kept their paasover at Antioch S., and spent the six weeks following in a leisurely progress towarda Jerua., arriving there for the Councii at Pentecost (May 24). They may easily have been back again at Antioch S. by the end of June ; and aa the further atay only amounted to * certain days ' (v.u.ipet,( rnccf, IsSfi), there is no reason why the start for the 2nd M.J. should not have been made in the late summer of the same year, say Sept. 1, a.d. 49, ten months after the return from the preWous loumey. t*^Jn the visit of St. Peter to Antioch, Oal 2n, aee below, p. 424».)