r. THE SYRIAN VOYAGE AND THE RETURN TO EPHESUS. (XVIII 1 8) AND PAUL TOOK HIS LEAVE OF THE BRETHREN, AND SAILED ] THENCE FOR SYRIA, AND WITH HIM PRISCILLA AND AQUILA ; AND HE SHORE HIS HEAD IN CENCHRE^, FOR HE HAD A VOW. (19) AND THEY REACHED EPHESUS, AND HE LEFT THE OTHERS THERE. .AND FOR HIMSELF, HE WENT INTO THE SYNAGOGUE, AND DELD7ERED A DISCOURSE UNTO THE JEWS. (20) AND WHEN THEY ASKED HIM TO ABIDE A LONGER TIME, HE CONSENTED NOT ; (2l) BUT HE TOOK HIS LEAVE OF THEM, AND SAID, [" I MUST BY ALL MEANS PASS THE COMING FEAST IN JERUSALEM] ; IF GOD PLEASE, I WILL RETURN UNTO YOU ; " AND HE SET SAIL FROM EPHESUS. (22) AND, REACHING C2ESAREIA, HE WENT UP to Jerusalem, SALUTED THE CHURCH, AND then WENT DOWN TO ANTIOCH. (23) AND, HAVING SPENT SOME TIME there, HE WENT FORTH, AND MADE A PROGRESS IN ORDER from first to last THROUGH THE GALATIC REGION AND THE PHRYGIAN Region, CONFIRMING ALL THE DIS- CIPLES. . . . (XIX I) AND IT CAME TO PASS THAT PAUL, MAKING A MISSIONARY PROGRESS THROUGH THE
1 e£«r\et, lit. " he set about the voyage " : contrast XX 6, f£f«rkevcrafjiev aot.
(262)
Sec. i. The Syrian Voyage. 263
HIGHER-LYING QUARTERS of Asia, CAME TO the capital of the province EPHESUS {Expositor, July, 1895, p. 39).
Just as in XX 6 the company sailed away from Philippi (Neapolis, where they really embarked, being omitted, p. 70), so here Paul sailed from Corinth, the harbour being left out of sight Then the harbour is brought in as an afterthought : before actually embark- ing at Cenchreae, the eastern port of Corinth, Paul cut his hair, marking the fulfilment of a vow which apparently was connected with safe embarkation from Corinth. Though the grammatical construction of v. 18 would suggest that Aquila made the vow, and one old Latin Version makes this sense explicit, yet the natural emphasis marks Paul as the subject here.
Aquila and Priscilla remained in Ephesus until the end of 55 (I Cor. XVI 19) ; but in 56 they returned to Rome, where they were in the early part of A.D. 57 {Rom. XVI 3). We may fairly suppose that Timothy came with Paul to Ephesus, and went up on a mission from thence to his native city and the other Churches of Galatia.
This is an important passage for dating the journey. If we accept the longer reading of v. 21 (which appears in the Bezan Text, and elsewhere), it is certain that Paul was hurrying to Jerusalem for the coming feast, which may be confidently understood as the Passover. But even with the shorter reading of the great MSS., it would be highly probable that the reason why he postponed accepting the invitation to work in Ephesus and hurried on to Caesareia, could lie only in his desire to be present at Jerusalem on some great occasion ; and the Passover is the feast which would attract him.
264 The Church in Asia. Chap. XII.
Paul seems to have made a practice of beginning his journeys in the spring.
According to our view the whole journey took place thus. Paul was always eager to profit by any " open door," and an invitation from his own people to preach to them in Ephesus must have been specially tempting to him. Nothing but some pressing duty, which seemed to him to imperatively require his presence in Jerusalem at the feast, was likely to hurry him away from them. Further, the feast must have been close at hand, other- wise he could have waited some weeks before going on. Now, in A.D. 53, Passover fell on March 22 ; and navigation began as a rule only on March 5. But Paul took an early ship for Caesareia, probably a pilgrim ship, carrying from Corinth and Ephesus many Jews for the coming Passover, and directing its course accordingly. In these circumstances he could not lose a day on the road, and could merely promise to return, " if God will ".