before spring, for the navigation of the Levant and the passes of Mount Taurus between Cilicia and Galatia were alike closed in winter to ordinary travellers. The amount of time spent in the second visit to the Galatian Churches, in Macedonia, at Athens, and on the way to Corinth, is uncertain, but exceeded half a year at the lowest computation, and the Corinthian ministry cannot have fallen far short of two years, as it embraced several Sabbaths in*the synagogue, eighteen months in the house of Justus, and a further indefinite sojourn (yet many days) in the city. It may be presumed, as he hastened from Cenchree to Jerusalem to complete his vow and keep the feast there, that he arrived before Pentecost, about the same season that he departed from Antioch on his travels; so that the interval was about three years in all. Another period of three years carries on the history to the end of the Ephesian ministry ; it includes first a journey from Jerusalem to Ephesus, in the course of which he spent some time in Antioch and went over all the Galatian country in order, then three months’ ministry in the synagogue, and two years in the school of Tyrannus, and ends about Pentecost (1 Cor. xvi. 8). Another year brought the Apostle to Jerusalem, after visiting the Macedonian and Corinthian Churches, His imprisonment—first at Jerusalem, then at Czesarea during the last two years of the government of Felix and the first part of the rule of Festus, and lastly on the way to Rome—accounts for nearly three years more, making a period of ten years in all between his departure from Antioch on his second mission-journey and his arrival in Rome.
A valuable clue for determining the date of that event is supplied by the history of Felix. His recall took place a short time before the departure of Paul from Czsarea. He was followed by a hostile deputation from Czsarea complaining of his misgovernment; but apparently there had not been time to organise and despatch it before navigation closed for the winter, otherwise the Roman Jews would have heard of Paul’s appeal to Cesar (c/. Acts xxviii. 21); so that Pelix was still awaiting his trial at Rome. Now it is pretty certain that Pelix retained the government of Judza for the first five years after the accession of Nero, in spite of the disgrace of his brother Pallas at the imperial court—as long, in short, as Burrhus and Seneca dictated the policy of the empire, and was not recalled before 59. In spite of his cruelty and extortion he retained the confidence of Burrhus to the last, perhaps by the vigour of his government, perhaps from personal motives; and it was probably the support of Burrhus even more than the wealth of Pallas which
PAULINE CHRONOLOGY τος
secured his acquittal at Rome; for Burrhus procured from the emperor, as the result of the enquiry, the disfranchisement of the Jewish citizens of Czesarea who had impugned the conduct of Felix, and the systematic adoption of a rigorous policy for the repression of Jewish sedition. As the death of Burrhus took place in February, 62, the trial of Felix cannot have been later than 61. I conclude, therefore, that his recall took place either in 59 or 60, and that Paul reached Rome early in 60 or 61. If Prof. Ramsay is right in his contention (Expositor, vol. iii., 1896, p. 336), that the voyage of Paul to Palestine took place in 57, this is a decisive confirmation of the earlier date. Reckoning back ten years we arrive at the spring of 50 or 51 for the date of Paul’s departure with Silas from Antioch. If the earlier date be assumed, I take it that the Apostolic Council was held some weeks earlier in 50; if the latter be pre- ferred, I am disposed to date the Apostolic Council late in 50, and to conclude that the winter of 50-51 was spent in Antioch or its neighbourhood. Either reckoning leads to the choice of 37 for the year of the conversion, according to the computation made in Gal. 11.