Apostelgeschichte 20:14

14 Als er aber in Assos mit uns zusammentraf, nahmen wir ihn auf und kamen nach Mitylene.

Apostelgeschichte 20:14 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 20:14

And when he met with us at Assos
According to appointment:

we took him in;
to the ship, and so sailed on:

and came to Mitylene;
a city in Lesbos F21, an island in the Aegean sea, now Metelino: sometimes the island is so called, and is about seven miles and a half from the continent: of this city Vitruvius


FOOTNOTES:

F23 says, that it was magnificently and elegantly built, but not prudently situated; for when the south wind blew, men were sick in it, and when the northwest wind blew they had coughs, and when the north wind blew, they were restored to health. Some say it had its name from Mitylene, the daughter of Macaria or Pelops; others from Myto, the son of Neptune and Mitylene; and others from Mityle, the builder of it. F24 Hillerus inquires, whether it may not be so called from the Chaldee word, (anljm) , "Matlana", used in the Targum on ( Job 40:13 ) which signifies "a bar", this city being as a bar to Lesbos, which shut it up. It was famous for being the native place of Pittacus, one of the seven wise men of Greece, a great philosopher and legislator, who, with others, conquered Melanchrus the tyrant of Lesbos, whom the inhabitants of Mitylene greatly honoured, and made him their governor; and a field, which they gave him, was called after his name Pittacius F25: of this place was Theophanes, a famous historian, who wrote the history of Pompey the great, and was familiar with him, and honoured by him, as Cicero F26 relates: other persons of note are said to be of this place, as Alcaeus a lyric poet, and Diophanes a rhetorician. It does not appear that the apostle stayed and preached the Gospel here, or that any Gospel church was here by him raised; no mention is made of it in ecclesiastical history until late: in the "second" century Heathenism prevailed in the island, the Lesbians sacrificed a man to Dionysius. In the "fifth" century we read of a bishop of this island in the Chalcedon council: in the "sixth" century there was a bishop of Mitylene, in the fifth Roman synod: in the seventh century, Gregory, bishop of Mitylene, assisted in the sixth council at Constantinople, and Theodorus of the same place: in the eighth century Damianus, bishop of the same place, was present in the Nicene council F1.


F21 Plin. l. 5. c. 31. Mela, l. 2. c. 14.
F23 De Architectura, l. 1. c. 6. p. 27,
F24 Onomasticum Sacrum, p. 887.
F25 Laert, Vit. Philosoph. l. 1. p. 50.
F26 Orat. 26. pro Archia, p. 814.
F1 Magdeburg. Hist. Eccles. cent. 2. c. 15. p. 193. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 6. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 6. cent. 7. c. 2. p. 4. c. 10. p. 253, 254. cent. 8. c. 2. p. 6.

Apostelgeschichte 20:14 In-Context

12 Sie brachten aber den Knaben lebendig und wurden nicht wenig getröstet.
13 Wir aber gingen voraus auf das Schiff und fuhren ab nach Assos, indem wir dort den Paulus aufnehmen wollten; denn so hatte er es angeordnet, da er selbst zu Fuß gehen wollte.
14 Als er aber in Assos mit uns zusammentraf, nahmen wir ihn auf und kamen nach Mitylene.
15 Und als wir von da abgesegelt waren, langten wir am folgenden Tage Chios gegenüber an; des anderen Tages aber legten wir in Samos an, und nachdem wir in Trogyllion geblieben waren, kamen wir am folgenden Tage nach Milet;
16 denn Paulus hatte sich entschlossen, an Ephesus vorbeizufahren, damit es ihm nicht geschehe, in Asien Zeit zu versäumen; denn er eilte, wenn es ihm möglich wäre, am Pfingsttage in Jerusalem zu sein.
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