Acts 20:14

14 When he met us there, we took him aboard and went to Mitylene.

Acts 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

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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.

Acts 20:14 In-Context

12 They took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

13 We went on ahead of Paul and sailed for the city of Assos, where he wanted to join us on the ship. Paul planned it this way because he wanted to go to Assos by land.

14 When he met us there, we took him aboard and went to Mitylene.

15 We sailed from Mitylene and the next day came to a place near Kios. The following day we sailed to Samos, and the next day we reached Miletus.

16 Paul had already decided not to stop at Ephesus, because he did not want to stay too long in the country of Asia. He was hurrying to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost, if that were possible.