Acts 20:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: After the uproar ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and after encouraging them, he said farewell and departed for Macedonia.

NIV: When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said goodbye and set out for Macedonia.

NASB: After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, and when he had encouraged them and taken his leave of them, he left to go to Macedonia.

CSB: After the uproar was over, Paul sent for the disciples, encouraged them, and after saying farewell, departed to go to Macedonia.

NLT: When the uproar was over, Paul sent for the believers and encouraged them. Then he said good-bye and left for Macedonia.

KJV: And after the uproar was ceased, Paul called unto him the disciples, and embraced them, and departed for to go into Macedonia.

NKJV: After the uproar had ceased, Paul called the disciples to himself, embraced them, and departed to go to Macedonia.

Paul has been in Ephesus for three years (Acts 20:31), perhaps the longest he ever spends at a church he's planted. He knows it's time to leave, and he's already sent Timothy and Erastus to prepare his visits to Macedonia and Achaia (Acts 19:22). In Ephesus, idol and shrine craftsmen find their businesses interrupted by Paul's successful attempts to bring people to Christ. The craftsmen start a marketing campaign to remind the city of their loyalty to the goddess Artemis. When the protest turns into a riot, catching two of Paul's companions in its wake, Paul realizes he needs to leave now, although he had planned to stay until Pentecost (Acts 19:23–41; 1 Corinthians 16:8). He gathers those he has discipled in Ephesus and says his farewells.

The verse simply says that Paul left Ephesus, which is on the southwest coast of modern-day Turkey, and goes to Macedonia, which is the northeast port of the Aegean Sea. The background is more complicated.

On Paul's second missionary journey, he planted a church in Corinth and stayed for eighteen months, training the people and the elders (Acts 18:11) before returning home. During his stay in Syrian Antioch, between the second and third journeys, Apollos took Paul's place in Corinth. Later, while Paul ministered in Ephesus, he heard disturbing news. He has nothing against Apollos, but the people in the church in Corinth have divided into sects; some follow Paul, some Apollos, some Peter, and the rest Jesus (1 Corinthians 1:11–17). In addition, he heard a man was openly sleeping with his father's wife and the church leaders have not disciplined him (1 Corinthians 5:1–8).

Paul's displeasure is expressed in the letter we now refer to as 1 Corinthians. Although he had planned on going to Corinth right after Ephesus, he might not have been in a proper state of mind to see them. His reference in 2 Corinthians 2:1 might suggest he made such a trip, or it be on an unrelated matter. Eventually, Paul goes to Macedonia, (2 Corinthians 1:15–16, 23; 1 Corinthians 16:5). He sends the letter, probably with Titus, and travels north to Troas. By the time he reaches Troas, he is worried that he has been too harsh with the church in Corinth. Although Titus was to meet him in Troas, Paul can't find him. By the time Paul crosses the Aegean Sea to Macedonia, he is sick with fear. Fortunately, Titus meets him in Philippi with news. The church in Corinth is chastened and grieved into repenting. They have also expressed their zeal for Paul. Paul is beyond relieved and writes 2 Corinthians to them (2 Corinthians 2:12–13; 7:5–9).

Acts 20:1–6 records a very short summary of Paul's travels after he leaves Ephesus during his third missionary voyage. He sails to Macedonia and visits the churches there before going south to Corinth where he spends three months. He wants to sail directly to Judea, but a plot against his life forces him to retrace his footsteps to Macedonia and Troas. He and his team will spend one week—including one infamously long sermon—in Troas then travel south to Miletus where they will meet with the Ephesian elders one last time (Acts 20:7–38).

Acts 20 finishes Paul's third missionary journey. He leaves Ephesus after three years and travels to Macedonia and Corinth. Threats from the Corinthian Jews send him and his team back to Macedonia and Troas. In Troas, Paul gives a very long sermon and raises Eutychus from the dead after he falls—both asleep and out a window. In Miletus, Paul meets with the Ephesian elders. He reminds them to beware of false teachers and tells them he is going to be imprisoned and will not see them again. After a tearful farewell, he boards a ship for Judea.

Acts 20 records the last stages of Paul's third missionary journey. He started by visiting the churches he and Barnabas had planted in central modern-day Turkey (Acts 18:23). From there, he traveled southwest to the province of Asia, where he established a church in Ephesus (Acts 19). In Acts 20, he visits the churches in Macedonia and Greece before returning to Judea. When he lands, he meets briefly with Philip the Evangelist in Caesarea Maritima before going to Jerusalem and getting arrested. He will stay in house arrest for the next two years before embarking on a dangerous sea voyage to Rome (Acts 21—28).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.