Acts 20:2 - Printer Friendly

ESV: When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

NIV: He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece,

NASB: When he had gone through those regions and had given them much encouragement, he came to Greece.

CSB: And when he had passed through those areas and offered them many words of encouragement, he came to Greece

NLT: While there, he encouraged the believers in all the towns he passed through. Then he traveled down to Greece,

KJV: And when he had gone over those parts, and had given them much exhortation, he came into Greece,

NKJV: Now when he had gone over that region and encouraged them with many words, he came to Greece

After three years establishing the church in Ephesus (Acts 20:31), Paul has now returned to Macedonia where he had planted churches during his second missionary voyage.

His first stop, likely, is Philippi where Lydia, a cloth merchant, had helped him establish a church in a city with no significant Jewish population (Acts 16:11–40). His next stop would probably have been Thessalonica where the Jewish leaders had not only run him out of town, but they also followed him to Berea and drove him from faithful scholars there, as well (Acts 17:1–15).

On that second voyage, from Berea, Paul escaped to Athens in Greece. He spent several days in the synagogue and the marketplace, teaching about Jesus, before getting into a debate with the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers (Acts 17:16–34). It's not clear if Paul returns to Athens now, but we know he is eager to get to Corinth.

Paul seems to have intended to visit Corinth as soon as he left Ephesus, but between the divisions they fell into and their lack of church discipline, he delayed before seeing them (1 Corinthians 1:11–17; 5:1–8; 2 Corinthians 1:15–23). Or, he did make a visit which did not go well (2 Corinthians 2:1).Titus has brought Paul news that the church in Corinth repents of their sins and longs to see him again (2 Corinthians 7:5–9). When Paul finally reaches Corinth, he stays for three months (Acts 20:3).

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.