Acts 20:11a| Macedonia| Acts 19:21;| 1|Cor. 16:5;| cf. 1|Tim. 1:3
| It was there that Paul wrote his second Epistle to the church in Corinth (2|Cor. 2:13 and note 2; 7:5-6; 8:1; 9:2, 4).
Acts 20:31| three
| During that time, in Corinth, the apostle wrote his Epistle to the saints in Rome (Rom. 15:22-32; cf. Acts 19:21; 20:1-3; 1|Cor. 16:3-7).
Acts 20:3a| plot| Acts 9:24;| 20:19;| 23:12
Acts 20:3b| Jews| Acts 13:45
Acts 20:32| resolved
| Paul had originally intended to go to Jerusalem through Syria from Achaia in Greece (19:21; 1|Cor. 16:3-7). Because of the Jews’ plot against him, he changed his route, going northward to Macedonia. From there he returned to Jerusalem. He knew that the Jews were plotting against him and that he would suffer because of this (v. 19). Therefore, he begged the saints in Rome to pray for him concerning his return to Jerusalem (Rom. 15:25-26, 30-31). This might also have been the reason that he was bound in his spirit to go to Jerusalem (v. 22). Eventually, after returning to Jerusalem, he was seized by the Jews (21:27-30), who sought to kill him (21:31; 23:12-15).
Acts 20:4a| Aristarchus| Acts 19:29
Acts 20:41| Gaius
| See note 12 in 3|John.
Acts 20:4b| Derbe| Acts 14:6, 20
Acts 20:4c| Timothy| Acts 19:22
Acts 20:4d| Tychicus| Eph. 6:21;| Col. 4:7;| 2|Tim. 4:12;| Titus 3:12
Acts 20:4e| Trophimus| Acts 21:29;| 2|Tim. 4:20
Acts 20:6a| Philippi| Acts 16:12
Acts 20:6b| Unleavened| Exo. 23:15;| Acts 12:3
Acts 20:6c| Troas| Acts 16:8, 11;| 2|Cor. 2:12;| 2|Tim. 4:13
Acts 20:71a| first| Luke 24:1;| 1|Cor. 16:2
| The Lord’s Day (Rev. 1:10). Paul stayed in Troas for seven days (v. 6), but it was only on the first day of the week that they gathered together to break bread in remembrance of the Lord. This indicates that at that time the apostle and the church considered the first day of the week a day to meet together for the Lord.
Acts 20:72| we
| Including the writer, Luke.
Acts 20:7b| break| Acts 20:11;| 2:42, 46;| 1|Cor. 10:16;| 11:23-24
Acts 20:8a| upper| Acts 1:13
Acts 20:10a| upon| 1|Kings 17:21;| 2|Kings 4:34
Acts 20:11a| broken| Acts 20:7
Acts 20:111| eaten
| Or, tasted.
Acts 20:16a| Jerusalem| Acts 20:22;| 19:21;| 24:11
Acts 20:161| day
| Probably to meet people from different countries who came to Jerusalem on that day (cf. 2:1, 5).
Acts 20:16b| Pentecost| 1|Cor. 16:8
Acts 20:17a| elders| Acts 11:30;| 14:23;| 1|Tim. 4:14
Acts 20:17b| church| Acts 20:28;| 5:11
Acts 20:18a| Asia| Acts 19:10
Acts 20:18b| how| 2|Cor. 1:12;| 1|Thes. 1:5
Acts 20:19a| Serving| Rom. 12:11;| Col. 3:24
Acts 20:19b| humility| Phil. 2:3;| 1|Pet. 3:8;| 5:5
Acts 20:19c| tears| Acts 20:31;| 2|Cor. 2:4;| Phil. 3:18
Acts 20:19d| trials| James 1:2;| 1|Pet. 4:12
Acts 20:19e| plots| Acts 20:3
Acts 20:20a| withhold| Acts 20:27
Acts 20:20b| house| Acts 2:46
Acts 20:21a| testifying| Acts 2:40;| 20:24
Acts 20:21b| Greeks| Acts 18:4
Acts 20:21c| repentance| Mark 1:15;| Luke 24:47;| Acts 2:38;| 19:4
Acts 20:21d| faith| John 3:16, 36
Acts 20:211| in
| Lit., into. The same word for unto in this verse.
Acts 20:212|
| Some MSS add, Christ.
Acts 20:221| bound
| See note 32.
Acts 20:222| spirit
| Paul’s regenerated spirit, in which he served God (see note 161 in ch. 17). In his spirit, a spirit joined to the Lord the Spirit (1|Cor. 6:17), Paul sensed beforehand that something would happen to him in Jerusalem, and the Holy Spirit testified this to him (v. 23).
Acts 20:22a| Jerusalem| Acts 20:16;| 21:15
Acts 20:223| there
| Lit., in it.
Acts 20:231| Except
| Paul did not know what he would encounter in Jerusalem (v. 22), but he did know one thing: the Holy Spirit was solemnly testifying to him that bonds and afflictions awaited him. The Holy Spirit’s testifying was only a prophecy, a foretelling, not a charge. Hence, he must not have taken it as a command but as a warning. See notes 41 and 111 in ch. 21.
Acts 20:23a| Spirit| Acts 21:4, 11
Acts 20:23b| bonds| Acts 21:33
Acts 20:23c| afflictions| Rom. 8:35;| 1|Thes. 3:3
Acts 20:241| consider
| Implying that Paul sensed he was going to be martyred.
Acts 20:242a| life| Acts 15:26;| 21:13
| Or, soul.
Acts 20:24b| course| 2|Tim. 4:7;| Heb. 12:1
Acts 20:24c| ministry| Acts 1:17;| 21:19;| Rom. 11:13;| 2|Cor. 4:1
Acts 20:24d| testify| Acts 2:40;| 22:18
Acts 20:24e| gospel| Acts 15:7
Acts 20:24f| grace| Acts 20:32;| 4:33;| Gal. 2:21
Acts 20:251a| kingdom| Acts 1:3;| 28:23
| The kingdom of God. See note 34 in ch. 1.
Acts 20:25b| face| Acts 20:38
Acts 20:252| no
| Indicating that Paul realized beforehand that he would be martyred.
Acts 20:261| on
| Lit., on today’s day. A very forceful expression.
Acts 20:26a| this| Deut. 8:19
Acts 20:262| I
| I.e., I am free from blame if any of you should suffer death.
Acts 20:26b| blood| Ezek. 3:18-19;| 33:5, 9
Acts 20:27a| shrink| Acts 20:20
Acts 20:27b| counsel| Luke 7:30;| Acts 13:36;| Eph. 1:11;| Heb. 6:17
Acts 20:28a| Take| 1|Tim. 4:16
Acts 20:281b| flock| Luke 12:32;| John 10:16
| See note 22 in 1|Pet. 5.
Acts 20:282c| Spirit| Acts 13:2;| 1|Cor. 12:8-9
| The apostles appointed the elders in every church (14:23). But here Paul, the leading one, who did the appointing, said that the Holy Spirit did it, indicating that the Holy Spirit was one with the apostles in their appointing of the elders, and that the apostles did it according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 20:28d| placed| 1|Cor. 12:28
Acts 20:283e| overseers| Phil. 1:1;| Titus 1:7;| cf. 1|Pet. 2:25
| I.e., the elders of the church (v. 17), proving that overseer and elder are synonymous terms denoting the same person. To make an overseer a bishop of a district to rule over the elders of various localities in that district is grossly erroneous. That is what Ignatius did. His erroneous teaching became the basis for the establishing of rank and brought in the hierarchy (see note 21 in 1|Tim. 3).
Acts 20:284f| shepherd| John 21:16
| The main responsibility of the elders as overseers is not to rule over but to shepherd, to take all-inclusive tender care of the flock, the church of God (see notes 21 and 31 in 1|Pet. 5).
Acts 20:28g| church| Acts 20:17;| 1|Cor. 1:2;| 10:32;| Gal. 1:13
Acts 20:28h| obtained| cf. 2|Pet. 2:1;| Rev. 5:9
Acts 20:285| His
| [ par. 1 2 3 ]
Acts 20:285 [1]| Indicating the precious love of God for the church and the preciousness, the exceeding worth, of the church in the eyes of God. Here the apostle did not touch the divine life and nature of the church as in Eph. 5:23-32, but the value of the church as a treasure to God, a treasure which He acquired with His own precious blood. Paul expected that the elders as overseers would treasure the church as God did.
Acts 20:285 [2]| Both the Holy Spirit and God’s own blood are divine provisions for the church that He treasures. The Holy Spirit is God Himself, and God’s own blood denotes God’s work. God’s redemptive work acquired the church; now God Himself, the all-inclusive life-giving Spirit (1|Cor. 15:45), cares for the church through the overseers.
Acts 20:285 [3]| God’s own blood is the blood of Jesus Christ. This implies that the Lord Jesus is God.
Acts 20:28i| blood| Luke 22:20;| 1|Pet. 1:18-19;| Heb. 9:12, 14
Acts 20:29a| wolves| Matt. 7:15;| 10:16;| John 10:12
Acts 20:291| sparing
| The apostle did not care for his own life, but he was very concerned for the future of the church, which was a treasure to him as well as to God.
Acts 20:301a| draw| cf. Rom. 16:17-18
| The perverted ones among the believers in the church are always used by the devil, who hates the church, to draw the sheep away to form another flock.
Acts 20:31a| watch| Matt. 24:42;| 13:17
Acts 20:31b| three| cf. Acts 19:10;| 24:17
Acts 20:31c| tears| Acts 20:19
Acts 20:32a| commit| Acts 14:23
Acts 20:321| God
| Some MSS read, the Lord.
Acts 20:322b| grace| Acts 20:24
| See note 231 in ch. 11.
Acts 20:32c| build| Acts 9:31
Acts 20:323d| inheritance| Acts 26:18;| Eph. 1:14;| 1|Pet. 1:4
| The Greek word here refers to the legal inheritance of a share of an estate. Cf. note 186 in ch. 26.
Acts 20:324e| sanctified| Heb. 13:12;| 10:29;| 1|Cor. 6:11;| Rom. 6:19, 22;| 1|Thes. 5:23;| 3:13
| To participate in God’s inheritance requires us to be sanctified, and to be sanctified requires the word of God’s grace (John 17:17 and note 1).
Acts 20:33a| coveted| 1|Thes. 2:5;| cf. 2|Cor. 7:2;| 12:17
Acts 20:341a| hands| 1|Cor. 4:12;| 1|Thes. 4:11
| Making tents (18:3).
Acts 20:35a| toiling| 1|Thes. 2:9;| 2|Thes. 3:8;| Acts 18:3
Acts 20:351| the
| Or, the infirm. Referring to those who were weak physically (1|Cor. 11:30); hence, the poor ones.
Acts 20:35b| weak| Rom. 15:1;| 1|Thes. 5:14
Acts 20:352| It
| This word is not recorded in the Gospels; it must have been received by oral communication.
Acts 20:35c| give| Luke 6:38
Acts 20:36a| knelt| Acts 7:60;| 21:5
Acts 20:37a| falling| Gen. 33:4;| 45:14;| 46:29;| Luke 15:20
Acts 20:38a| face| Acts 20:25
Acts 20:38b| escorted| Acts 21:5