🌊WEB · Acts 20:17
What does Acts 20:17 mean?
"From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to himself the elders of the assembly."
— Acts 20:17 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard, and came to Mitylene.
Sailing from there, we came the following day opposite Chios. The next day we touched at Samos and stayed at Trogyllium, and the day after we came to Miletus.
For Paul had determined to sail past Ephesus, that he might not have to spend time in Asia; for he was hastening, if it were possible for him, to be in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost.
From Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called to himself the elders of the assembly.
When they had come to him, he said to them, “You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you all the time,
serving the Lord with all humility, with many tears, and with trials which happened to me by the plots of the Jews;
how I didn’t shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, teaching you publicly and from house to house,
Explanation
Acts 20:17 sets the scene for one of the most moving speeches in the New Testament. The verse itself is simple narrative: Paul, traveling by ship toward Jerusalem, stops at the port city of Miletus. Rather than sailing further to Ephesus, he sends a message ahead and summons the elders of the Ephesian church to come meet him. What follows in the next verses (18-35) is Paul's farewell address to these men, whom he had shepherded and taught for roughly three years during his ministry in Ephesus.
The book of Acts was written by Luke, a companion of Paul, as a historical account of the early church's growth and the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. By this point in the narrative, Paul is nearing the end of his third missionary journey and is determined to reach Jerusalem before Pentecost, despite warnings that suffering and imprisonment await him there. His decision not to detour into Ephesus itself, but instead to call the elders to him at Miletus, reflects both his urgency to keep moving toward Jerusalem and his deep affection for the church he had planted there. Ephesus was a major city and an important center for early Christianity, and Paul had invested significant time discipling its leaders.
Theologically, this verse highlights the importance of church leadership and pastoral care. Paul's summoning of the "elders" (Greek: presbyteroi) shows that the early church had an established structure of local leadership responsible for teaching and guarding the congregation. Paul's willingness to take the time and effort to meet with them
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