🌊WEB · Acts 20:4
What does Acts 20:4 mean?
"These accompanied him as far as Asia: Sopater of Beroea; Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians; Gaius of Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia."
— Acts 20:4 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
After the uproar had ceased, Paul sent for the disciples, took leave of them, and departed to go into Macedonia.
When he had gone through those parts, and had encouraged them with many words, he came into Greece.
When he had spent three months there, and a plot was made against him by Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he determined to return through Macedonia.
These accompanied him as far as Asia: Sopater of Beroea; Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians; Gaius of Derbe; Timothy; and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia.
But these had gone ahead, and were waiting for us at Troas.
We sailed away from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and came to them at Troas in five days, where we stayed seven days.
On the first day of the week, when the disciples were gathered together to break bread, Paul talked with them, intending to depart on the next day, and continued his speech until midnight.
Explanation
Acts 20:4 is essentially a travel roster, naming the men who accompanied the apostle Paul as he prepared to leave Greece and head back through Macedonia toward Jerusalem. On its surface it looks like a simple list of names and hometowns, but read in context it tells us a great deal about the nature of Paul's ministry team and the wider mission of the early church. Sopater came from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy (likely from Lystra), and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. These were not random travel companions; they represented churches from different regions that Paul had planted or strengthened on his missionary journeys.
The book of Acts was written by Luke, a close companion of Paul, as a historical account of the spread of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome. This passage falls near the end of Paul's third missionary journey. Paul was returning to Jerusalem carrying a financial collection gathered from the Gentile churches in Macedonia and Achaia for the poor believers in the Jerusalem church (a project he discusses at length in Romans 15 and 2 Corinthians 8–9). The men listed here were very likely del
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