🌊WEB · Acts 20:7
What does Acts 20:7 mean?
"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."
— Acts 20:7 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
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.
There were many lights in the upper room where we were gathered together.
A certain young man named Eutychus sat in the window, weighed down with deep sleep. As Paul spoke still longer, being weighed down by his sleep, he fell down from the third floor, and was taken up dead.
Paul went down, and fell upon him, and embracing him said, “Don’t be troubled, for his life is in him.”
Explanation
Acts 20:7 comes from Luke's narrative of Paul's third missionary journey, specifically describing events in Troas, a coastal city in Asia Minor. Luke, the author of Acts, was traveling with Paul at this point (the passage uses "we" language in surrounding verses, indicating his firsthand presence). The verse simply describes a gathering of believers on "the first day of the week" — Sunday — where they came together "to break bread," and Paul, knowing he would be leaving the next day, spoke to them at length, continuing his teaching until midnight.
Understanding the original context helps clarify what's happening. Paul was on his way back toward Jerusalem, having spent significant time strengthening churches throughout Greece and Macedonia. He had limited time with this congregation in Troas, since he intended to depart the following morning. Knowing this might be his last opportunity to teach and encourage these believers, he extended his message well beyond what might have been typical, taking full advantage of the time available. The mention of breaking bread most likely refers to a shared meal that included the observance of the Lord's Supper (communion), a practice the early church regularly incorporated into their gatherings, as seen elsewhere in Acts (2:42, 2:46).
Theologically, this verse is significant for a few reasons. First, it offers one of the clearest early indications that Christians were gathering on the first day of the week — Sunday — rather than the Jewish Sabbath (Saturday), likely because Sunday was the day of Christ's resurrection. This reflects a shift
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