Commentaries and Other Bible Study Helps - Prayer Tents - Prayer Tents

17:10 Berea. At least two inscriptions confirm a Jewish presence in Berea after the time of Paul.

17:11 Noble translates the Greek eugenēs, which originally meant "of noble birth" or "well born." The word was also applied to people who exhibited noble behavior, in that they were open-minded, fair, and thoughtful. Thus Luke saw the Bereans as "more noble" in their receiving Paul's message with all eagerness, and then in looking to the written words of the OT as their final authority, examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so. By commending this activity, Luke encourages this searching of the Scriptures as a pattern for all believers and also gives support to the doctrine of the clarity of Scripture, the idea that the Bible can be understood rightly, not only by scholars but also by ordinary people who read it eagerly and diligently, with conscious dependence on God for help.

17:14 immediately sent Paul off. Apparently most of the opposition was directed against Paul, who was the main spokesman, so the believers sent him away, while allowing Silas and Timothy to remain among them. The phrase to the sea indicates that they took Paul as far as the coast, but the text does not specify whether Paul then traveled to Athens by ship or by land, along the coastal road (a distance of 222 miles or 357 km).

17:15 a command for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible. Luke does not at this point give many details about the travels of Silas and Timothy, but Paul gives more information in 1 Thessalonians 3, and Luke gives more details at Acts 18:1, 5. These passages reveal the following sequence: (1) Paul traveled to Athens, leaving Silas and Timothy in Berea (17:14-15). (2) Paul summoned Silas and Timothy to join him in Athens (v. 15). (3) Silas and Timothy joined Paul in Athens (v. 16; 1 Thess. 3:1-2). (4) Paul became concerned for the churches he had just founded in Macedonia (in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea), so he sent Timothy to Thessalonica to find out how that church was doing amid its persecution and opposition (1 Thess. 3:1-2). At the same time he must have sent Silas somewhere else in Macedonia (Acts 18:5), being willing to be left at Athens "alone" (1 Thess. 3:1). It is likely that Silas went at least to Philippi but possibly also to Berea. (5) Paul "left Athens and went to Corinth" (Acts 18:1). (6) Silas and Timothy joined Paul again in Corinth, bringing good news from the churches of Macedonia (18:5; 1 Thess. 3:6). (7) From Corinth, Paul wrote his two letters to the church at Thessalonica (1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:1; both of these letters come from "Paul, Silvanus [= Silas], and Timothy").