Compelled as we are here to compress as much as possible what must be said, we reluctantly desist from following St. Paul to Europe. We need, therefore, only state that, after two years St. Paul returned to Antioch in Syria and Jerusalem, passing, on his way, sufficient time at Ephesus, so that “he himself entered into the synagogue, and reasoned with the Jews” (xviii. 19), promising, at the request of the congregation, that he would return to Ephesus, “if God will.” Having “saluted the Church” (probably of Jerusalem) he returned to Antioch, and thence “departed and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples,”[[117]] arriving, ultimately, at Ephesus, where he found Apollos, “an eloquent man, and mighty in the Scriptures” (xviii. 24).

[117]. The brief statement in the Acts does not tell us anything of the course St. Paul took on this occasion; but as he went “over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order,” we can have no doubt that his visitation of the churches was complete, and that he went to all or most of the places noticed in the previous journeys.

The visit of St. Paul to Ephesus was the period when it pleased God to do for the later disciples what had been previously done, twelve or thirteen years before, on the day of Pentecost: “the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.” In the present instance, it is enough to refer to the words in the narrative as given in the Acts xix. 2: “He” (St. Paul) “said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost,” &c.... “When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus; and when Paul laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them, and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.”

At Ephesus St. Paul dwelt more than two years, diligently preaching the Gospel, and “disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus.” No opposition appears to have arisen for some time; indeed, for three months, he was allowed the use of even the synagogue; but, in the end, the idol-brokers felt their trade was in jeopardy, and, especially, men, who, like Demetrius, the silversmith, making the “silver shrines for Diana, brought no small gain unto the craftsmen.”

As at Corinth, St. Paul at Ephesus was brought, face to face, with Asiatic superstition, withstanding even magic arts, as Moses did, Jannes, and Jambres, and, also, “exorcists.” What this “magic” really was has been much debated. Anyhow, the Talmud tells us that a “knowledge of magic” was required as a necessary qualification for a seat in the Sanhedrin, so that the councillor might be able to try those accused of such practices, though some of these need not, necessarily, have been of evil intention: it is clear, however, from the case of Sceva (xix. 14), that many of the “exorcists” made a bad use of any superior knowledge they possessed or pretended to have. St. Paul’s success, however, in putting down this species of knavery, was so complete, that a large number of the exorcists submitted to him, and burnt their books, which were valued at a very high price. The “town-clerk” was, doubtless, as we have remarked before, a Roman officer, and, as the keeper of the public records, one of the most important personages in the town. His language in putting down the émeute in the theatre clearly shows this; but, as he evidently refers to others of greater power than himself, we hardly think, as some have done, that he was himself one of the “Asiarchs,” or, as our translation has it, “chiefs of Asia.” His language shows that he was not unfriendly to St. Paul (though not necessarily that he was, himself, a Christian); and, further, that he well knew how to deal with a multitude, “the more part of whom knew not wherefore they were come together.”

We have now brought nearly to an end the short outline we felt it necessary to give of St. Paul’s journeying in Asia Minor. It is probable that, soon after the disturbance in the theatre, he left for Macedonia; so that the rest of his connection with Asia Minor or with the Greek islands may be summed up in a few words. After some time passed in Macedonia, with a possible journey through Illyricum and Western Greece, which occupied him for three months (xx. 3), St. Paul returned to the north, and, passing by Philippi and Neapolis, crossed the Ægæan to Alexandria Troas. This second visit to Troas is chiefly notable for the story of the boy Eutychus, who, overcome with sleep when St. Paul continued his speech until midnight, fell to the ground and was killed. It will be observed, that, in the miracle of his restoration to life, St. Paul implied the use of the very words of our Saviour to the young maiden: “She is not dead, but sleepeth.” Thence he proceeded alone on foot twenty miles to Assos, through a district then, as now, richly wooded, but with a good Roman road, long since in utter decay. It was a lonely walk the great Apostle pursued then; but solitude is sometimes required to give greater strength.

From Assos St. Paul took ship to Mytilene, proceeding onwards to Chios, Samos, Trogyllium, and Miletus. At this last place, he summoned the elders from Ephesus, and bade a solemn farewell to the Christians of Asia, among whom he had laboured so long and so efficiently; and passing thence by Coos and Rhodes to Patara, finally entered a ship there, and sailed to Phœnicia (xxi. 1). At Trogyllium the Admiralty chart shows a harbour that still bears the name of St. Paul’s Port. So far as we know, with the exception of touching at Cnidus on his last voyage to Rome, St. Paul had no further connection with Asia Minor.

INDEX.