And when the Jews laid wait for him as he was about to sail.
Paul’s prudence
Why was it safer for Paul to travel by land through Macedonia than to go down to the seaport, Cenchrea, to take ship there? The reason is, that the Jews, with their keen trading instincts, had settled chiefly in the great seaports and emporia of trade throughout the civilised world. Paul thus, in entering a seaport, would find himself in the midst of a large body of Jews, who had both the ability and the will to execute any plot against him; while in the inland and provincial towns the Jews formed a comparatively insignificant portion of the population. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)
Paul’s prudence rewarded
Thehope of reaching Jerusalem by the Passover had, of course, to be abandoned: the only chance left was to get there by Pentecost. It was doubtless overruled for good that it should be so; for if Paul had been in the Holy City at the Passover, he would have been mixed up by his enemies with the riot and massacre which about that time marked the insane rising of the Egyptian impostor who called himself the Messiah. (Archdeacon Farrar.)
Paul’s moral courage
It is a great thing to know when to run from evil, and when to stand and meet it. Often more courage is needed to run than fight. A bulldog knows just enough to be always ready for a fight. It takes more than a bulldog’s character to decide when not to fight, and to stand by one’s decision--even if one has to run in order to stand. In a community where duelling is still tolerated, it requires more the spirit of Paul, and less of the spirit of the bulldog, to decline a challenge. In a community where duelling is not tolerated, but where unnecessary and irritating discussion is, it is easier to conform to the bulldog’s standard, than to Paul’s, in times of temptation to such a discussion. It is not easy to say in advance just when a man should run rather than fight; but it is something for us all to bear in mind, that running often shows courage where fighting would show cowardice. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)
