Acts 9:30 - Exposition

And when the brethren knew it for which when the brethren knew, A.V. St. Paul gives another reason for his hasty departure from Jerusalem in his speech from the castle stairs ( Acts 22:17-21 ). Caesarea, when standing alone , means Caesarea Stratonis, or παράλιος , or Sebaste, the seaport and Roman garrison of that name, as distinguished from Caesarea Philippi (see Alford's note on Acts 8:30 ), and is always so used by St. Luke ( Luke 8:40 ; Luke 10:1 , Luke 10:24 ; Luke 18:22 ; Luke 21:8 , Luke 21:16 ; Luke 23:23 , Luke 23:33 ; 25:1, 4, 6; 27:1, 2, showing it was a seaport). There is no reasonable doubt that it means the same place here. A seaport, near to Jerusalem, and with Roman protection, affording access to Tarsus either by sea or land as should seem best, was the natural place for Paul's friends to take him to. If further proof were wanting, it could be found in the phrase, "brought him down," as compared with the converse, "gone up" ( Acts 18:22 ), "ascended "( Acts 25:1 ), when the journey was from Caesarea to Jerusalem. To Tarsus . A glance at the map will show that, starting from Caesarea, a person might either go by land along the sea-coast of Phoenicia, through Acre, Tyre, Sidon, Beyrout, Tripolis, Antioch, Issus, to Tarsus; or by sea to any of the intermediate ports between Caesarea and Tarsus; or rather the artificial harbor at the mouth of the Cydnus which formed the seaport of Tarsus. It is not improbable that Paul landed at Selcucia, since he says ( Galatians 1:21 ) that he came at this time "into the regions of Syria and Cilicia," which is exactly what he would have done if he had landed at Seleucia, the seaport of Antioch.