Hechos 20:31

Watchfulness would be imperative for these shepherds. Paul probably labored in Ephesus from the fall of A.D. 52 to the summer of A.D. 55. Some scholars believe that he spent some of this time in prison there (cf. 2 Corinthians 11:23) and that he wrote his Prison Epistles, at least Philippians, from Ephesus. This is a minority opinion, however, that does not have as strong support as the Roman origin of the Prison Epistles theory does.

Reference to his tears shows that Paul’s ministry was not just intellectual but also emotional; he became emotionally involved in it (cf. John 11:35). Specifically he delivered his admonitions feeling the pain that they caused his hearers. The Book of Acts does not picture Paul as weeping over the people to whom he ministered or over ministry situations. Rather it presents him as equal to any occasion. We only see this human side of his ministry from Paul’s own comments here and in his epistles.