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General overview of Troas:
Troas is from the Greek Troad, meaning the region around Troy.
Its full name was Alexandria Troas, now it is called Eski Stamboul,
"Old Constantinople."
It is located on the northwest shore of Turkey. Off-site
link to pictures.
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Harbor at Troas.
Click picture to go off site to Holy Land Photos.org.
Image from Holy Land Photos.org used by permission
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In Paul’s day, Troas was an important city about 10 miles south of
the famous ancient city of Troy. It minted its own coins. Off-site
link to coins. A grazing horse is a common symbol on coins from Troas.
Perhaps a reminder that if a horse tries to enter your city, it is best to
turn it out to pasture.
The Troy of Homer (off-site
link to summary of story of Trojan War) (the town that also gave its
name to a kind of computer virus) existed in about 1300 BC, but when Paul
visited the area, Troy was only a small Roman settlement. Troas was the
major city on the plain of Troy when Paul passed by between about 50 AD
and 66 AD.
The ruins of Troas today are covered by oak trees and extend for
several square miles. The site is uninhabited, but the site is visited by
tourists and used as a quarry. Off-site
link to tourist information and pictures. Off-site
link to quarry pictures.
Brief Summary of Paul's Visits:
Paul visited Troas four times:
1. Once on his second missionary journey. The "vision
visit." Acts 16:8.
2. Twice on his third missionary journey:
a. The "missed-Titus visit." 2 Corinthians 2:12
b. The "long-sermon visit." Acts 20:5
3. Once on his fourth missionary journey. The "cloak-and-books
visit." 2 Timothy 4:13
Summary of Troas in the Bible
— a transition town:
1. Paul saw a vision of man who asked that Paul bring the Gospel to
Europe — in Troas. Acts 16:8.
2. Paul’s longest-known sermon occurred in Troas within a few
months after Paul wrote his longest-known book (Romans). Acts 20:7.
3. Paul brought a young man back to life in Troas. Acts 20:10.
4. Paul’s account to the elders of Ephesus regarding Paul’s
entire ministry which began on the road to Damascus occurred after Paul
had walked another road, the road out of Troas while the rest of his
traveling party went by ship. Some see that walk from Troas as a time
Paul used to reflect on his life and what he faced in the future. Acts
20:13, 20:17.
5. When Paul and his companions were trying to avoid a plot by the
Jews to kill Paul, Paul went on land through Macedonia while his
companions sailed on ahead and waited for Paul in Troas. This seems to
imply that Troas was a convenient and safe place for a group of
Christians to meet. Acts 20:5.
6. On his fourth and final missionary journey, Paul left his winter
cloak, scrolls and parchments with Carpus in Troas. 2 Timothy 4:13.
7. One of the last recorded requests Paul made was for Timothy to
bring his cloak, scrolls and parchments from Troas. 2 Timothy 4:13.
8. The Christians at Troas may have helped Paul during his second
imprisonment. If Timothy was able to retrieve the cloak, scrolls, and parchments
for Paul in prison, it may be that the Christians who remembered the
night of the long sermon 10 years earlier also sent along gifts to help
Paul in prison. If so, the place at which Paul received the vision of a
man to "come over to Macedonia" might have helped sustain the
old apostle until he received one more call.
Explanation of the 11
clues:
The explanation of each clue gives more information about this
interesting Bible city of Troas.
1. Julius Caesar (you remember, the guy who was in
love with Elizabeth Taylor) and Constantine the Great (his Edict of Milan
ended the Christian persecutions) both thought about making this town the
capital of the Roman Empire.
Both leaders saw the importance of Troas to the Roman Empire because
of its commerce and military significance. Off-site map link.
2. The region around this town was the jumping off
point for Greek and Roman heroic epics and Christianity in Europe.
Homer for the Greeks (the Iliad and the Odyssey) and Vergil for the
Romans (the Aeneid) write about Troy in their famous books. Off-site
link to Vergil summary.
Acts 16 states that Paul received a vision while in Troas that caused
him to change his travel plans and take the Gospel into Europe. Off-site
link to pictures of Paul's travels.
Although the human battles at Troy influenced the course of the West,
it was Paul’s vision on the plain of Troy at the town of Troas that
resulted in a businesswoman named Lydia being the first person in Europe
Paul led to Christ.
It is perhaps significant that the vision appeared to Paul in a city
that is not in Europe, but is so much associated with the foundation of
European civilization.
3. A famous doctor joined Paul’s travels in this
town.
The first "we" passages in Acts begin at Troas. Acts 16:10.
Luke was a Greek physician. He was the author of a two volume set of
books about Christianity. The books are the Gospel of Luke and Acts.
Luke started traveling with Paul at Troas and seems to have been with
Paul for much of the rest of Paul’s life. The Bible does not state
whether Luke met Paul before, but Troas is where the Bible places Luke
in Paul’s company for the first time. Off-site
link to picture and text about Luke joining Paul at Troas.
4. This was a safe city for Paul and his companions
to meet after a plot by the Jews to kill Paul.
It was Troas. On Paul’s third missionary journey, he decided to
sail from Greece back to Syria. The Jews planned to kill Paul. Instead
of taking a ship, Paul went by land through Macedonia while his
traveling companions went ahead by ship. They waited for Paul in Troas.
Acts 20:5.
5. Instead of taking a ship with the rest of his
companions, Paul left this town on foot and walked 20 miles south to the
city of Assos.
Matthew Henry, the great Bible commentator, notes that Homer wrote
that it was a tough road from Troas to Assos. But Homer wrote about 800
years before Paul made the trip and since Homer’s day, the Romans had
improved the roads to some degree. But still, Matthew Henry’s comment
is relevant. It seems that Paul was occupied by things other than the
easiest travel mode. Off-site
link to map of Paul's third missionary journey.
The 20 mile hike from Troas to Assos might have given Paul time to
reflect on that other road, the one to Damascus, and how his life had
been reversed by the experience.
On the road to Damascus, as Paul was
walking away from Jerusalem with orders from the Jewish priests, Paul
was going to put Christians in prison. Now 20 years later, Paul was
heading toward Jerusalem to be put in prison as a Christian.
After arriving at Assos, Paul got on board the ship and sailed to
Ephesus. His talk to the elders at Ephesus is a summation and review of his
20-year ministry. It is not surprising that after having had the time on
the road from Troas to think about his life, Paul’s talk to the elders
would have remarkable parallels to the commission Paul received from
Christ on the Damascus road. In a sense, Paul’s farewell speech at
Ephesus was Paul’s account of how he had been faithful to what he had
heard and seen on the road to Damascus. Acts 20:17. Link
to off-site map overview of third missionary journey.
6. At this town, and within six months after writing
Romans, his longest letter, Paul gives his longest sermon mentioned in
the Bible.
Contrary to the popular "Resume of a Preacher" which is a
humorous resume of Paul’s credentials to be a Pastor, Paul is not
shown in the Bible to be a long-winded speaker. The Troas all-night
service seems to be an exception. The letter to the Romans is Paul’s
most systematic work and it is possible that it served as the structure
for his long talk. Of course that is mere speculation, Paul had ample
things to talk about and he knew he might not pass that way again so he
could have not even mentioned Romans. He might have given a narrated
slide show of all his trips. Acts 20:7.
7. In this city, someone learned the hard way to
stay awake during church.
Eutychus fell asleep while Paul was talking in an upper room in
Troas. Eutychus fell three floors to his death, but Paul restored him to
life and continued talking until dawn. It happened at Troas. Acts 20:10.
8. The mention of a church service in this city on a
Sunday is one of the most popular Biblical proofs that the early church
met on Sunday rather than on the Jewish Sabbath.
Paul arrived in Troas on a Monday and stayed 7 days. On the Sunday, a
Communion service was held and Paul preached. Acts 20:7. It seems that
Sunday was the established day and even the arrival of the great apostle
and the fact that he would be leaving the following Monday was
insufficient reason to change the date of meeting to a more convenient
time.
As it was, Paul’s message could have been more comfortably spread
over two days, or held on a another day altogether so that it was not on
the day immediately before his departure. But it was clear that the
Troas church met on Sunday and that is when Paul would speak. And he
did, using up all of the time until he had to leave.
These considerations along with all the other evidence for meeting on
Sunday helped make Sunday the virtually universal day for Christians to
meet. If Luke had not recorded this event, the Biblical evidence for
meeting on Sunday would not be as strong, or more correctly, the clear
reference to meeting on Sunday would have been in later non-Biblical
writings.
Of course, for those who do not meet on Sunday, they perhaps see a
different situation — one in which this odd-ball group of Troas
Christians does meet on Sunday and Paul does his best to convince them
of their error — spending all night trying to convince them of their
mistake. And when Eutychus falls out the window, Paul must have pointed
and warned — "See what happens when you meet on Sunday!"
9. After the end of Acts, Paul was released from
house arrest and visited this city a fourth time.
After visiting Troas in about AD 57 AD, Paul finished his trip back
to Jerusalem, was arrested and spent about five years in Roman custody,
a house arrest actually. At this point Acts ends.
It seems that Paul was released from this house arrest by Emperor
Nero (of Rome-is-burning fame) in about 62 AD. Although it is
speculation, Paul may have celebrated his freedom by beginning a fourth
missionary trip. On this fourth journey he may have traveled to:
Spain (Romans 15:24);
Crete (Titus 1:5);
Miletus (2 Timothy 4:20);
Colosse (Philemon 22);
Ephesus (1 Timothy 1:3);
Troas (2 Timothy 4:13);
Philippi (Philippians 2:23, 1 Timothy 1:3);
Nicopolis (Titus 3:12); and
Rome (2 Timothy 1:17).
Paul’s fourth visit to Troas seems most likely to have occurred
after Paul went to Ephesus and before he went to Macedonia. Off-site
link to another site on all of Paul's four missionary journeys.
10. Paul’s final arrest while on his fourth
missionary journey may be associated with this city because of what he
left here and later requested be returned to him when he was in prison.
Paul left his winter cloak, his scrolls and parchments with Carpus in
Troas during Paul’s fourth missionary journey. 2 Timothy 4:13.
There appears to be a record that Paul made it to Crete, Ephesus,
Troas, Macedonia (Philippi), but there is no Biblical record that he
made it to Nicopolis as a free man.
We know that while in Troas, Paul left his winter cloak and books. 2
Timothy 4:13. If Paul was planning to spend the winter in Nicopolis as
part of a travel westward from Troas, it seems that he would have taken
his winter cloak and books with him when he left Troas if he had that
option. The fact that he left his cloak and books in Troas may suggest
that he had to leave Troas quickly because of more threats on his life
or perhaps because of an impending arrest. Of course, this is
speculation.
On Paul’s fourth missionary journey, Paul wrote 1 Timothy and Titus
from the city of Philippi or someplace else in Macedonia. These two
letters appear to be the last two Paul wrote while out of prison.
Tradition says that Paul was arrested again while on his fourth
missionary journey. There is speculation that he was arrested in
Philippi or somewhere else in Macedonia, or perhaps even in Nicopolis in
about 65 AD.
While in prison for a second and final time, Paul sent Timothy a
second letter. 2 Timothy is perhaps the last letter we have from Paul.
This time he is not held under house arrest as he had been the first
time. This time the prison cell is a cold dungeon. In 2 Timothy, Paul
makes one of his last requests we know of from the Biblical record. Paul
asks Timothy to try to come to him before winter and to bring Paul’s
cloak, his scrolls and especially the parchments that Paul had left with
Carpus in Troas. Off-site
link to pictures of Troas.
11. This town is deserted now, but is known today
as Eski Stamboul i.e., "Old Constantinople."
Troas may not have many people today, but it has an interesting
history. Paul did not spend the most time here, but Troas appears four
times in Paul’s life. Troas was the town of transitions.
Off-site
link to more great pictures of Troas.
Off-site
link to even more great pictures of Troas.
Off-site
link to good short summary of Troas |
