Brief Summary of Paul's Visits
Summary of Troas in the Bible — a transition city
1. Caesar
2. Epic poems
3. Doctor joins
4. Safe meeting
5. The road from Troas
6. Long sermon
7. Eutychus
8. Sunday service
9. Fourth visit
10. Cloak and books
11. Old Constantinople
The answer is the city 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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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.
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.