And {1} it came to pass, that after we were gotten from them, and had launched, we came with a straight course unto Coos, and the day following unto Rhodes, and from thence unto Patara:

(1) Not only ordinary men, but even our friends, and such as are endued with the Spirit of God, sometimes go about to hinder the course of our calling: but it is our part to go forward without any stopping or staggering, after we are sure of our calling from God.

People's New Testament

21:1 Paul Seized in the Temple

SUMMARY OF ACTS 21:

The Voyage to Tyre. The Prayer-Meeting on the Seashore. Abiding with Philip the Evangelist in Caesarea. The Prophecy of Agabus. The Importunity of the Disciples That Paul Should Not Go to. Jerusalem. The Meeting of Paul with James and the Elders at Jerusalem. Their Request That He Should Disarm Prejudice by a Nazarite Vow. The Attempt to Kill Him in the Temple. The Rescue by the Chief Captain.

After we were gotten from them. Chrysostom, himself, a Greek, says the Greek word apospao means had torn away.

Coos. A small island, famous for its wines, forty miles south of Miletus. Hippocrates, the great physician, and Apelles, the painter, were born here.

Rhodes. Fifty miles further south, one of the most famous islands of the world, noted for its beauty, its Colossus, its defense by the Knights of St. John against the Turks, and for giving its name to one of the American states.

Patara. On the coast of Lydia. Here he took another ship, this probably being the destination of the first.

Wesley's Notes

21:1 And when we were torn away from the in - Not without doing violence both to ourselves and them.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

CHAPTER 21

Ac 21:1-16. Sailing from Ephesus, They Land at Tyre, and Thence Sailing to Ptolemais, They Proceed by Land to Cæsarea and Jerusalem.

1. we were gotten-"torn."

from them-expressing the difficulty and pain of the parting.

with a straight course-running before the wind, as Ac 16:11.

unto Coos-Cos, an island due south from Miletus, which they would reach in about six hours, and coming close to the mainland.

the day following unto Rhodes-another island, some fifty miles to the southeast, of brilliant classic memory and beauty.

thence unto Patara-a town on the magnificent mainland of Lycia, almost due east from Rhodes. It was the seat of a celebrated oracle of Apollo.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

21:1-7 Providence must be acknowledged when our affairs go on well. Wherever Paul came, he inquired what disciples were there, and found them out. Foreseeing his troubles, from love to him, and concern for the church, they wrongly thought it would be most for the glory of God that he should continue at liberty; but their earnestness to dissuade him from it, renders his pious resolution the more illustrious. He has taught us by example, as well as by rule, to pray always, to pray without ceasing. Their last farewell was sweetened with prayer.