Acts 27:1-5
 
Acts 27:1 (KJB)
And when it was determined that we should sail into Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners unto one named Julius, a centurion of Augustus' band.
 
Since Paul had made his appeal unto Caesar, it was only but a short time before the arrangements were made to send Paul off to Rome. It seems that Luke was with him during this trip since Paul really committed no crimes plus while he was under house arrest, he was allowed to have visitors. Luke was with Paul probably to minister to him and help him out in any matters that he had. Notice in this verse Paul is called a prisoner as he is considered to be as one of the “other” prisoners. The centurion which was given the responsibility of escorting the prisoners to Rome was named Julius and he was a member of the cohort which was directly responsible to the Emperor. “Cohort I Augustus” had its headquarters in the province of Batanaea which was northeast of Israel and Decapolis. From the kindness he showed Paul, Julius may have been present at his hearing.
 
Acts 27:2 (KJB)
And entering into a ship of Adramyttium, we launched, meaning to sail by the coasts of Asia; one Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
 
Paul had to take three different ships on his trip to Italy. The first ship was a ship from Adramyttium which was harbored at Caesarea. Adramyttium was located on the west coast of Mysia. So the first part of this journey was a long one. Accompanying Paul was Luke and Aristarchus from the city of Thessalonica. (Acts 19:29 KJV) And the whole city was filled with confusion: and having caught Gaius and Aristarchus, men of Macedonia, Paul's companions in travel, they rushed with one accord into the theatre. Aristarchus was one of the men which the crowd in Ephesus, led by Demetrius, grabbed and took into the amphitheater. He may have also spent time in prison with Paul. (Col 4:10 KJV) Aristarchus my fellowprisoner saluteth you, and Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas, (touching whom ye received commandments: if he come unto you, receive him;)
 
Acts 27:3 (KJB)
And the next day we touched at Sidon. And Julius courteously entreated Paul, and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself.
 
The following day the shipped docked at Sidon which was 67 miles (108 km) from their starting point. Julius had treated Paul very kindly and had enough trust in him to allow him to be free to visit with his friends. This is the only mention of Paul being in Sidon. He had not founded a church there but it was obvious that there was a thriving church in Sidon where Paul was able to visit while the ship was docked. This may have been a church planted from the visit to Samaria by Philip. The believers in Sidon had known of Paul and it was a great treat for them to have him visit with them.
 
Acts 27:4 (KJB)
And when we had launched from thence, we sailed under Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.
 
There is nothing written stating how long they stayed in Sidon, it may have been a couple of days to load and off load merchandise and then get the ship ready to sail again but that is just a speculation. Then when the ship was ready they launched but instead of sailing directly from Sidon to Myra, they had to sail under the island of Cyprus because they were experiencing a contrary west wind, which caused them to take the longer route. Cyprus is 141 miles ( 227km) long so they had to sail the length of it and then go north of the island.
 
Acts 27:5 (KJB)
And when we had sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
 
The north side of Cyprus had brought them to the opposite coast of Cilicia, which was Paul’s home province. Then they sailed along the coast of Cilicia and then Pamphylia and came to the port city of Myra in the province of Lycia. Myra was built on a cliff about two miles from the coast line. The ruins of Myra are very well preserved, in fact, better than most of the ancient cities. It had been a Roman province since 53 A.D. Myra was a very prosperous city.

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