He suffered him to go to. Paul might have hid himself [1] in a large city, which joined to the sea; but he was bound with the oracle, that he could not withdraw himself from the calling of God. Again, because the centurion had so courteously entertained him, that he suffered him to go to his friends, that they might dress and refresh him, whom he might have left in the stinking ship, [2] he ought not nor could he provide for his own life, with the other man's danger, without filthy treachery. [3] Neither must we in any case suffer those who have courteously intreated us to be deceived by their courtesy through our fault. Let the readers fet [seek] the voyage whereof Luke speaketh out of those which describe places and countries; [4] only I say thus much, that all that which is said tendeth to this end, that we may know that their sailing was dangerous and tempestuous, after that they were once gone out of the haven of Sidon, until they came near to Melita; and that afterward the mariners did strive long time with contrary winds, until a cruel storm [5] arose, whose end was shipwreck, as we shall see.

Footnotes

1 - "Latebras nancisci poterat," might have found a place of concealment.

2 - "Navis prodore," the stench of the ship.

3 - "Turpi perfidia," base perfidy.

4 - "Ex geographis," out of geographers.

5 - "Saevior procella," a fiercer storm.

We touched at Sidon - See the notes on Matthew 11:21. Sidon was about 67 miles north of Caesarea, and the passage could be easily accomplished, under favorable circumstances, in 24 hours. It is probable that the vessel, being a "coaster," put in there for purposes of trade. Sidon is the last city on the Phoenician coast in which the presence of the apostle can be traced.
And Julius courteously entreated Paul - Treated him kindly or humanely.
And gave him liberty - The same thing had been done by Felix, Acts 24:23.
Unto his friends - In Sidon. Paul had frequently traveled in that direction in going to and returning from Jerusalem, and it is not improbable, therefore, that he had friends in all the principal cities.
To refresh himself - To enjoy the benefit of their care; to make his present situation and his voyage as comfortable as possible. It is probable that they would furnish him with many supplies which were needful for his long and perilous voyage.

Touched at Sidon - For some account of this place, see the notes on Matthew 11:21; and Acts 12:20.
Julius courteously entreated Paul - At the conclusion of the preceding chapter, it has been intimated that the kind treatment which Paul received, both from Julius and at Rome, was owing to the impression made on the minds of Agrippa and Festus, relative to his innocence. It appears that Julius permitted him to go ashore, and visit the Christians which were then at Sidon, without using any extraordinary precautions to prevent his escape. He was probably accompanied with the soldier to whose arm he was chained; and it is reasonable to conclude that this soldier would fare well on St. Paul's account.

And the next day we touched at Sidon,.... This was a famous city in Phoenicia, upon the northern border of the land of Israel; it was a maritime place, and noted for trade and navigation; Mela (q) calls it rich Sidon, and the chief of the maritime cities; Jerom (r) calls it the ancient city Sidon; and Curtius says (s) it was renowned for the antiquity and fame of its founders; it is thought to be built by Sidon, the firstborn of Canaan, Genesis 10:15 from whom it took its name; so Josephus (t) affirms, that Sidonius, as he calls him, built a city in Phoenicia after his own name, and it is called by the Greeks Sidon; some say it was built by Sidus the son of Aegyptus, and named after him: according to R. Benjamin (u) it was a day's journey from hence to Tyre; and with others (w), it was not more than two hundred furlongs, about twelve or thirteen miles, which was another city of Phoenicia, as this was: Jerom's (x) account of Sidon is this,
"Sidon, a famous city of Phoenicia, formerly the border of the Canaanites, to the north, situated at the foot of Mount Libanus, and the artificer of glass:''
and so Pliny (y) calls it, it being famous for the making of glass; and Herodotus (z) speaks of it as a city of Phoenicia: Justin the historian says (a) it was built by the Tyrians, who called it by this name from the plenty of fish in it; for the Phoenicians call a fish "Sidon": and indeed Sidon or Tzidon seems to be derived from "Tzud", which signifies "to fish"; and the place is to this day called Said or Salt; and so R. Benjamin calls it Tzaida (b): to this city they came from Caesarea, the day following that they set out on, and here they stopped awhile:
and Julius courteously treated Paul; the centurion into whose hands the apostle was delivered, used him with great humanity and civility; he found grace in his sight, as Joseph did in the sight of Potiphar, and as he himself had done before with Lysias, Felix, Festus and Agrippa:
and gave him liberty to go unto his friends to refresh himself; for as there were disciples at Tyre, Acts 21:3 so it seems there were at Sidon, both which cities were in Phoenicia, and are often mentioned together; and the apostle was allowed to go ashore, and visit his friends, and be refreshed by them, both in body and spirit, and be provided for by them with things convenient for his voyage. It is highly probable that there was here a Gospel church, but by whom planted cannot be said; our Lord himself was at the borders of this place, Matthew 15:21 and the ministers of the word scattered at the death of Stephen, went as far as Phoenicia preaching the Gospel, Acts 11:19 and that there were brethren there, appears from note on: See Gill on Acts 15:3, in which country Sidon was: in the "third" century there was a church in this place, and Zenobius was presbyter of it, who suffered martyrdom under Dioclesian (c); in the "fourth" century there was a bishop of the church here, at the synod held at Nice; in the "fifth" century the bishop of the Sidonians, in the council of Chalcedon, declared his opinion with others against Dioscorus, whose name was Damianus; in the "sixth" century, mention is made of a bishop of Sidon, in the acts of the council held at Rome and Constantinople, and in the same century a synod met at Sidon, in the 20th year of Anastasius the emperor (d): the account of the bishops of Sidon, as given by Reland (e), is as follows; Theodorus bishop of Sidon subscribed in the first Nicene council, in the year 325; Paulus subscribed in the first council at Constantinople, in the year 381; Damianus was in the council held at Chalcedon, in the year 451; Megas is mentioned in the acts and epistles subjoined to the Chalcedon council; Andreas, bishop of this place, is taken notice of in a letter of John of Jerusalem.
(q) De orbis Situ, l. 1. c. 12. (r) Epitaph. Paulae, Tom. I. fol. 58. (s) Hist. l. 4. c. 1. (t) Antiqu. l. 1. c. 6. sect. 2. (u) Itinerar. p. 85. (w) Reland. Palestina Illustrata, l. 2. p. 433, 510. (x) De locis Hebraicis, fol. 96. I. (y) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 19. & l. 36. c. 26. (z) Euterpe, c. 116. & Thalia, c. 136. (a) Hist. ex Trogo, l. 18. c. 3. (b) Itinerar. p. 34. (c) Euseb. Eccl. Hist. l. 8. c. 13. (d) Magdeburg. Hist. Eccl. cent. 4. c. 2. p. 2. cent. 5. c. 2. p. 2. c. 10. p. 551. cent. 6. c. 2. p. 3. c. 3. p. 17. c. 9. p. 243. (e) Palestina Illustrata, l. 3. p. 1014.

next day we touched at Sidon--To reach this ancient and celebrated Mediterranean port, about seventy miles north from CÃ&brvbr;sarea, in one day, they must have had a fair wind.
Julius courteously--(See on Acts 27:1).
gave him liberty to go to his friends--no doubt disciples, gained, it would seem, by degrees, all along the Phœnician coast since the first preaching there (see on Acts 11:19 and Acts 21:4).
to refresh himself--which after his long confinement would not be unnecessary. Such small personal details are in this case extremely interesting.

The next day we touched at Sidon. The next after sailing. Sidon was about sixty-seven miles north of CÃ&brvbr;sarea. Here the centurion suffered Paul to go ashore to see his friends, the disciples in Sidon.

Julius treating Paul courteously - Perhaps he had heard him make his defence.