Bible Strands
Acts 20:5
These men went on ahead and waited for us in Troas.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The narrator recounts a logistical arrangement during Paul’s journey, describing how a subset of companions traveled ahead while the main group followed. The account uses first-person plural language to place the narrator within the traveling party.
The words — προελθόντες (proelthontes) means “having gone ahead,” and ἔμενον (emenon) translates literally to “were awaiting.” These verbs establish a deliberate sequence of travel and coordinated arrival.
The thread — The city of Troas appears repeatedly in Paul’s travel narratives as a strategic transit point (Acts 16:8; Acts 16:10; 2 Corinthians 2:12). Each reference marks a pivot in the missionary movement rather than a permanent settlement.
Why it lands — The text records the practical coordination required for early church expansion, showing that mission work depended on organized travel and mutual reliance. It asks the reader to recognize the ordinary logistics behind extraordinary theological events.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
These going before tarried for us at Troas.
Cross-references
- Acts 16:8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.
- Acts 16:10 As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.
- 2 Corinthians 2:12 Now when I went to Troas to preach the gospel of Christ and a door stood open for me in the Lord,
- 2 Timothy 4:13 When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments.
- Acts 20:6 And after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, we sailed from Philippi, and five days later we rejoined them in Troas, where we stayed seven days.
- Acts 20:13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed to Assos, where we were to take Paul aboard. He had arranged this because he was going there on foot.