But the brethren immediately sent away, in the night, Paul and Silas to Berea; who, being arrived, went away into the synagogue of the Jews.
Trouble in Thessalonica boiled over, and Paul's persecutors came looking for him. That same night the believers moved Paul and Silas out of the city to Berea. Was leaving in the dark a retreat? And what did God do with a work that looked cut short?
The decision to move was not Paul's alone. The mob hunted for Paul and never found him. The believers in the city then acted for him.
Paul and his companions were the ones chiefly wanted, but they were not found there. The believers saw that the door was shut against the work for the moment, so they sent Paul and Silas to Berea, a nearby city.
God's hand was there before any plan was made. The church left behind in Thessalonica is worth noting too.
The Lord had seen fit that their persecutors did not find Paul and Silas. The believers, however, thought it unwise for the two men to stay any longer, so they sent them away by night to avoid further trouble. We know from Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians that the church left behind in Thessalonica suffered serious persecution after this. Yet, young in the faith as they were, they kept up an outstanding witness to Christ and the gospel without Paul and Silas there to encourage them (1 Thess. 1).
Paul had a rule for moments like this, and it came from Jesus Himself.
"Always forward" was the great apostle's motto. He obeyed the Lord's instruction: "When they persecute you in this city, flee to another" (Matt. 10:23). So Paul and Silas left for Berea, now called Verria, or Kara Verria. It lay in another division of Macedonia — Macedonia Tertia — and so under a different government.
Refusing to walk into danger is not weak faith.
Everyone knows that it is easy to be a martyr in theory, and that those who are martyrs in theory are seldom martyrs in practice… Faith never teaches anyone to go looking for danger and trouble. It teaches us to walk the path of Christ in peace and thankfulness. The Lord has not called His servants to leave that path. Some of us may have been struck by this: the Lord told them that when they were persecuted in one city, they should flee to another. That is not chasing martyrdom. It is the very opposite.
On arrival they did not lie low. They walked into the synagogue, the Jewish meeting place, and started again.
It is a blessing to notice the tireless zeal of the Lord's servants. They had only just escaped the hatred stirred up by the Jews at Thessalonica. Yet the moment they reached Berea, we see them walking boldly into the synagogue. There they met a readiness of heart in searching the Scriptures that showed greater simplicity and real nobility of soul.
The change of city brought a change of atmosphere.
There they found a delightful change from Thessalonica. Instead of being met with bigotry and persecution, they found in the frequenters of the synagogue a readiness to hear the Word of God.
Paul's enemies got what they wanted. The result was not what they wanted.
Nothing is more wonderful than the way God often chooses to carry out His purposes… To human eyes it might look as if the enemies of the gospel had blocked the work by putting a stop to Paul's labours. But once again they only helped to spread the good news in other regions. Happy is the servant who has no will of his own and sees the Lord's hand in all his changing circumstances.
Paul left Thessalonica before he could finish teaching. That unfinished work stayed with him.
He felt there was something lacking in their faith, and he wanted to supply it (1 Thess. 3:10), because his work among them had been cut short. The hostility of the Jews had forced him out in a hurry (Acts 17:10). This, with many other reasons, gave him a special concern for them.
- Shut door. The believers saw the way closed in Thessalonica and moved Paul and Silas out. The Lord had already kept the mob from finding them.
- Night road. Leaving was obedience, not fear. The Lord told His servants to flee to another city when persecuted.
- Open synagogue. Fresh from a mob, they walked straight into the synagogue at Berea and started again. The people there tested what they heard against Scripture.
- Wider spread. Enemies cut Paul's work short in one city, and the good news only travelled further.
- Lasting letter. Paul never finished teaching the young believers he left behind, so he wrote to them instead.
And these were more noble than those in Thessalonica, receiving the word with all readiness of mind, daily searching the scriptures if these things were so.
After the jealousy and uproar at Thessalonica, Paul and Silas came to Berea and went straight into another synagogue. There they met a very different response. What exactly made these hearers "noble," and can anyone copy it?
The verse compares two cities that heard the same two preachers. The difference lay in how each city received them:
Not put off by what they had already been through, they looked for the Jews in that city and went into the synagogue. Here the people who attended gave them a better reception. They were not ready to receive the Word just on the authority of two strangers. So they searched the Scriptures daily, and proved that the new teaching was correct. Thessalonica had shown jealousy and uproar. Berea showed a readiness to weigh matters and fairness in listening.
So who exactly does the verse praise? Not a church. These were synagogue hearers who had not yet believed:
The context makes it clear that "these" and "those" refer to two groups of Jews. We read that Paul and Silas "went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica" (verses 10 and 11)... It could not have been a comparison of one set of Christians with another. At the time, there were no Christians in Berea. Verse 12 makes it very clear. Their faith in the gospel came after their searching of the Scriptures: "Therefore many of them believed."
"Readiness" cost these hearers something. What they had to give up was their standing as a privileged nation:
As Jews they were used to exclusive national privileges. The Gentiles were "far" from God but the Jews, at least outwardly, were near. But the gospel shows Jews and Gentiles on an equal footing: both are lost and in need of a Saviour. To accept this, a Jew would need to set aside national pride and privilege and bow to God's thoughts... This willingness to set aside prejudices, preconceived ideas, long cherished thoughts, and so on, in favour of God's word is a mark of true nobility.
One writer turns this on the reader, with a warning about the opposite fault:
We want him to "search the Scriptures" with an unbiased mind. We do not want him to form his convictions in the darkness of misrepresentation and prejudice. We want him to form them in the pure and holy light that Scripture sheds around him. And we lovingly urge him to watch against the tendency to think people are wrong just because their position differs from his own.
The verse does not only say they searched. It says they searched daily:
The Bereans won special commendation not simply for searching the Scriptures, but because they did so daily. It is easy to be diligent for one day. To be diligent day after day calls for perseverance. Daily is a hard and testing word... One great effort, or one heroic sacrifice, is easier by comparison. To keep following Christ day after day, without fuss, is the real test. It is not the man who starts well who wins the race, but the man who keeps going.
Notice who they tested. Not some unknown teacher — the apostle Paul:
Paul then carries the gospel to Berea, and Scripture tells us the Bereans were more noble than those in Thessalonica. And why? Because they held that the Scriptures (then the Old Testament) were the only balance God had given to test everything by. So they were "examining the Scriptures daily to see if these things were so." Yes — and God commended them for testing even the ministry of an inspired apostle by the Scriptures. Oh that people would do the same in our day!
Bowing to the word and testing the word are not rivals. Together they led many to believe:
Here they met such readiness of heart in searching the Scriptures that it showed a greater simplicity and real nobility of soul. To bow to the word, and to receive it as God's word — which it truly is — is the truest condition of divine blessing. Yet they still examined Scripture daily, to see whether the things preached agreed with the things written. Therefore many from among them believed. There is no way so sure or good.
- Noble — The word describes people in a synagogue who had not yet believed. God commends this state of mind before anyone believes.
- Ready — Nobility starts with a mind ready to drop pride, prejudice and long-held ideas when God's word says otherwise.
- Searching — Readiness alone is not nobility. They checked what they heard against the only authority that can settle anything.
- Daily — The commendation hangs on one word of perseverance. One day of diligence is easy. Day after day is the real test.
- Therefore — Ready hearing plus daily searching ended in faith. No surer or better way exists — even when an apostle is the one speaking.
Therefore many from among them believed, and of Grecian women of the upper classes and men not a few.
At Berea, Paul found a synagogue full of people willing to check his message against the Scriptures. Verse 12 is what came of that checking. Faith broke out, and it did not stop with the Jews.
The verse opens with a link back to the daily searching of verse 11. One writer draws out how demanding that searching was, and what it earned:
They verified what they heard based on the only true authority, the word of God. They searched the Scriptures. This was not a casual read, nor was it occasional. It was daily searching; diligent and constant seeking of the mind of God in His word. They did not have the luxury of online Bibles or Bible apps. They had to work through scrolls of handwritten text. But their zeal brought them a great reward: "Many of them therefore believed" (verse 12).
These hearers needed no miracles. One writer explains why:
With disciples such as these, miracles are not needed and would rather distract than help. The Word is itself the greatest of miracles. It is the voice of the Living God. That voice has sounded on through the ages, never silent, wherever there was an ear to hear. So the readiness to receive the gospel ripens into faith in these Bereans, as they search the Scriptures with vigorous determination, day by day.
They measured the preaching against the written word. One writer says no way of hearing is better:
To bow to the word, and to receive it as God's word — which it truly is — is the truest condition of divine blessing. Yet they still examined Scripture daily, to see whether the preaching agreed with the written word. Many of them therefore believed. There is no way so sure or good.
Verse 11 calls the Bereans "more noble." More noble than whom? Verse 12 helps settle it:
The context makes it clear that "these" and "those" refer to two groups of Jews — those in Berea and those in Thessalonica. It could not have been a comparison of one set of Christians with another. At the time, there were no Christians in Berea. Verse 12 is clear: their faith in the gospel followed their searching of the Scriptures. "Many of them therefore believed."
The verse names two more groups beyond the Jews:
Here again women of prominence are mentioned (Greeks) and men also, not a few. In this case, as in Thessalonica, though the work began in the synagogue, it was by no means confined to Jews. The Spirit of God has not thought it necessary to tell us, however, how the work progressed in Berea later.
For those Greek converts, believing meant a break with the whole shape of the life they had been living:
It was surely a deliverance beyond words. It freed them from degrading immorality and from empty myths. It turned them from a life of selfishness to serve the one and only true God, and to wait for His Son from heaven.
Two words of praise stand side by side here. One is for the searchers. One is for the women who believed:
Where there is uprightness of heart, and a true valuing of the Scripture, divine blessing will come. God does His work by His word received into the heart. God calls the Jews who searched the Scriptures "noble," and the women who believed were "honourable."
- Therefore — The verse hangs on one connecting word. Faith at Berea came after the daily searching, not instead of it.
- Tested — They weighed Paul's preaching against the written word. No way of hearing is surer or better.
- Proof — Faith followed the searching. So the people called "more noble" in verse 11 were not yet believers when Paul arrived.
- Reach — The work started in the synagogue. It did not stay there. Greek women of rank and Greek men believed too.
- Honour — God calls the searchers noble and the women honourable. His praise rests on hearts that value His word.
But when the Jews from Thessalonica knew that the word of God was announced in Berea also by Paul, they came there also, stirring up the crowds.
Paul had just escaped Thessalonica by night, and Berea welcomed his preaching — until his old opponents heard and travelled after him. Why would people who refuse a message go out of their way to stop others from hearing it?
Driving Paul out of one city was not enough for his opponents. One commentator notes where the trouble in Berea came from:
But Jewish anger was not content to drive the apostles out of Thessalonica. From Thessalonica the hostile Jews came to Berea to work against the preached word, stirring up and troubling the crowds there too.
This was not a short walk. Another writer gives the distance they covered, and sees the effort backfire:
When the Jews of Thessalonica heard of the success in Berea, they followed Paul to that town, about fifty miles away, and stirred up the people. The Devil always defeats himself, for he only drove the servants of Christ to other places, where they spread the gospel.
News that Paul was preaching in a new place was enough to set them moving:
How long they were there we are not told. But it was clearly only a short time before the militant Jews of Thessalonica heard of the Word preached in Berea, and came there to stir up the people against the Lord's servants. They not only rejected the message of grace themselves, but they were determined that others must not even hear it.
The verse calls the message "the word of God." One writer shows how Paul preached that word in the synagogues:
Acts 17:13 clearly shows the method the apostle used in his preaching. In the synagogues he found copies of the Law and the Prophets, which served his purpose. So he sought out the synagogues and proved to the Jews, from their own Scriptures, that Jesus of Nazareth was indeed the "Christ" to whom they bore witness. He it was who had suffered, as had been foretold, and had risen again from the dead.
Commentators give more than one reason for this hatred. One writer sees a pattern that repeats far beyond Berea:
But the unhappy Jews carry on their work, and come from Thessalonica to stir up the people against Paul and the others. It is sad to see their permanent hatred of the gospel. But it is always like this when truth sets aside an old religion and its followers refuse that truth.
Another traces it to pride in what is already held, and says it hardens when grace reaches outsiders:
Knowledge of old revelation gives no security for receiving the truth God is actually sending or using most at any given time. On the contrary, as we see in these Jews here and elsewhere, if there is pride in what someone already has, that pride will work powerfully to reject what God means to test the heart with now. This is especially so when grace is at work to open the door of faith to those who had no religious standing from of old. So of all things the gospel is the most repulsive to God's ancient people, who madly refused the mercy that waited on them first of all, before it was preached to the Gentiles.
Paul had to move on again, and new believers went with him. One writer counts what that escort cost them:
We can, however, pause to admire the devotion of those believers who escorted Paul, and did not leave him until he reached Athens. The sea voyage to Athens would take three to six days... So we may reckon the journey from Berea to Athens and back to have kept these believers away from home for between two and three weeks. But we are sure they grudged neither the time, the expense, nor the tiredness in caring for one who had ministered such blessings to their souls, cheering him and helping him on his way.
- Word preached. Paul proved from the Law and the Prophets that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ who suffered and rose. That is the message his opponents stirred the crowds against.
- Word resented. Pride in truth already held can turn a person against the truth God is pressing now. It hardens further when grace reaches people with no religious standing.
- Word hunted. These opponents refused the message. Then they travelled fifty miles to stop others from hearing it.
- Word protected. New believers took Paul to safety, spending weeks and money to see him all the way to Athens.
- Word spread. The effort to silence Paul only moved him on to fresh ground — the enemy defeats himself.
And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as to the sea; but Silas and Timotheus abode there.
Persecution from Thessalonica followed Paul fifty miles to Berea, and the believers there rushed him out of the city. Why did Paul run, what does the phrase about the sea mean, and why were Silas and Timothy left behind?
One writer sees Paul's flight as obedience to an instruction given long before:
Long before, the Lord had also laid down a general principle: "When they persecute you in one town, flee to the next" (Matt. 10:23). Paul and his companions plainly carried out this principle later, even to shaking the dust off their feet (Acts 14:6, Acts 17:10-14).
The same wisdom shaped his route out of Berea and his choice of companions:
Again wisdom says Paul should leave Berea. He went toward the sea with others who seem to have known the area, but left Silas and Timothy behind.
Some texts read "as if to the sea," which hints at a trick to send the pursuers down the wrong road. Commentators differ here. One argues from the oldest manuscripts that no trick is in the text at all:
"As far as to the sea" they went. That is how the oldest manuscripts read. They do not say "as if to the sea." Some could take that other reading as a decoy to throw pursuers off the scent. At what point they embarked for Athens is not stated.
Another writer keeps the idea of a trick, and sees the hostility aimed at Paul in particular:
The Thessalonian Jews hated the Word of God so much that they chased Paul all the way to Berea. Faced with more trouble, Paul slipped away to Athens and outwitted his pursuers with a simple trick. Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea, since the hostility now fell on Paul in particular.
Escorting Paul cost the Bereans more than a walk to the city gate:
The believers in Berea, new converts as they all were, cared for Paul and sent him away as far as the sea. Some even went with him to Athens... We can pause to admire the devotion of those brothers who escorted Paul. They did not leave him until he reached Athens. The sea voyage to Athens would take a little time, say from three to six days... So the journey from Berea to Athens and back would have kept these brothers away from home for two to three weeks. But we are sure they grudged none of it — not the time, not the cost, not the weariness. They cared for this man, cheered him, and helped him on his way. He had brought such blessing to their souls, and his weak eyesight may also have made him more dependent on others. Brotherly love was active in them.
Their later movements show how Paul kept using them for churches he could not reach himself:
Paul had been driven by persecution from Thessalonica, then from Berea to Athens. Alone at Athens for a time (Acts 17), he sent word for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed (17:15). Evidently Timothy at least had done so. As to Silas, it does not seem clear. But Paul then sent Timothy from Athens to Thessalonica. He could not go himself, and no doubt he hated losing Timothy's help. Later both Silas and Timothy rejoined Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:5). As for where Silas was in the meantime, Scripture seems to give no hint.
The work at Berea was cut short. One writer reads that interruption the other way round:
To human eyes, the enemies of the gospel seemed to have stopped the work by cutting Paul's labours short. But once again they only helped spread the good news into other regions. Happy is the servant who has no will of his own. He sees the Lord's hand in all his changing circumstances. He can discern His mind in everything that comes up in his path.
Another writer states it briefly:
But with all this, the enemy does nothing but order the path of the gospel, according to the will of God.
- Hostility starts the path. Jews from Thessalonica came to Berea to stir up the crowds, and their hostility fell on Paul in particular.
- Wisdom chooses the path. Leaving obeyed the Lord's own instruction to flee to the next town.
- Love escorts along the path. New believers in Berea gave two to three weeks, their money and their strength to bring Paul to Athens.
- Co-workers hold the ground behind. Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea and rejoined Paul later. Paul then sent Timothy back to Thessalonica and stood alone.
- God ordered the path all along. The enemy seemed to stop the work. In fact he drove the gospel where God wanted it next.
But they that conducted Paul brought him as far as Athens; and, having received a commandment to Silas and Timotheus, that they should come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.
This verse reads like a travel note. Behind it lie a violent expulsion from Berea, a servant left waiting alone in a strange city, and the moves that led to Paul's letters to Thessalonica.
Paul is in Athens because his enemies drove him out of Berea. One writer sees those enemies serving God's plan without meaning to.
A few brothers conduct Paul to Athens, and he sends an order to Silas and Timothy to join him there at once. But with all this, the enemy does nothing but arrange the path of the gospel, according to the will of God.
Another writer draws out how a servant should read such setbacks:
To human eyes, it might seem that the enemies of the gospel had stopped Paul's labours and so hindered the work. But once again they only helped to spread the good news in other regions. Happy is the servant who has no will of his own! He sees the Lord's hand in all his changing circumstances, and he can discern His mind in everything that comes up in his path.
The verse does not say how many men went with Paul, or how far they walked. One writer supplies both.
More than one person went with Paul to Athens, over 200 miles away. On their return they brought an order for Silas and Timothy to join him with all speed.
Athens was where Paul was heading, and where he called his companions to meet him. One writer looks ahead to what the visit produced:
Athens, as we shall see, was not destined to be a fruitful field for the incorruptible seed, the living and abiding word of God.
Paul told his companions to come fast. Then he waited in Athens instead of preaching. One writer treats that pause as a real question about the servant's motives.
It is a remarkable thing that the apostle's mind does not seem to have been set on service in Athens. Even in his coming to the place, those who accompanied him seem to have decided where he went. And now that he has arrived, he did not begin preaching at once, as at Thessalonica and Berea. He waited for Silas and Timothy. Had he left Berea unwillingly? We cannot tell; but one thing is certain: the servant is often in danger of being governed by his affections rather than by the Lord's will.
The same writer does not leave it as a criticism. Whatever Paul felt, he adds, the Lord was controlling His devoted servant and preparing him for new work in His own way.
Why did Paul have to send for Silas and Timothy at all? One writer explains why they had stayed behind.
Silas and Timothy remained at Berea, because clearly the hostility was now aimed especially at Paul. So on his visit to Athens, Paul was solitary and alone as far as his service went. Athens was the great centre of Greek culture and wisdom.
The order in this verse starts a chain of travels. Scripture traces only part of it.
Alone at Athens for a time (Acts 17), he sent word for Silas and Timothy to come to him with all speed (17:15). Evidently Timothy at least had done so. As to Silas, it does not seem clear. But Paul then sent Timothy from Athens to Thessalonica. He could not go himself, and he was no doubt reluctant to be without Timothy's help. Later both Silas and Timothy rejoined Paul at Corinth (Acts 18:5). As for Silas's movements in the meantime, Scripture seems to give no indication.
Out of these travels came Paul's first letter to Thessalonica. Where did he write it? One writer weighs the old claim that it came from Athens:
The Authorized Version has a postscript, "written from Athens." … Paul wrote the Epistle after Timothy had returned from his visit to Thessalonica. … Timothy came from Thessalonica with the good news of the happy state of the Thessalonian church and joined the apostle in Corinth (Acts 18:5). From Corinth Paul wrote this first Epistle.
- Driven. Opponents forced Paul out of Berea. The enemy only arranged the gospel's route, according to the will of God.
- Escorted. Believers travelled more than 200 miles with him, then carried his order back to Berea.
- Charged. Paul sent for his fellow workers at speed, then waited instead of preaching. One writer warns that a servant can be governed by his affections rather than by the Lord's will.
- Alone. The hostility now targeted Paul, so he faced the great centre of Greek culture on his own.
- Fruitful anyway. The summons set off Timothy's travels, and out of them came Paul's first letter to Thessalonica — written, one writer argues, from Corinth.