SEV Biblia, Chapter 23:31
Y los soldados, tomando a Pablo como les era mandado, le llevaron de noche a Antípatris.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 23:31
Verse 31. Antipatris.] This place, according to Josephus, Antiq. lib. xiii. cap. 23, was anciently called Capharsaba, and is supposed to be the same which, in 1 Macc. vii. 31, is called Capharsalama, or Carphasalama. It was rebuilt by Herod the Great, and denominated Antipatris, in honour of his father Antipater. It was situated between Joppa and Caesarea, on the road from Jerusalem to this latter city. Josephus says it was fifty stadia from Joppa. The distance between Jerusalem and Caesarea was about seventy miles.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 31. Then the soldiers, as it was commanded them, took Paul , etc.] Out of the castle, and put him upon a beast, as the chief captain had ordered the centurions, and they had directed the soldiers to do: and brought him by night to Antipatris : they set out from Jerusalem at the third hour, or about nine oclock at night, and travelled all night, and by break of day came to Antipatris; a city which lay in the road from Jerusalem to Caesarea: it was built by Herod the great, in the best soil of his kingdom, enriched with rivers and woods f1171 ; and was so called by him, in memory of his father Antipater; it before went by the name of Chabar Zaba f1172 , or Capharsaba; the Jewish writers place it in the utmost borders of the land of Judea f1173 ; hence that phrase so often used by them, from Gebath to Antipatris f1174 , in like sense as from Dan to Beersheba, these two places being the utmost borders of the land; here it was that Simon the just, with some of the principal inhabitants of Jerusalem, met Alexander the great, who travelled all night, as these soldiers with Paul did, and came to Antipatris at sun rising f1175 . It was forty two miles from Jerusalem. It was in the road from Judea to Galilee, as appears from the following canon of the Jews, concerning divorces f1176 ; if a husband says to his wife, lo, this is thy divorce, if I do not come thirty days hence, and he goes from Judea to Galilee, and comes to Antipatris and returns, it becomes void: the way from Jerusalem to Caesarea lay through Nicopolis, Lydda, Antipatris, and Betthar; from Jerusalem to Nicopolis, according to the old Jerusalem Itinerary f1177 , were twenty two miles; from thence to Lydda, ten miles; and from Lydda to Antipatris ten more (which make forty two miles, as before observed); and from Antipatris to Betthar ten miles, and from thence to Caesarea, sixteen more: so that when the apostle was at Antipatris, he had twenty six miles more to go to Caesarea; and hence it appears, that the length of the journey from Jerusalem to Caesarea was sixty eight miles; though Josephus makes the distance to be six hundred furlongs, or seventy five miles: and that the way from the one to the other lay through the places before mentioned, may be illustrated from what the same writer says, of some persons travelling from Caesarea to Jerusalem; so he relates f1179 , concerning Quadratus governor of Syria, that from Tyre he came to Caesarea, from Caesarea to Lydda, and from Lydda to Jerusalem; and of Cestius the Roman general, he says f1180 , that from Caesarea he came to Antipatris, and from Antipatris to Lydda, and from Lydda to Jerusalem, which clearly seems to be the same road the apostle went; and so Jerom f1181 , in the account he gives of the journey of Paula, says, that she came to Caesarea, where she saw the house of Cornelius, the cottage of Philip, and the beds of the four virgin prophetesses; and from thence to Antipatris, a little town half pulled down, which Herod called after his fathers name; and from thence to Lydda, now Diospolis, famous for the resurrection of Dorcas, and the healing of Aeneas. Antipatris is, by Ptolomy f1182 , placed at the west of Jordan, and is mentioned along with Gaza, Lydda, and Emmaus; some take it to be the same with Capharsalama, mentioned in: Nicanor also, when he saw that his counsel was discovered, went out to fight against Judas beside Capharsalama: (1 Maccabees 7:31) and others say, it is the same that is since called Assur or Arsuf, a town on the sea coast, which is not likely, since it does not appear that Antipatris was a maritime city. The apostle could not now stay to preach the Gospel in this place, nor do we elsewhere read or hear of a Gospel church state in it, until the fifth century; when it appears there was a church here, and Polychronius was bishop of it, who was present at the council of Chalcedon, held in the year 451; and in the eighth century there were many Christians dwelt here, for in the year 744 there were many of them killed by the Arabians.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 25-35 - God has instruments for every work. The natural abilities and mora virtues of the heathens often have been employed to protect his persecuted servants. Even the men of the world can discern between the conscientious conduct of upright believers, and the zeal of fals professors, though they disregard or understand not their doctrina principles. All hearts are in God's hand, and those are blessed who pu their trust in him, and commit their ways unto him __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
οι 3588 T-NPM μεν 3303 PRT ουν 3767 CONJ στρατιωται 4757 N-NPM κατα 2596 PREP το 3588 T-ASN διατεταγμενον 1299 5772 V-RPP-ASN αυτοις 846 P-DPM αναλαβοντες 353 5631 V-2AAP-NPM τον 3588 T-ASM παυλον 3972 N-ASM ηγαγον 71 5627 V-2AAI-3P δια 1223 PREP της 3588 T-GSF νυκτος 3571 N-GSF εις 1519 PREP την 3588 T-ASF αντιπατριδα 494 N-ASF
Vincent's NT Word Studies
31. Took (analabontev). Lit., "having taken up." Compare set Paul on, verse 24.To Antipatris. A hard night's ride: forty miles.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
23:31 {As it was commanded them} (kata to diatetagmenon autois). "According to that which was commanded them," perfect passive articular participle of diatassw. {By night} (dia nuktos). Through the night, travelling by night forty miles from Jerusalem to Antipatris which was founded by Herod the Great and was on the road from Jerusalem to Caesarea, a hard night's ride.
