Acts 20:3 - Ellicott's Commentary On The Whole Bible

When the Jews laid wait for him... — In sailing for Syria, Cenchreæ would naturally be the port of embarkation, and St. Paul’s presence there may reasonably be connected with the mention of Phœbe, the deaconess of that church, in Romans 16:1. His intention was, however, frustrated. The malignant Jews of Corinth watched their opportunity. At Cenchreæ, amid the stir and bustle of a port, they might do what they had failed to do before. Here there was no Gallio to curb their fury, and throw the ægis of his tolerant equity over their victim. Their plans were laid, and their victim was to be seized and made away with as he was on the point of embarking. On hearing of the plot, the Apostle had to change his plans, and started with his companions for Macedonia, either travelling by land or taking a ship bound for one of its ports, instead of the one bound for Cæsarea, or Tyre, or Joppa. It is clear that the latter course would have baffled his murderers quite as much as the former.