Acts 15:36 to Acts 16:5. Shorter Account of Paul's Journey In Asia Minor. The editor's hand is apparent throughout this section. We know from Galatians 2:13 the real reason of Paul's difference with Barnabas, which was one of principle; here it is reduced to a personal matter. Instead of Titus, who (Galatians 2:3) was not compelled to be circumcised, we have Timothy, who was circumcised by Paul (Acts 16:1-3). In Acts 16:4 Paul acts as a delegate of the Jerusalem church, handing to the faithful, city by city, the judgments of that church, to which in his epistles he pays no regard. In Acts 16:5 the result of the journey is summed up in a general statement such as that at Acts 12:24; cf. Acts 9:31; Acts 11:21; and at Acts 16:6 we find we are in the substantial and authentic narrative of the Travel-document, which thenceforward supplies the thread of the story.
Acts 15:36. The statement of time is vague; the object stated for the new journey keeps up the continuity of the narrative; Paul may be supposed to have had larger ideas. The difference with Barnabas and that with Mark were afterwards forgotten (Acts 13:13 *); here the Gr. states, with an emphasis lost in RV, that Paul had a very strong objection to Mark as a companion; he would take anyone but him. He chose Silas, the Jerusalem prophet and leading man, who was his close companion up to Corinth, took part in founding the church there (2 Corinthians 1:19), and is associated with Paul as fellow-writer of 1 and 2 Th., after which he appears no more with Paul, but with Peter (1 Peter 5:12). Of the journey the account is meagre; it has been told already. The land route is chosen this time, Barnabas taking Mark by the former sea route. Cilicia is traversed, but there is no mention of Tarsus. Derbe, the last stage of the former journey, is now the first, Lycaonia being entered from the south. Companions of travel are enlisted on the way, in particular Timothy (see Moffatt, EBi. 5074). He is a native of Lystra (but see Acts 20:4 *), and is favourably known among believers there and at Iconium. Paul's circumcising him is contrary to the principle stated in Galatians 5:2, and is thought by many eminent scholars to be an invention of the editor to counteract what is said about Titus in Galatians 2:3. It is more credible, however, that the circumcision did take place, Timothy being half a Jew by birth, as Titus was not, and Paul seeking to avoid offence to the Jews among whom he was to travel. Acts 16:4 belongs to the editor's scheme and is scarcely historical. The phrases are those used to describe imperial rescripts (cf. Luke 2:1); the apostles and elders as a supreme authority have ordained them.