And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.
And this continued by the space of two years - in addition to the former three months. See the note at Acts 20:31. But during some part of this period he must have paid a second unrecorded visit to Corinth, since the one next recorded (see the notes at Acts 20:2-3) is twice called his third visit (2 Corinthians 12:14; 2 Corinthians 13:1). See the notes at 2 Corinthians 1:15-16, which might seem inconsistent with this. The passage across was quite a short one (see the note at Acts 18:19). Toward the close of this long stay at Ephesus, as we learn from 1 Corinthians 16:8, he wrote his FIRST EPISTLE TO THE CORINTHIANS; also (though on this opinions are divided), the EPISTLE TO THE GALATIANS. (See Introductions to those Epistles.) And just as at Corinth his greatest success was after his withdrawal to a separate place of meeting (Acts 18:7-10), so was it at Ephesus.
So that all they which dwelt in (Proconsular or Roman) Asia heard the word of the Lord [Jesus]. (The bracketed word "Jesus" here has scarcely any authority, and is evidently not genuine.)
Both Jews and Greeks. This is that "great door and effectual" which was "opened unto him" while resident at Ephesus, as he tells his Corinthian converts (1 Corinthians 16:8-9), and which induced him to make it his head quarters for so long a period. The unwearied and varied character of his labours here are best seen in his own subsequent address to the Elders of Ephesus, (Acts 20:17, etc.) And thus (as Baumgarten says) Ephesus became the 'ecclesiastical center for the entire region, as indeed it remained for a very long period.' Churches arose eastward, at Colesse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis, either through his own labours or those of his faithful helpers whom he sent out in different directions-Epaphras, Archippus, Philemon (Colossians 1:7; Colossians 4:12-17; Philem
23).