Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

fall, he would not have had sufficient time to sail from place to place before the sailing season ended on the 

Mediterranean (Acts 27:9 10). Spring is the most likely time for a series of missionary journeys, because the 

sailing weather allows many months of travel before the winter sets in. And, since Paul stayed in Corinth for 

about 1  year (Acts 18:11), he must have arrived in Corinth in the fall season. 

Paul in Asia 

    One way of determining the earliest date for Paul's arrest at Jerusalem is to examine the events of Acts 

between the time that Paul left Corinth, after his visit of 1  years (Acts 18:11), and the time that Paul arrived 

in Jerusalem, where his conflict with Ananias and his arrest occurred. As concluded above, Paul left Corinth 

in spring of 

A.D.

 38. He sailed for Syria, but along the way stopped at Cenchreae, Ephesus, and Caesarea (Acts 

18:18 22). Now Ephesus is located in that area of the world which was, at that time in history, called Asia 

(modern day Turkey). After spending some time in Antioch, which is in Syria, Paul traveled though Galatia 

and Phrygia, areas located just northeast of Asia (Acts 18:23). Paul soon returned to Ephesus (Acts 19:1), 

probably in the same calendar year, 

A.D.

 38. At Ephesus, Paul taught in the synagogue  for three months  

(Acts 19:8). 

    This period of time, 3 months, is not 3 times 30 days, nor is it necessarily three calendar months. Rather, the 

term  three months  means `a season,' that is, a time of roughly three months and corresponding to some 

season of the year. Elsewhere in Acts, the term three months is used to signify winter. For example, when Paul 

was shipwrecked on his way to Rome and they had to winter on the island of Malta, the length of time is 

described as  three months  (Acts 28:1, 11). Thus, Paul wintered in Ephesus and spent his time teaching in the 

synagogue. The people of Ephesus had requested that Paul remain with them at the time of an earlier visit 

(Acts 18:19 21). At that time Paul declined, but now he acceded to that request. 

    When some of the Jews rejected his teaching, Paul withdrew from them and taught  in the hall of 

Tyrannus  (Acts 19:9). Paul began by teaching the Jews in the synagogue. He moved to the hall of Tyrannus, 

a secular place where anyone might gather, so as to expand the reach of Christ's teaching to the Gentiles. 

 This continued for two years, so that all the residents of Asia heard the word of the Lord, both Jews and 

Greeks.  (Acts 19:10). If the three months that Paul taught in the synagogue were the winter of 

A.D.

 38/39, 

then the two years that Paul taught in the hall of Tyrannus would be 

A.D.

 39 and 40. Since the two years is not 

called  two whole years,  an expression used later in Acts (Acts 28:30), the two years could have been 

somewhat less that two full years, ending in late 

A.D.

 40.  This conclusion is confirmed by the subsequent 

passages in Acts. 

    Paul left Asia and traveled to Macedonia, then he spent three months in Greece. Here again the term  three 

months  is used to signify winter (Acts 20:3). This conclusion is made obvious by the subsequent verses, which 

refer to the  days of Unleavened Bread  (Acts 20:5) and to various journeys by boat on the Mediterranean. 

The days of Unleavened Bread are the days of Passover in the spring. Thus, after wintering in Greece, Paul 

began his travels again by boat about the time of the Passover. Paul's winter in Greece was therefore the 

winter of 

A.D.

 40/41, making the two years of Acts 19:10 the nearly two years of 

A.D.

 39 and 40 (not 

including the winter of 

A.D.

 38/39 or the winter of 

A.D.

 39/40). 

    After passing through Macedonia, Paul returned to Asia, to the cities of Troas, Assos, and Mitylene.

666

While in Mitylene (a city not far from Ephesus), he sent for the elders of the church at Ephesus and spoke to 

them at length. He spoke about the time he spent in Asia,   I lived among you all the time from the first day 

that I set foot in Asia .  (Acts 20:18). He called the length of time he spent teaching them in Asia three years: 

 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with 

tears.  (Acts 20:31). The three years would then be counted from the first time that Paul set foot in Asia, that 

is, when he arrived in Ephesus in early 

A.D.

 38, to the time of this speech, in early 

A.D.

 41, shortly after the 

time of Passover (Acts 20:6) and before the day of Pentecost (Acts 20:16). 

    Claudius died in October of 

A.D.

 39 (see chapter 13) and Nero succeeded him. The year 

A.D.

 40 was Nero's 

first full year as emperor and 

A.D.

 41 was Nero's 2nd year. The Romans generally counted the years of an 

emperor's reign from the first full calendar year after he gained the throne. (The main exception to this rule is 

found in the reign of Claudius, who became emperor so early in the year 

A.D.

 26, in January, that his first year 

is counted as that same year. 

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