While in the city of Troas, Paul spends the night teaching the Troas believers. One of them, a young boy, falls asleep and drops out of a window to his death. Paul embraces the boy’s body and he comes back to life. Everyone is relieved. Paul then teaches until dawn, before leaving the city.
Acts 20:7-12Acts 20:7-12 commentary records the accidental death of a young believer, whom God resurrects through Paul’s hand.
In the previous section of Acts 20Acts 20 commentary, commentary Paul began a lengthy return journey from Greece back to the Middle East, landing at Troas. Initially he wanted to sail from Corinth to Antioch, Syria, but he learned of a plot against his life, so he diverted and went north into Macedonia before eventually making his way to Troas.
Traveling with him are seven believers from Galatia, Asia, and Macedonia. Paul reunites with Luke, the author of the book of Acts, in Philippi. They sail together across the Aegean Sea and make port in the city of Troas in the Roman province of Asia (modern-day Turkey).
While in Troas, tragedy occurs.
On the seventh day of their stay in Troas (Acts 20:6Acts 20:6 commentary), there is a gathering of believers:
On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight (v. 7).
This gathering was On the first day of the week, which on the Jewish calendar is Sunday, the same as our modern Gregorian calendar. Luke does not specify at what hour this gathering began, but it went very late into the night. Paul was intending to leave the city of Troas on the next day. The plan was for Paul’s companions (Timothy, Luke, and several others) to sail along the western Anatolian coast down to the city of Assos, while Paul would travel on land and meet them there (Acts 20:13Acts 20:13 commentary).
But during this final evening in Troas, Paul began talking to the believers in Troas when we were gathered together to break bread. Luke uses we again here in verse 7, noting that he was personally at this event. While Luke and the other believers gathered in that house in Troas were sharing a meal, probably supper, Paul began a farewell address or sermon. If possible, Paul tended to give farewell talks to the disciples before leaving their city (Acts 14:23Acts 14:23 commentary, 16:4016:40 commentary).
Whatever Paul was saying in this farewell speech, he talked late for a long time. Luke will give us a sampling of a Pauline farewell speech later in this chapter (Acts 20:18-36Acts 20:18-36 commentary). However, in this case Paul spoke for many hours, so much so that he prolonged his message until midnight (v. 7).
Luke notes that the room was well lit:
There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together (v. 8).
Obviously there were no electric lights in the first century, so if a group of people gathered together in the upper room of a house during that time period, they would want to light many lamps, because otherwise the room would be completely dark.
Since Paul kept speaking his messageuntil midnight, some who were gathered there began to feel drowsy. Despite the many lamps lighting the upper room where they were gathered, it was late. Half the night was gone.
Luke tells us of a shocking and horrible interruption of Paul’s message:
And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead (v. 9).
This young man named Eutychus is sitting on the window sill (or “at the window,” depending on how this phrase is translated). He is tired, and it is midnight, so his body naturally drifts off into sleep all the while Paul kept on talking. Luke describes him as sinking into a deep sleep, giving the picture of someone slowly but surely descending into a state of total unconsciousness. When most people begin to fall asleep while standing or sitting, their body naturally relaxes and slumps over.
Eutychus’ sleep is so deep that he went limp. While he had been sittingon the window sill, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell. His deep sleep overpowered him so that he collapses backward out of the window. He fell down from the third floor where they had gathered. This means the upper room where these believers were listening to Paul speak until midnight was on the third story of this house in Troas. If they were three stories up in a residential 1st century building, Eutychus possibly fell between twenty-four and thirty feet. While the odds of surviving a fall of that height are pretty good, there is still a chance of death, as in Eutychus’s case. He made impact with the ground in such a way as to instantly die.
When the disciples had descended the three stories of the building and gone out onto the street to find Eutychus, he was picked up dead by them.
What would have been an awful tragedy is undone by the power of God,
But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him” (v. 10).
The other disciples were troubled by the sudden and needless death of Eutychus. Paul went down to where his body lay and fell upon him. Paul seems to be hugging Eutychus’s dead body. Interestingly, nothing is said about Paul praying for him. The text just says that after embracing him Paul pronounced that the young man was alive.
Biblical healings often take place after physical contact between the healer and the injured or the dead, though Jesus was able to raise Lazarus by His mere words (John 11:43-44John 11:43-44 commentary). When Paul and the other apostles heal physical ailments, they are typically depicted as laying their hands on others, or, as in Paul’s time in Ephesus, handkerchiefs and aprons which Paul had touched were used to touch and heal the sick (Acts 19:11-12Acts 19:11-12 commentary).
Paul comforts the others there who are having a strong emotional reaction to this misfortunate death, telling them that they do not need to betroubled. Eutychus is already coming back to life.
“Do not be troubled,” says Paul, “for his life is in him.”
Paul returns to the upper room and carries on as though nothing happened. The text does not explicitly say when Eutychus resurrected. We can assume Eutychus came back to life immediately since the meal and teaching resumed right after Paul declared that the youngman was alive:
When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left (v. 11).
The night-meeting in the upper room carried on until daybreak. Paul, after declaring that Eutychus’s life is in him, went back up to the third-story room where they were meeting. The meal and the teaching continued all night long. After Paul had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with the disciples in Troas a long while until the sunrise. After that, he then left. Presumably he left Troas to begin his journey through the province of Asia, based on Acts 20:6Acts 20:6 commentary.
It is in verse 12 that Luke informs us that Eutychus did indeed come back to life:
They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted (v. 12).
Eutychus is described as a young man (v. 9) and a boy (v. 12); that he was so young adds to the shocking tragedy of his death. But the shock and grief must have disappeared immediately when it was shown that Eutychus was brought back to life after Paul hugged him. They, the disciples sitting under Paul’s teaching, took away the boy alive. He did not remain dead. The believers in Troas were greatly comforted that God reversed this accidental death.
One curious detail in this episode is that Eutychus’s name means “Good Fortune” or “Lucky.” This is ironic in the fact that “Lucky” was unlucky to fall asleep near a window and drop to his death, but he then had the “Good Fortune” from God, through Paul’s hands, to be brought back to life.
This event of Eutychus’s resurrection by Paul’s hands also helps to validate Paul’s apostleship.
It seems apparent that Luke wrote the book of Acts in part to prove Paul's apostleship. We see evidence in Paul’s church letters of an ongoing battle with critics over whether Paul’s authority as an apostle was genuine (Galatians 1:1Galatians 1:1 commentary, 1212 commentary, 1 Corinthians 91 Corinthians 9 commentary, commentaryRomans 3:8Romans 3:8 commentary). Luke’s account in Acts proves Paul’s authority and commission by Jesus.
Part of Luke’s efforts to validate Paul seem to be the parallel miracles between Paul and the Apostle Peter. The first half of the book of Acts largely focuses on Peter. Luke documents miracles Peter performed that were also performed by Paul, showing Paul’s authority as an apostle sent by God. One such parallel miracle is the healing of a lame man so that he could walk (Acts 3:1-10Acts 3:1-10 commentary, 14:8-1014:8-10 commentary). Another is the raising of a dead person. Through Peter, Tabitha was raised back to life, and through Paul, Eutychus was raised back to life (Acts 9:40Acts 9:40 commentary, 20:9-1220:9-12 commentary). The point seems clear, whatever Peter did Paul also did, thus validating Paul as a true apostle of Jesus.
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Acts 20:7-12 meaning
Acts 20:7-12Acts 20:7-12 commentary records the accidental death of a young believer, whom God resurrects through Paul’s hand.
In the previous section of Acts 20Acts 20 commentary, commentary Paul began a lengthy return journey from Greece back to the Middle East, landing at Troas. Initially he wanted to sail from Corinth to Antioch, Syria, but he learned of a plot against his life, so he diverted and went north into Macedonia before eventually making his way to Troas.
Traveling with him are seven believers from Galatia, Asia, and Macedonia. Paul reunites with Luke, the author of the book of Acts, in Philippi. They sail together across the Aegean Sea and make port in the city of Troas in the Roman province of Asia (modern-day Turkey).
While in Troas, tragedy occurs.
On the seventh day of their stay in Troas (Acts 20:6Acts 20:6 commentary), there is a gathering of believers:
On the first day of the week, when we were gathered together to break bread, Paul began talking to them, intending to leave the next day, and he prolonged his message until midnight (v. 7).
This gathering was On the first day of the week, which on the Jewish calendar is Sunday, the same as our modern Gregorian calendar. Luke does not specify at what hour this gathering began, but it went very late into the night. Paul was intending to leave the city of Troas on the next day. The plan was for Paul’s companions (Timothy, Luke, and several others) to sail along the western Anatolian coast down to the city of Assos, while Paul would travel on land and meet them there (Acts 20:13Acts 20:13 commentary).
But during this final evening in Troas, Paul began talking to the believers in Troas when we were gathered together to break bread. Luke uses we again here in verse 7, noting that he was personally at this event. While Luke and the other believers gathered in that house in Troas were sharing a meal, probably supper, Paul began a farewell address or sermon. If possible, Paul tended to give farewell talks to the disciples before leaving their city (Acts 14:23Acts 14:23 commentary, 16:4016:40 commentary).
Whatever Paul was saying in this farewell speech, he talked late for a long time. Luke will give us a sampling of a Pauline farewell speech later in this chapter (Acts 20:18-36Acts 20:18-36 commentary). However, in this case Paul spoke for many hours, so much so that he prolonged his message until midnight (v. 7).
Luke notes that the room was well lit:
There were many lamps in the upper room where we were gathered together (v. 8).
Obviously there were no electric lights in the first century, so if a group of people gathered together in the upper room of a house during that time period, they would want to light many lamps, because otherwise the room would be completely dark.
Since Paul kept speaking his message until midnight, some who were gathered there began to feel drowsy. Despite the many lamps lighting the upper room where they were gathered, it was late. Half the night was gone.
Luke tells us of a shocking and horrible interruption of Paul’s message:
And there was a young man named Eutychus sitting on the window sill, sinking into a deep sleep; and as Paul kept on talking, he was overcome by sleep and fell down from the third floor and was picked up dead (v. 9).
This young man named Eutychus is sitting on the window sill (or “at the window,” depending on how this phrase is translated). He is tired, and it is midnight, so his body naturally drifts off into sleep all the while Paul kept on talking. Luke describes him as sinking into a deep sleep, giving the picture of someone slowly but surely descending into a state of total unconsciousness. When most people begin to fall asleep while standing or sitting, their body naturally relaxes and slumps over.
Eutychus’ sleep is so deep that he went limp. While he had been sitting on the window sill, Eutychus was overcome by sleep and fell. His deep sleep overpowered him so that he collapses backward out of the window. He fell down from the third floor where they had gathered. This means the upper room where these believers were listening to Paul speak until midnight was on the third story of this house in Troas. If they were three stories up in a residential 1st century building, Eutychus possibly fell between twenty-four and thirty feet. While the odds of surviving a fall of that height are pretty good, there is still a chance of death, as in Eutychus’s case. He made impact with the ground in such a way as to instantly die.
When the disciples had descended the three stories of the building and gone out onto the street to find Eutychus, he was picked up dead by them.
What would have been an awful tragedy is undone by the power of God,
But Paul went down and fell upon him, and after embracing him, he said, “Do not be troubled, for his life is in him” (v. 10).
The other disciples were troubled by the sudden and needless death of Eutychus. Paul went down to where his body lay and fell upon him. Paul seems to be hugging Eutychus’s dead body. Interestingly, nothing is said about Paul praying for him. The text just says that after embracing him Paul pronounced that the young man was alive.
Biblical healings often take place after physical contact between the healer and the injured or the dead, though Jesus was able to raise Lazarus by His mere words (John 11:43-44John 11:43-44 commentary). When Paul and the other apostles heal physical ailments, they are typically depicted as laying their hands on others, or, as in Paul’s time in Ephesus, handkerchiefs and aprons which Paul had touched were used to touch and heal the sick (Acts 19:11-12Acts 19:11-12 commentary).
Paul comforts the others there who are having a strong emotional reaction to this misfortunate death, telling them that they do not need to be troubled. Eutychus is already coming back to life.
“Do not be troubled,” says Paul, “for his life is in him.”
Paul returns to the upper room and carries on as though nothing happened. The text does not explicitly say when Eutychus resurrected. We can assume Eutychus came back to life immediately since the meal and teaching resumed right after Paul declared that the young man was alive:
When he had gone back up and had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with them a long while until daybreak, and then left (v. 11).
The night-meeting in the upper room carried on until daybreak. Paul, after declaring that Eutychus’s life is in him, went back up to the third-story room where they were meeting. The meal and the teaching continued all night long. After Paul had broken the bread and eaten, he talked with the disciples in Troas a long while until the sunrise. After that, he then left. Presumably he left Troas to begin his journey through the province of Asia, based on Acts 20:6Acts 20:6 commentary.
It is in verse 12 that Luke informs us that Eutychus did indeed come back to life:
They took away the boy alive, and were greatly comforted (v. 12).
Eutychus is described as a young man (v. 9) and a boy (v. 12); that he was so young adds to the shocking tragedy of his death. But the shock and grief must have disappeared immediately when it was shown that Eutychus was brought back to life after Paul hugged him. They, the disciples sitting under Paul’s teaching, took away the boy alive. He did not remain dead. The believers in Troas were greatly comforted that God reversed this accidental death.
One curious detail in this episode is that Eutychus’s name means “Good Fortune” or “Lucky.” This is ironic in the fact that “Lucky” was unlucky to fall asleep near a window and drop to his death, but he then had the “Good Fortune” from God, through Paul’s hands, to be brought back to life.
This event of Eutychus’s resurrection by Paul’s hands also helps to validate Paul’s apostleship.
It seems apparent that Luke wrote the book of Acts in part to prove Paul's apostleship. We see evidence in Paul’s church letters of an ongoing battle with critics over whether Paul’s authority as an apostle was genuine (Galatians 1:1Galatians 1:1 commentary, 1212 commentary, 1 Corinthians 91 Corinthians 9 commentary, commentary Romans 3:8Romans 3:8 commentary). Luke’s account in Acts proves Paul’s authority and commission by Jesus.
Part of Luke’s efforts to validate Paul seem to be the parallel miracles between Paul and the Apostle Peter. The first half of the book of Acts largely focuses on Peter. Luke documents miracles Peter performed that were also performed by Paul, showing Paul’s authority as an apostle sent by God. One such parallel miracle is the healing of a lame man so that he could walk (Acts 3:1-10Acts 3:1-10 commentary, 14:8-1014:8-10 commentary). Another is the raising of a dead person. Through Peter, Tabitha was raised back to life, and through Paul, Eutychus was raised back to life (Acts 9:40Acts 9:40 commentary, 20:9-1220:9-12 commentary). The point seems clear, whatever Peter did Paul also did, thus validating Paul as a true apostle of Jesus.