Note 1 at Ac 21:1: Coos (also known as Cos or Kos) is an island in the Aegean Sea off the coast of Asia Minor (N.T. Asia, see note 3 at Ac 16:6), located about fifty miles south of Miletus (see note 6 at Ac 20:15) and about one day's sail northwest of Rhodes (see note 2 at this verse). It is about twenty-five miles long by five miles wide, lying northeast to southwest. Coos was the birthplace of Hippocrates, the father of medicine. Paul spent the night at Coos on his voyage from Miletus to Judea (see note 1 at Joh 4:3).

Note 2 at Ac 21:1: Rhodes is a large island off the coast of present-day Turkey. It is about fifty miles long by twenty-four miles broad. The capital of this island is also named Rhodes. Paul sailed to Rhodes at the end of his third missionary journey as he headed toward Jerusalem.

Rhodes was settled by the Greeks and was part of the Athenian state (see note 1 at Ac 17:15). Rhodes broke away from Athens around 400 B.C., and three city-states emerged, with the city of Rhodes as the capital. The island came under the control of Persia, then Macedonia (see note 1 at Ac 16:9), and then the Romans.

The city of Rhodes was a commercial center of the Mediterranean and had a beautiful harbor. At the entrance to the harbor was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World--the Colossus of Rhodes. It stood over 100 feet high and held a lamp or torch that served as a lighthouse. Some have said that the ships would sail in and out of port between the feet of this statue. The Colossus was destroyed by an earthquake about 226 B.C., less than sixty years after it was erected.

Note 3 at Ac 21:1: Patara was a city of Lycia, a region in southern Asia Minor, or what the New Testament calls Asia (see note 3 at Ac 16:6), lying just west of Pamphylia (see note 2 at Ac 13:13). This was a large city with a fine harbor, and trade routes throughout Asia. Paul visited Patara during his third missionary journey and changed ships there as he headed toward Jerusalem.