Acts 13:13
Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem.
Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos,.... Which was upon the sea coast: so Jerom {y} says, that Paphos was "urbs maritima", a city on the sea coast of the island of Cyprus; it was on the western part of the island, to the west of which lay the sea of Pamphylia, over which the apostle, and his company, sailed to the place next mentioned, which was in Pamphylia; and so Apollonius Tyaneus {z}, having got a ship at Seleucia, is said to sail to Paphos in Cyprus; and from hence the apostle, and those that were with him, set sail; and as the Syriac version renders it, "went by sea", or "through the sea"; that is, of Pamphylia; of which mention is made in Acts 27:5.
they came to Perga in Pamphylia which country was before called Mopsopia; See Gill on "Acts 2:10" which now, with Cilicia, is called Caramania; and among the cities and towns in it, both Pliny {a} and Ptolomy {b} make mention of Perga; where was a famous temple of Diana, whence she was sometimes called Pergea {c}; and every year a great feast was kept here in honour of her: it was the birth place of Apollonius, a very famous geometrician, who wrote eight books of conic sections, four of which are now extant {d}; and who, from his native place, is called Apollonius Pergaeus {e}. It was situated between two great rivers, Oestros and Catarctes {f}; and since grp, "Parag", in the eastern languages, signifies "to delight", perhaps it might be so called from its delightful situation. Hilleras {g} observes, Pargi (or rather Perage), as is the word in the Syriac version of Matthew 23:37 with the Syrians signifies the young of birds, as of hens and doves; and so do Pargiia, Pargiot, and Perigin, with the Jewish Rabbins {h}; which writer seems to suggest, that this place was so called from the multitude of fowls that were about it.
and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem; that is, John Mark, whom Paul and Barnabas took with them, and who was a minister to them: but what was the reason of his departure, whether for the sake of seeing his mother at Jerusalem; or because he did not like, but grew weary of the travels, labours, and fatigues of the apostle, and his company; or did not choose to go among the Gentiles, is not certain: however, his departure was resented by Paul; and it laid a foundation for a sharp contention between him and Barnabas, who was uncle to this John Mark, Acts 15:38 from whence it appears that it was not at Paphos in Cyprus, but at Perga in Pamphilia, that he left them, by which the mistake of some interpreters on this text must be corrected.
{y} De locis Hebraicis, fol. 96. F.
{z} Philostrat. Vit. Apollon. l. 3. c. 16.
{a} Nat. Hist, l. 5. c. 27.
{b} Geograph. l. 5. c. 5.
{c} Pompon. Mela, l. 1. c. 14.
{d} Vid. Fabricii Bibliothec. Graec. l. 3. c. 22. sect. 17, 18, 19.
{e} Vitruvius de Architectura, l. 1. c. 1.
{f} Mela, ut supra. (Pompon. Mela, l. 1. c. 14.)
{g} Onomasticum Sacrum, p. 906.
{h} T. Bab Beracot, fol. 39. 1. & Bava Metzia, fol. 24. 2. Bereshit Rabba, sect. 17, fol. 14. 2. Midrash Echa Rabbati, fol. 43. 1.