With Aquila and Priscilla, and possibly Silas and Timothy, Paul set out for Cenchreae, the port of Corinth, for the journey to Antioch in Syria (see Acts 18:18-22). The significance of Paul's vow mentioned here is uncertain; it may have been a modification of the strict Nazarite vow referred to in Numbers 6:1—21, for religious vows were not then uncommon.
Paul's first port of call was the large city of Ephesus on the western shore of Asia Minor, where he made only a brief contact, promising to come back after going to Jerusalem for the feast (possibly of Passover or Pentecost, early in a.d. 53). No details of this Jerusalem visit are given. We know only that he landed at Caesarea, went "up" (i.e. to Jerusalem), "saluted the church," and returned to Antioch. So closed Paul's second great missionary journey, during which his most outstanding achievement had been the opening of new fields in Macedonia and Greece.
Paul spent some time in Antioch. He was to begin his next journey by making a tour of "all the country of Galatia and Phrygia . . ., strengthening all the disciples" (Acts 18:23), and many believe that his Epistle to the Galatians was written at this period to the Christians at Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, and neighboring cities.
