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Journey

Paul’s Second Journey, Macedonia and Achaia

Paul crosses to Europe and preaches in Philippi, Thessalonica, Berea, Athens, and Corinth.

Map: Paul’s Second Journey

Map of Paul's second journey. From Antioch in Syria to Derbe and Lystra, a dotted line across Asia Minor to Troas, by sea to Macedonia (Neapolis, Philippi, Thessalonica, Beroea, shown in an inset), then Athens, Corinth and Cenchreae, by sea to Ephesus and Caesarea, and back to Antioch.
Paul’s second journey, Acts 15:36–18:22, with an inset for Macedonia. Select the map to view it full size.

Verses: Acts 15:36–18:22 The Spread of Christianity

Regions on this map:

Sources and limits

  • Acts 16:6–8 names regions, not a route, so the dotted line there is our guess. Mysia and Troas were also in the Roman province of Asia.
  • Samothrace, Amphipolis and Apollonia are named in the text but Paul passed through them, so they are plain dots. Jerusalem has no number, because Acts 18:22 says only that he went up and greeted the assembly.
  • Derbe’s site is debated. Whether “Phrygia and Galatia” (Acts 16:6) means the southern towns or the land farther north is also debated.
  • Built by Bible Building Blocks from public-domain and open data: elevation from the US Geological Survey, coastlines and rivers from Natural Earth, and town points from Wikidata. Names follow the World English Bible, each checked against its verse. Shorelines are modern.

What the sources say, and how sure we are

  • The text says

    After a vision at Troas, Paul crosses into Macedonia and preaches in Philippi, Thessalonica, and Berea. He then speaks in Athens and spends about eighteen months in Corinth in Achaia.Acts 16:9–10; Acts 16:11–17:15; Acts 17:16–34; Acts 18:1–18

  • Outside evidence

    The Gallio inscription puts Gallio’s term in Achaia at about AD 51–52 and so anchors Paul’s time in Corinth. The Via Egnatia, the main Roman road across Macedonia, links Philippi and Thessalonica. Ancient writers mention altars to unknown gods at Athens, as in Acts 17:23.Gallio Inscription; Via Egnatia; Acts 17:23

  • Debated

    The date of the Jerusalem council just before this journey, and Paul’s route from Berea to Athens, are debated.Acts 15; Acts 17:14–15

  • Christian conclusion

    Christians read this journey as the point where the gospel enters Europe, and as the setting for Philippians, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and the Corinthian letters.Phil 1:3–5; 1 Thess 1:1; 1 Cor 1:1–2

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