Philip found himself in Ashdod (see New English Bible, Jerusalem Bible, Moffatt, Phillips) correctly translates the force of the Greek verb; “Philip was found at Azotus” (King James Version) sounds rather odd and seems to suggest a passive force for the Greek verb form. The phrase found himself in Ashdod is equivalent in some languages to “saw that he was in Ashdod.” One must, of course, avoid a term for found which would suggest “looking for something.”

Ashdod (Azotus, the Greek form of the name as used in many translations) was an ancient Philistine city, twenty miles north of Gaza. Caesarea (meaning “the city of Caesar”) was the chief city of Palestine and the residence of the Roman governor. It was on the coast, fifty-five miles northwest of Jerusalem. Philip seems to have made Caesarea his home, and he was there when he next appears in the Acts narrative (21.8). The clause until he arrived at Caesarea would imply that all the towns would be those towns lying between Ashdod and Caesarea.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .