Luke makes it clear that Paul did not leave Ephesus because of the difficulties there: after the uproar died down … then he left and went on to Macedonia. There is no indication as to how much time elapsed from the day of the riot till the time Paul left for Macedonia, but one should avoid the impression that he left the same day. It must be assumed from the context it was at least several days later.

The believers is literally “the disciples,” but as has been pointed out earlier, these are synonymous terms in Acts.

With words of encouragement said good-bye to them. Although the Greek verb itself may mean “to exhort,” in the present context the meaning seems to be that of “offering encouragement” (so Jerusalem Bible, Phillips, An American Translation*, New English Bible)

The translation of with words of encouragement said good-bye to them may involve the use of two quite separate verbs: “encouraged them and said farewell to them.” In some languages said good-bye is merely “said, I am leaving.”

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 .