The name Erastus occurs in Romans 16.23 (there called the city treasurer of Corinth) and in 2 Timothy 4.20. It is not certain whether or not these three passages refer to the same person. The phrase two of his helpers may be rendered as “two of the men who worked together with Paul.”

In the province of Asia is literally “in Asia,” a phrase which many commentators understand in the sense of Ephesus.

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 .