Cos was an island in the Aegean Sea where Paul's ship stopped during his return journey to Jerusalem.
Also known as Kos · Coos
Cos, also known as Kos, is an island in the Aegean Sea, located off the coast of ancient Caria in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). It is mentioned once in the Bible, in Act.21.1, as one of the stops on Paul's return journey to Jerusalem after his third missionary journey.
After leaving Miletus, where Paul had met with the elders of the Ephesian church (Act.20.17-38), he and his companions set sail and came to Cos. The next day, they went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. This brief mention of Cos provides insight into the route taken by Paul and his companions as they navigated the islands of the Aegean Sea.
Cos was known in ancient times for its strategic location, fertile land, and medical school associated with Hippocrates, the famous Greek physician. The island was also a center of the worship of Asclepius, the Greek god of medicine.
Although the Bible does not provide any details about Paul's activities or experiences on Cos, the mention of the island in the context of his journey demonstrates the apostle's determination to return to Jerusalem, despite the warnings he had received about the hardships that awaited him there (Act.20.22-23; 21:4, 11-14). The inclusion of Cos in the itinerary also highlights the extensive travel and maritime connections in the ancient Mediterranean world, which facilitated the spread of the gospel.
Approximate location: 36.805, 27.090 · view on a map · on the Bible atlas
(now Stanchio or Stanko). This small island of the Grecian Archipelago has several interesting points of connection with the Jews. Herod the Great conferred many favors on the island. St. Paul, on the return from his third missionary journey, passed the night here, after sailing from Miletus. Probably referred to in (Acts 21:1)
Easton (1897), Smith (1863), Hitchcock (1869), Hastings (1898) and Schaff are in the public domain. Parsed text: neuu-org/bible-dictionary-dataset (CC BY 4.0). Headwords and whitespace normalised for this site.
1 verse in 1 book · English text: BSB (change it from the menu at the top) · Strong’s G2972
After we had torn ourselves away from them, we sailed directly to Cos, and the next day on to Rhodes, and from there to Patara.
Names, family links and references: STEPBible TIPNR (Tyndale House Cambridge, CC BY 4.0). Short descriptions were drafted with AI assistance by STEPBible. Family links follow STEPBible’s scholarly decisions where genealogies are ambiguous.