Sopater

Biblical Record

Sopater is named once, in Acts 20:4. The passage describes Paul returning by way of Macedonia after spending three months in Greece, in order to avoid a plot laid against him by the Jews (Acts 20:1-3). The text lists seven men who "accompanied him into Asia" (Acts 20:4), and the first of them is Sopater of Berea, the son of Pyrrhus. These companions went ahead to Troas and waited there for Paul's party (Acts 20:5-6).

The text records only Sopater's place of origin (Berea), his father's name (Pyrrhus), and the fact that he joined this journey. Scripture says nothing else about his life.

Significance Within Scripture

Berea was a city in Macedonia where Paul preached the gospel during his second missionary journey. Acts 17:10-12 records that its people "received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily," and that many of them believed. Sopater is understood to have come from the church established there.

The others named alongside him came from various regions: Aristarchus and Secundus of Thessalonica, Gaius of Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. Many commentators regard the men on this list as representatives of their local churches who helped deliver the collection Paul had gathered for the saints in Jerusalem (1 Corinthians 16:1-4; Romans 15:25-26). Because the text of Acts does not state this directly, however, this view is presented as an interpretation.

Interpretations and Questions

• Name and manuscripts: Some manuscripts lack the words "the son of Pyrrhus." Translations that follow these manuscripts, such as the King James Version, read simply "Sopater of Berea."
• Identity with Sosipater: Some hold that the Sosipater who joins Paul in sending greetings in Romans 16:21 is the same person as Sopater, pointing to the similarity of the two names. Others regard them as different people, since there is no firm basis for the identification.
• Later tradition: Some traditions, including the Eastern Orthodox Church, honor Sosipater as one of the Seventy disciples of Jesus. This tradition is not found in the biblical text.

In the Korean Church

Sopater is rarely the subject of a sermon or Sunday school lesson in his own right. He is usually introduced as one of the names in the list of Paul's coworkers when Acts 20 is expounded or when Paul's missionary journeys are studied. In such contexts, teachers sometimes emphasize that coworkers whose names are scarcely known shared in carrying out Paul's ministry. Because a religious organization in Korea uses the name "Berea," readers should distinguish that group from Berea, the biblical city that was Sopater's hometown.