ESV Reformation Study Bible – Acts 19:1
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Acts 19:1

19:1 the inland country. When he had finished his ministry in Phrygian Galatia (18:23), Paul continued westward by land through the region of Colosse, Laodicea, and Hierapolis (Col. 4:13) in the Lycus Valley, and finally arrived at Ephesus. Here he ministered for about three years (vv. 8, 10), from about a.d. 53 to 56.

Ephesus. The capital of the Roman province of Asia, Ephesus had been founded in about the twelfth century b.c. by Ionians from Athens. It became a great commercial power, but its economic prosperity declined, mainly because erosion into the river had silted and clogged the harbor. The city derived wealth and prestige from its temple of Artemis, built in honor of the goddess of fertility. The Ephesus of Paul’s day had passed its zenith but was still an important commercial and religious center.

some disciples. According to v. 7, “about twelve.”