Going with the Guest

● Edwin W. Rice in his book Ortentalisms in Bible Lands observed that “it is quite keeping with Oriental politeness to accompany the departing guest a certain distance on the way . . . sometimes for several hours. This is a high type of politeness, and is called ‘bringing the guest on his way.’” The author then related the experience of a native Syrian who said, “When a person is going away, friends will go with him a few miles, and kiss at parting. . . . When I was leaving some Mt. Lebanon friends, they followed me for two hours until I was obliged to tell them that they must go no further.”

It was this custom, reinforced by Christian love, that the beloved apostle Paul experienced when, upon his departure from Miletus, Tyre and Caesarea, he was accompanied by fellow Christians.​—Acts 20:37, 38; 21:5, 15, 16.