Samos

Samos was an Aegean island approximately 27 miles long and 20 miles broad, lying off the coast of Lydia (Asia Minor) about 42 miles southwest of Smyrna and separated from the mainland by a narrow strait. It was famous in antiquity as the birthplace of the mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras and as a center of Hera worship. Paul passed by Samos on his third missionary journey, sailing from Mitylene to Miletus (Acts 20:15), calling in there briefly — whether the ship anchored for the night is unclear from the text. The voyage was pressing: Paul was hurrying to reach Jerusalem by Pentecost and had deliberately bypassed Ephesus to avoid a delay (Acts 20:16). Samos thus appears as a waypoint in Paul's final journey southward through the Aegean islands toward Jerusalem, where he would be arrested and begin his journey to Rome.