Acts 16

Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra. A follower of Jesus named Timothy lived there. His mother was a Jewish woman who had come to believe, but his father was Greek.

1Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:

Note"A Greek" here means a gentile, someone outside the Jewish people, not necessarily a native of Greece. In Jewish practice descent was reckoned through the mother, so a Jewish mother and a Greek father left Timothy counted among the Jews while raised in a mixed household.

2The believers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of Timothy.

2Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.

3Paul wanted Timothy to travel with him. So he took him and circumcised him because of the Jews in that area, since they all knew that his father was Greek.

3Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.

NoteCircumcision was the physical mark of belonging to the Jewish people, normally performed on an infant boy. Because Timothy's father was Greek it had not been done, and Jews in the district knew it. "In those quarters" means in those parts of the country; "quarters" in 1611 meant districts, not city blocks.

4As they went from town to town, they passed on the decisions made by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem, and told the believers to keep them.

4And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.

NoteThe "decrees" are the decisions of the meeting of apostles and elders in Jerusalem described in the previous chapter, which set out what gentile believers were expected to observe. "Ordained" here means formally decided, not ordained in the sense of appointing a minister.

5So the churches grew stronger in the faith, and their numbers increased every day.

5And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.

Note"Churches" translates a word meaning assemblies or congregations of people. There were no church buildings at this date; believers met in private houses.

6They traveled through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, because the Holy Spirit had kept them from preaching the message in the province of Asia.

6Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

Note"Holy Ghost" is the King James phrase for the Holy Spirit; "ghost" in 1611 simply meant spirit. "Asia" is the Roman province of that name, occupying the western end of what is now Turkey, with Ephesus as its principal city. It is not the continent.

7When they reached Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit would not let them.

7After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.

Note"Assayed" means attempted. "The Spirit suffered them not" means the Spirit did not permit them; "suffer" in 1611 meant to allow. Mysia and Bithynia are districts of northwestern Asia Minor, Bithynia reaching to the Black Sea coast.

8So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

8And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.

NoteTroas was a busy port on the Aegean coast of Asia Minor, near the site of ancient Troy, and the usual place to take ship for Europe.

9During the night Paul saw a vision. A man from Macedonia was standing there, begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us."

9And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.

NoteMacedonia was a Roman province in the north of what is now Greece, across the Aegean Sea. Crossing to it meant leaving Asia Minor for the European mainland.

10After Paul saw the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia. We were certain that the Lord had called us to preach the good news to the people there.

10And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.

NoteThe narrative shifts here without explanation from "they" to "we" and stays there for a stretch, the first of several such passages in Acts. Readers have long understood the shift to mean that the writer joined the traveling party at this point. "Assuredly gathering" means concluding with confidence; "endeavoured" means set about it.

11So we sailed from Troas and went straight to Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis.

11Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

Note"Loosing from Troas" means casting off the mooring ropes, that is, setting sail. "A straight course" describes a direct run with a favorable wind. Samothrace is an island in the northern Aegean; Neapolis was the harbor town serving Philippi, some ten miles inland.

12From there we went to Philippi, the leading city of that part of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We stayed in that city for several days.

12And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.

NoteA Roman colony was a city planted with Roman citizens, often discharged soldiers, governed under Roman law and enjoying privileges normally reserved for towns in Italy. This status explains the appeal to being "Romans" in verse 21 and the alarm in verse 38. The Greek behind "the chief city of that part" is difficult and may instead mean a city of the first district of Macedonia, a matter of administrative division rather than rank.

13On the Sabbath we went outside the city to the riverside, where people usually gathered to pray. We sat down and spoke to the women who had come there.

13And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

Note"Where prayer was wont to be made" means where people were accustomed to pray. A "place of prayer" was a Jewish meeting spot, often outside the walls and beside running water, used where there was no synagogue building. That the gathering was of women may suggest the Jewish community in Philippi was small.

14One of them was a woman named Lydia from the city of Thyatira, who sold purple cloth. She worshiped God. The Lord opened her heart, so she paid close attention to what Paul said.

14And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.

NotePurple cloth was a luxury good. The dye was costly, obtained from shellfish or, in the Thyatira region, from a root, and dealing in it marked Lydia as a woman of independent business means. Thyatira, in the province of Asia, was known for its guilds of dyers. "Which worshipped God" is a standing term for a gentile who attended Jewish worship and honored the God of Israel without becoming a full convert.

15She and everyone in her household were baptized. Then she urged us, "If you consider me faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my house." She kept asking until we agreed.

15And when she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us.

NoteA "household" in this world took in the family, its servants and slaves, and any dependents living under the same roof. "Besought" means urged, and "she constrained us" means she pressed until the refusal gave way.

16One day, as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl met us. She had a spirit that let her tell the future, and her owners made a lot of money from her fortune-telling.

16And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:

NoteThe Greek behind "a spirit of divination" is literally a python spirit, after the snake associated with the oracle at Delphi; the phrase described someone believed to speak predictions on behalf of a god. "Damsel" here is a girl who is someone's property. "Soothsaying" is fortune telling for a fee, and the profits went to her owners, not to her.

17She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God. They are telling you the way to be saved."

17The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

Note"The most high God" was a title Jews used for their own God, but it was also current in Greek religion for the supreme god, so bystanders could hear the shout as praise of gods they already worshiped. "Shew" is the older spelling of show.

18She kept doing this for many days. At last Paul was so troubled by it that he turned and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her." It came out that very moment.

18And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

Note"Being grieved" translates a word closer to worn down and exasperated than to sorrowful. "The same hour" is an idiom for that very moment rather than a measured sixty minutes.

19When her owners saw that their hope of making money was gone, they grabbed Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.

19And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,

NoteThe "marketplace" is the agora or forum, the open civic square that served as the center of business and of public legal proceedings. "Rulers" is a general word for the officials who sat there.

20They brought them to the city officials and said, "These men are Jews, and they are causing serious trouble in our city.

20And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,

NoteThe "magistrates" of a Roman colony were its two chief annual officials, who in colonies such as Philippi liked to be addressed by the Roman title of praetor. "These men, being Jews" was a pointed charge: about this period the emperor Claudius expelled Jews from the city of Rome, and suspicion of Jewish communities ran high.

21They teach customs that we Romans are not allowed to accept or practice."

21And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.

NoteRoman citizens were expected to keep to Roman religion, and the spreading of foreign cults among them was legally suspect. The charge is not that Judaism was banned but that these men were recruiting Romans into practices not open to them.

22The crowd joined in the attack against them. The officials had the clothes torn off Paul and Silas and ordered them to be beaten with rods.

22And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

Note"The magistrates rent off their clothes" can be misread as the magistrates tearing their own garments. The Greek means they had the clothes torn off Paul and Silas, stripping them for a public flogging. The beating was administered with the rods carried by the magistrates' attendants.

23After they had been struck many times, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was ordered to guard them securely.

23And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

Note"Stripes" are the individual blows of the rods and the marks they leave.

24Having been given that order, the jailer put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.

24Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

NoteThe stocks were a heavy timber with holes for the ankles. The legs could be forced wide apart and locked there, so the device punished as well as restrained.

25About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs of praise to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

25And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

26Suddenly there was a strong earthquake that shook the foundations of the prison. All the doors flew open at once, and everyone's chains came loose.

26And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.

Note"Bands" means bonds, the chains or fetters holding the prisoners.

27The jailer woke up and saw the prison doors standing open. He pulled out his sword and was about to kill himself, because he thought the prisoners had escaped.

27And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

NoteA guard who let prisoners escape was liable to undergo the punishment they would have received. Taking his own life was, in Roman eyes, the honorable way out of that.

28But Paul shouted loudly, "Do not hurt yourself. We are all here."

28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

29Then the jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling in front of Paul and Silas.

29Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

30He brought them outside and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"

30And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

NoteThe verb rendered "saved" covers both rescue from immediate danger and religious deliverance, and the same word carries through the jailer's question and the answer given him. The King James wording does not resolve which sense the jailer had in mind.

31They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."

31And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

Note"Thy house" means your household, the same wide group of family, servants and dependents as in verse 15.

32Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to everyone in his house.

32And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

33At that same hour of the night he took them and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his household were baptized.

33And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

Note"Washed their stripes" means cleaned the open wounds left by the rods. "Straightway" means immediately.

34He brought them into his house and set a meal in front of them. He was full of joy, and so was his whole household, because they now believed in God.

34And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.

Note"He set meat before them" means he served them food. "Meat" in 1611 meant food of any kind, not flesh in particular.

35When morning came, the city officials sent their officers with this order: "Let those men go."

35And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.

NoteThe "serjeants" are the lictors, the attendants who walked before Roman magistrates carrying the bundled rods and who carried out floggings on their order.

36The jailer passed the message on to Paul: "The officials have sent word to release you. So come out now and go in peace."

36And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.

37But Paul said to the officers, "They beat us in public without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and they threw us into prison. And now are they sending us away in secret? Certainly not. Let them come themselves and bring us out."

37But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.

NoteRoman citizenship was a legal status, inherited or granted, that protected the holder from flogging and from summary punishment without a trial, and gave a right of appeal. To beat an uncondemned citizen in public was a serious offense, and officials who did it could lose their position. "Openly" means publicly, "privily" means in secret, and "nay verily" is an emphatic refusal.

38The officers reported this to the city officials. When they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were afraid.

38And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.

NoteTheir fear is practical: they had flogged citizens without trial, and a complaint carried to the provincial governor or to Rome could cost them their office and the colony its privileges.

39So they came and pleaded with them, led them out of the prison, and asked them to leave the city.

39And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.

40Paul and Silas left the prison and went to Lydia's house. There they saw the believers and encouraged them, and then they left.

40And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.

Note"The brethren" means the fellow believers, women included; Lydia's house served as their meeting place. "Comforted" in 1611 carries the stronger sense of strengthened and encouraged, not merely consoled.