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John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:9

And a vision appeared to Paul in the night ,.... Either in a dream, or, it may be, when he was awake: there stood a man of Macedonia ; an angel in the form of a man; the Syriac version reads, "as a man of Macedonia", and who might appear in a Macedonian habit, or speak in the Macedonian language; or the apostle might conclude him to be so, from his making mention of Macedonia, as the place where he requested him to come, and assist: and prayed him, saying, come over into Macedonia ;... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:10

And after he had seen the vision ,.... And considered it, and related it to his companions: and when they had well weighed it, and the circumstances of it: immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia ; they determined upon it, and took all the proper methods, and made the necessary provisions for it. Here Luke, the writer of this history, first appears, saying, "we endeavoured"; whether he came with the apostle from Antioch, since he is commonly said to have been a physician of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:11

Therefore loosing from Troas ,.... Or setting sail from thence, which, as before observed, was the Hellespont; which was a narrow sea that divided Asia from Europe, now called Stretto di Gallipoii, or Bracci di St. Georgio: and so Pliny F17 Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 30. speaking of Troas says, it lies near the Hellespont; and Jerom F18 De locis Hebraicis, fol. 96. K. calls it a maritime city of Asia; and it further appears to be on the sea coast, by what is said in Acts 20:6 , for... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:12

And from thence to Philippi ,.... This place is by Appianus called Datos, which was its original name; and by Diodorus Siculus, Crenidae F3 Ptolom. Geograph. l. 3. c. 13. , from the fountains of water, which were many and wholesome, that were about it; and it had its name Philippi, from Philip king of Macedon, father of Alexander the great, who rebuilt it F4 Pausaniae Eliac. 2. l. 6. p. 352. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 11. : it is now vulgarly called Chrixopolis, that is,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:13

And on the sabbath ,.... That is, as the Syriac version renders it, "on the sabbath day"; the Jewish sabbath, the seventh day of the week; though the words may be rendered, "on a certain day of the week" agreeably to Acts 20:7 where the first of the sabbath means the first day of the week; but be this as it will, on this day, we went out of the city by a river side ; perhaps the river Strymon, which was near; the Alexandrian copy and some others, and the Vulgate Latin version read, ... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:14

And a certain woman, named Lydia ,.... Whether this woman was a Jewess or a Gentile, is not certain, her name will not determine; she might be called so from the country of Lydia, which was in Asia minor, and where was Thyatira, her native place; Horace makes frequent mention of one of this name F7 Carm. l. 1. ode 8, 13, 25. & l. 3. ode 9. and it might be a Jewish name; we read of R. Simeon ben Lydia F8 Juchasin, fol. 105. 1. ; and as these seem to be Jewish women that met at... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:15

And when she was baptized ,.... In water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, according to the commission of Christ, by the apostle, or some one of his companions; by whom she was instructed into the nature and use of this ordinance; and very likely it was performed in that river, by the side of which the oratory stood, where they were assembled: and her household ; they were baptized also, being converted at the same time; these seem to be her menial servants, who came along... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:16

And it came to pass as we went to prayer ,.... That is, to the house of prayer, or to the oratory, as they were in the way to it; for this is not to be understood of their just going to the act, or duty of prayer; for the damsel that now met them, is said to follow them, and to do so for many days, one after another; and it was by their going to the prayer house, that she knew what they were; and besides, the phrase of "going to prayer", as used by us, for the act or duty of prayer, is a... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:17

The same followed Paul and us ,.... Silas, Luke, and Timothy; the Arabic version reads, "the same followed Paul and Silas"; as they were going to the oratory: and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the most high God ; not of Python, or Apollo, as she and her masters were; or of any of the deities of the Gentiles; nor of sin, nor of Satan, nor of men, but of the one only true and living God, one of whose titles is עליון , "Elion", the "Most High", Genesis 14:22 and these men... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 16:18

And this she did many days ,.... As the apostle and his company passed to and from the oratory, being for that time at Lydia's house; she followed them, and repeated the above words. This she was suffered to do, time after time; not that the apostle and his friends wanted such a testimony, or that it was of any use to them; but that the expulsion of the evil spirit might be more manliest, and more taken notice of: but Paul being grieved ; at the unhappy condition the maid was in, being... read more

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