Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 16:14
And 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.
14. named Lydia ] This may have been her proper name, or it may only have been that by which she passed among the colonists of Philippi, being from the Lydian town of Thyatira. From inscriptions which have been found on the site of the ancient town, it is clear that dyeing was one of the staple trades of Thyatira, and it was from thence that Lydia brought over the purple which she sold in Philippi.
Thyatira ] On the river Lycus in Lydia. To be distinguished from the river of the same name in Phrygia on which were situated Laodica, Hierapolis and Coloss, in all which places the congregations afterwards became objects of St Paul’s great affection and interest. Col 4:13.
which worshipped God ] i.e. had become a proselyte of the Jewish faith.
whose heart the Lord opened ] St Luke recognizes that without this the word would have made no entrance. He probably makes special mention of this here because he had previously stated that the Lord had called them to preach at Philippi. Having pointed out their work, He helps them to perform it.
that she attended ] She gave such heed as to be convinced of their truth. The same verb occurs Act 8:6, and from the context both there and here we see that it implies “gave credence unto.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
A seller of purple – Purple was a most valuable color, obtained usually from shellfish. It was chiefly worn by princes and by the rich, and the traffic in it might be very profitable. Compare the Isa 1:18 note; Luk 16:19 note.
The city of Thyatira – This was a city of Lydia, in Asia Minor, now called Akhisar. The art of dyeing was early cultivated in the neighborhood of Thyatira, as we learn from Homer (Iliad, iv. 141), and as is confirmed by inscriptions found in that city – a circumstance which may be referred to as confirming the veracity of the statements of Luke even in his casual allusions. Several of these inscriptions have been published. See the Life and Epistles of Paul, i. 295.
Which worshipped God – A religious woman, a proselyte. See the note at Act 13:16.
Whose heart the Lord opened – See the note at Luk 24:45.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 14. Lydia, a seller of purple] She probably had her name from the province of Lydia, in which the city of Thyatira was situated. The Lydian women have been celebrated for their beautiful purple manufactures.
Which worshipped God] That is, she was a proselyte to the Jewish religion; as were probably all the women that resorted hither.
Whose heart the Lord opened] As she was a sincere worshipper of God, she was prepared to receive the heavenly truths spoken by Paul and his companions; and, as she was faithful to the grace she had received, so God gave her more grace, and gave her now a Divine conviction that what was spoken by Paul was true; and therefore she attended unto the things-she believed them and received them as the doctrines of God; and in this faith she was joined by her whole family, and in it they were all baptized.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Lydia; so called from the country of that name, she being born at
Thyatira, a city therein, and now lived with her family at Philippi.
Worshipped God; being a proselyte, and one of them who had left the heathenish idolatry, and owned the one only and true God; but as yet unacquainted with the gospel of his Son our Saviour.
Heart, in Scripture sense, signifies both the understanding and the will: thus, With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, Rom 10:10. Her understanding was enlightened, her heart changed; she now loved what she before hated, and hated what before she loved.
The Lord opened; this was the Lords work; according unto what our Saviour himself had said, Joh 6:44, No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him. And yet we may in a sense open our hearts, by using such means as God hath promised to succeed for that purpose, Rev 3:20; and especially when, in a sense of our inability and necessity, we implore the free grace of God, and engage him to work in us according unto all his good pleasure. Otherwise creating a clean heart within us, as it is called, Psa 51:10, is beyond the power of nature.
She attended: hearing is an instructive sense, and faith cometh by it, Rom 10:17, but it must then be accompanied with attention.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
14, 15. Lydiaa common nameamong the Greeks and Romans.
a seller of purple, of thecity of Thyatiraon the confines of Lydia and Phrygia. TheLydians, particularly the inhabitants of Thyatira, were celebratedfor their dyeing, in which they inherited the reputation of theTyrians. Inscriptions to this effect, yet remaining, confirm theaccuracy of our historian. This woman appears to have been in goodcircumstances, having an establishment at Philippi large enough toaccommodate the missionary party (Ac16:15), and receiving her goods from her native town.
which worshipped Godthatis, was a proselyte to the Jewish faith, and as such present at thismeeting.
whose heart the Lordopenedthat is, the Lord Jesus (see Ac16:15; and compare Luk 24:45;Mat 11:27).
that she attended to thethings . . . spoken by Paul“showing that the inclinationof the heart towards the truth originates not in the will of man. Thefirst disposition to turn to the Gospel is a work of grace”[OLSHAUSEN]. Observe herethe place assigned to “giving attention” or “heed”to the truththat species of attention which consists in having thewhole mind engrossed with it, and in apprehending and drinking it in,in its vital and saving character.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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 g and it might be a Jewish name; we read of R. Simeon ben Lydia h; and as these seem to be Jewish women that met at this oratory, she might be one:
a seller of purple; either of purple silks, much wore in the eastern countries; or of the purple dye, which in,
“Then Judas returned to spoil the tents, where they got much gold, and silver, and blue silk, and purple of the sea, and great riches.” (1 Maccabees 4:23)
is called “purple of the sea”, or “sea purple”; it being the blood or juice of a turbinated shell fish, which the Jews call , “Chalson”: this they speak of as a shellfish; hence those words i,
“go and learn of the Chalson, for all the while it grows, its shell grows with it:”
and that purple was dyed with the blood of it, appears from the following instances; “the best fruits in the land”, Ge 43:11 are interpreted k, the things that are the most famous in the world, as the Chalson, c. with whose blood, as the gloss on the passage says, they dye purple: and the purple dyed with this was very valuable, and fetched a good price the tribe of Zebulun is represented l, as complaining to God, that he had given to their brethren fields and vineyards, to them mountains and hills, to their brethren lands, and to them seas and rivers; to which it is replied, all will stand in need of thee, because of Chalson; as it is said, De 33:19 “They shall suck of the abundance of the seas”; the gloss upon it, interpreting the word Chalson, is, it comes out of the sea to the mountains, and with its blood they dye purple, which is sold at a very dear price. The text in De 33:19 is thus paraphrased by Jonathan the Targumist;
“at the shore of the sea they dwell (i.e. they of the tribe of Zebulun), and they delight themselves with (the fish) Tuny, and take Chalson, and with its blood dye purple the threads of their garments.”
And so Maimonides says m, that they use this in dying the fringes on the borders of their garments; after they have scoured the wool, and the like, that it may take the dye, he says,
“they take of the blood of Chalson, which is a fish whose colour is like the colour of purple, and its blood is black like ink, and it is found in the salt sea,”
particularly about Tyre; so the husbandmen in Jer 52:16 are interpreted n, they that catch Chalson from the ladder of Tyre to Chippah, or the shore; the gloss explains it, those that squeeze and press the Chalson, to fetch out its blood: and with all this agree the modern accounts given of purple, as follow;
“purple was much esteemed among the ancients, especially the Tyrian purple; which underwent more dyes than the rest, and which was almost peculiar to emperors and kings, yet this purple did not exceed that now in use.–The ancient purple was tinged, or given with the blood or juice of a precious turbinated testaceous sea fish, called by the Greeks , and by the Latins “purpura”.–In the seas of the Spanish West Indies, about Nicoya, is found a shell fish, which perfectly resembles the ancient “purpura”, and in all probability is the very same–these are gathered very plentifully in the spring, and by rubbing one against another, yield a kind of saliva, or thick glair, resembling soft wax; but the purple dye is in the throat of the fish, and the finest part in a little white vein–the chief riches of Nicoya consist in this fish; cloth of Segovia dyed with it, is sold for twenty crowns the ell.–In the Philosoph. Transact., we have an account of a purple fish discovered in 1686, by Mr. W. Cole, on the coasts of Somersetshire, South Wales, c, where it is found in great abundance.–The fish is a kind of “buccinum”, a name given by the ancients to all fishes, whose shell bears any resemblance to a hunting horn and it appears from Pliny, that part of the ancient purple was taken from this kind of shell fish. The Caribbee Islands have likewise their “purple” fish; it is called “burgan”, being of the size of the end of the finger, and resembling our periwinkles; its shell is of a brownish azure, its flesh white, its intestines of a very bright red, the colour whereof appears through the body; and it is this that dyes that froth, which it casts when taken, and which is at first of a violet hue, bordering on blue; to oblige them to yield the greater quantity of froth, they lay them on a plate, and shake and beat them against one another, upon which the plate is immediately covered with the froth, which is received on a linen cloth, and becomes “purple”, in proportion as it dries o.”
It may be further observed, that the fringes which the Jews wore upon their garments, had on them a ribband of blue or purple, Nu 15:38, for the word there used, is by the Septuagint rendered “purple”, in Nu 4:7 and sometimes “hyacinth”; and the whole fringe was by the Jews called , “purple” :hence it is said p,
“does not everyone that puts on the “purple” (i.e. the fringes on his garments) in Jerusalem, make men to wonder? and a little after, the former saints, or religious men, when they had wove in it (the garment) three parts, they put on it , “the purple”.”
And there were persons who traded in these things, and were called
, “sellers of purple” q, as here; that is, for the Tzitzith, or fringes for the borders of the garments, on which the ribband of blue or purple was put, as the gloss explains it: the Jews were very curious about the colour, and the dying of it; that it should be a colour that would hold and not change; and that the ribband be dyed on purpose for that use. Maimonides gives rules for the dying of it r, and they were no less careful of whom they bought it; for they say, that “the purple” was not to be bought, but of an approved person, or one that was authorized for that purpose s; and a scruple is raised by one, whether he had done right or no, in buying it of the family of a doctor deceased t: now since Lydia might be a Jewess, or at least, as appears by what follows, was a proselytess of the Jewish religion, this might be her business to sell the purple for their fringes, and it may be the fringes themselves; and if this was her employment, she was thoroughly a religious person in their way, since we find, that , “sellers of purple”, were free from reading
“hear O Israel”, c. De 6:4 and “from prayer”, and from the phylacteries, c. for this reason, because he that is employed in the commandment (in any work for it) was free from the commandment u”
and yet she attended at the place and time of prayer:
of the city of Thyatira which was in Lydia, or as others say in Mysia, which was in Asia Minor; Pliny w seems to place it in Ionia, by the river Lycus, and says it was formerly called Pelopia and Euhippa, and it was also called Semiramis; it had its name of Thyatira from Seleucus Nicanor, who being at war with Lysimachus near this place, and hearing he had a daughter born, called it Thygateira; though others say it was so called, because that when the Mysians were about to build a city, inquiring of the gods where they should build it, were told, that they should build it where a hart was struck, and appeared running; and , because of the sacrificing of the hart, they called it Thyateira. The Turks now call it “Ak hissar”, the white camp. This was Lydia’s native place, from which she was now at a great distance, being either wholly removed hither, or was here upon business; for Thyatira was in Asia, and Philippi, where she now was, was in Europe:
which worshipped God; the true God, the God of Israel, and not the gods of the Gentiles, among whom she was; which shows, that she was either a Jewish woman, who had knowledge of the one true and living God, or at least a proselytess of the Jewish religion:
heard us; not alone, but with other women; and at first only externally, and not so as to understand and receive what she heard, until the efficacious grace of God was exerted upon her, signified in the following clause:
whose heart the Lord opened; which was before shut and barred, with the bars of ignorance, hardness, and unbelief. The heart of a sinner before conversion, is like a house shut up, and wholly in darkness; whatever degree of natural or moral light is in it, there is none in spiritual things; it is empty of the grace of God, of the fear of him, and love to him; it is without proper inhabitants, without God, Christ, and the Spirit; and is the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, who delight in dark and desolate places; it is bolted and barred with unbelief, and walled up, and even petrified and hardened with sin, and is guarded and garrisoned by Satan, and its goods are kept in peace by him: and this had been the case of Lydia; but now the Lord opened her understanding, and put light into it, which was before darkness itself; as to spiritual things; by which she saw her wretched, sinful, and miserable state by nature, the insufficiency of all ways and means, and works, to justify and save her, and the necessity, suitableness, and fulness of grace and salvation by Christ; which was done by the same divine power, that at first created light in darkness: moreover, the Lord wrought upon her affections, and engaged them to divine and spiritual things; creating love in her soul to Christ, to his people, truths and ordinances; which was done by his almighty hand, taking away the stony heart, and giving an heart of flesh: he also removed the bar of unbelief, entered in himself, dispossessed Satan, and worked faith in her, to look to him, lay hold on him, and receive him, as her Saviour and Redeemer; making her willing in the day of his power, to be saved by him, and to serve him: it is a petition the Jews frequently make x, in their prayers to God,
, “that thou wouldst open my heart”, in thy law; or as sometimes, open our hearts in the doctrine of thy law: not Lydia herself, nor the Apostle Paul, but the Lord opened her heart; Jehovah the Father, who commanded light out of darkness; Jehovah the Son, who has the key of the house of David; Jehovah the Spirit, who convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment:
that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul; concerning the person and offices of Christ, concerning his truths and ordinances, concerning free justification by his righteousness, pardon by his blood, and everlasting salvation by him; these things she hearkened unto in another manner than she had done; before she heard, but did not attend to what she heard; but faith coming by hearing, now she hears with the hearing of faith, and understands what she hears, and cordially receives and embraces it, and put into practice what she heard, submitting to the ordinance of Christ, as follows.
g Carm. l. 1. ode 8, 13, 25. & l. 3. ode 9. h Juchasin, fol. 105. 1. i Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 18. 3. k Bereshit Rabbi, sect. 91. fol. 79. 4. & Mattanot Cehunah in ib. l T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 6. 1. m Hilchot Tzitzith, c. 2. sect. 2. n T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 26. 1. & 75. 1. o Chambers’s Cyclopoedia in the word “Purple”. p T. Bab. Menachot, fol. 40. 1, 2. q T. Bab. Pesachim, fol. 50. 2. r Maimon. Hilchot Tzitzith. c. 2. sect. 1, 2, 3. s Ib. sect. 4. t T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 39. 1. u T. Bab. Succa, fol. 26. 1. w Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 29. x Zohar in Exod. fol. 83. 1. Raziel, fol. 45. 1. & 42. 1, 2. Shaare Zion, fol. 53. 2. & 65. 1. Seder Tephillot. Ed. Basil. fol 74. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Lydia (). Her birthplace was Thyatira in Lydia. She may have been named after the land, though Lydia is a common female name (see Horace). Lydia was itself a Macedonian colony (Strabo, XIII. 4). Thyatira (note plural form like Philippi and one of the seven churches of Asia here Re 2:18) was famous for its purple dyes as old as Homer (Iliad, IV. 141) and had a guild of dyers ( ) as inscriptions show.
A seller of purple (). A female seller of purple fabrics (, ). Late word, masculine form in an inscription. There was a great demand for this fabric as it was used on the official toga at Rome and in Roman colonies. We still use the term “royal purple.” See on Lu 16:19. Evidently Lydia was a woman of some means to carry on such an important enterprise from her native city. She may have been a freed-woman, since racial names were often borne by slaves.
One that worshipped God ( ). A God-fearer or proselyte of the gate. There was a Jewish settlement in Thyatira which was especially interested in the dyeing industry. She probably became a proselyte there. Whether this was true of the other women we do not know. They may have been Jewesses or proselytes like Lydia, probably all of them employees of hers in her business. When Paul writes to the Philippians he does not mention Lydia who may have died meanwhile and who certainly was not Paul’s wife. She was wealthy and probably a widow.
Heard us (). Imperfect active of , was listening, really listening and she kept it up, listening to each of these new and strange preachers.
Opened (). First aorist active indicative of , old word, double compound (, , ) to open up wide or completely like a folding door (both sides, , two). Only the Lord could do that. Jesus had opened (the same verb) the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures (Lu 24:45).
To give heed (). To hold the mind ( understood), present active infinitive. She kept her mind centred on the things spoken by Paul whose words gripped her attention. She rightly perceived that Paul was the foremost one of the group. He had personal magnetism and power of intellect that the Spirit of God used to win the heart of this remarkable woman to Christ. It was worth coming to Philippi to win this fine personality to the Kingdom of God. She will be the chief spirit in this church that will give Paul more joy and co-operation than any of his churches. It is not stated that she was converted on the first Sabbath, though this may have been the case. “One solitary convert, a woman, and she already a seeker after God, and a native of that very Asia where they had been forbidden to preach” (Furneaux). But a new era had dawned for Europe and for women in the conversion of Lydia.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
Lydia. An adjective : the Lydian; but as Lydia was a common name among the Greeks and Romans, it does not follow that she was named from her native country.
A seller of purple. On purple, see note on Luk 16:19.
Thyatira. The district of Lydia, and the city of Thyatira in particular, were famous for purple dyes. So Homer :
“As when some Carian or Maeonian 22 dame Tinges with purple the white ivory, To form a trapping for the cheeks of steeds” Iliad, 4, 141.
An inscription found in the ruins of Thyatira relates to the guild of dyers. Heard [] . Imperfect, was hearing while we preached.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
LYDIA, PAUL’S FIRST CONVERT IN EUROPE V. 14, 15
1) “And a certain woman named Lydia,” (kai tis gune onomati Ludia) “And a specific woman by name of (known as) Lydia,” a woman of piety, who received the Lord in Philippi of Macedonia, on the European continent, away from the home of her nativity, then entertained the missionary brethren, Act 16:15
2) “A seller of purple of the city of Thyatira,” (porphuropolis poleos Thuatiron) “A dealer or merchandise person in purple-dyed fabrics and garments of the city of Thyatira, “across the Aegean Sea in Asia Minor, some two hundred or more miles from her home; She came as an unsaved successful, prosperous, worldly woman, who like Cornelius, felt a need of prayer and worship, Act 10:1-3; Act 17:27.
3) “Which worshipped God, heard us:” (sebomune ton theon ekousen) “Who was worshipping God, of her own accord, gave attention to us,” Luk 14:35, “he that hath ears to hear, let him hear,” for “faith cometh by hearing,” Rom 10:17; Joh 6:44; Act 11:18; 2Co 4:6.
4) “Whose heart the Lord opened,” (es ho kurios dienoiksen ten kardian) “Whose heart the Lord opened up;” by His Spirit to receive the gospel, Mat 1:11-25; Luk 24:45; Pro 16:1. Paul preached, Lydia gave heed, but the Lord opened her heart (her understanding and affections) by His word, and convicting spirit, Pro 1:22-23; Heb 3:7; Heb 4:7.
5) “That she attended unto the things,” (prosechein tois) “To take heed or give emotional response to the things,” to give heed, hear was Lydia’s part, to open her heart that she might believe, was God’s part, Pro 16:1; Pro 1:22-23; Heb 4:7, The message of salvation and service, that salvation calls for profession and service, Rom 10:9-13; Eph 2:8-10; Jas 1:22; Mar 8:34-38; Mat 5:15-16.
6) “That were spoken of Paul.” (laloumenois hupo Paulou) “That were being repeatedly and effectively spoken by Paul,” that one (a sinner) must be saved by repentance toward God and faith on Jesus Christ, accompanied or succeeded, by baptism, an outward symbol of commitment to bear the message of salvation to others, Act 20:21; Gal 3:26-27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
−
14. A woman named Lydia. If they had been heard of a few women, yet this had been to enter in, as it were, by a strait chink; but now whereas one only heareth attentively and with fruit, might it not have seemed that the way was stopt before Christ? − (184) But afterward there sprung a noble Church of that one small graft, which Paul setteth out with many excellent commendations; yet it may be that Lydia had some companions, whereof there is no mention made, because she did far excel them all. And Luke doth not assign that for the cause why this one woman did show herself apt to be taught, because she was more witty − (185) than the rest, or because she had some preparation of herself; but he saith that the Lord opened her heart that she might give ear and take heed to the speech of Paul. He had of late commended her godliness; and yet he showeth that she could not comprehend the doctrine of the gospel, save only through the illumination of the Spirit. Wherefore, we see that not faith alone, but all understanding and knowledge of spiritual things, is the peculiar gift of God, and that the ministers do no good by teaching and speaking unless the inward calling of God be thereunto added. −
By the word heart, the Scripture meaneth sometimes the mind, as when Moses saith, “God hath not given thee hitherto a heart to understand.” So likewise in this place, Luke doth not only signify unto us that Lydia was brought by the inspiration of the Spirit, with affection of heart to embrace the gospel, but that her mind was lightened, that she might understand it. By this let us learn that such is the blockishness, such is the blindness of men, that in seeing they see not, in hearing they hear not, until such time as God doth give them new eyes and new ears. But we must note the speech, that the heart of Lydia was opened was opened that she might give ear to the external voice of the teacher. For as preaching alone is nothing else but the dead letter, so we must beware lest a false imagination, or a show of secret illumination, lead us away from the word whereupon faith dependeth, and wherein it resteth. For many, to the end they may amplify the grace of the Spirit, feign to themselves certain inspired persons, − (186) that they may leave no use of the external word. But the Scripture doth not suffer any such divorce to be made which joineth the ministry of men with the secret inspiration of the Spirit. Unless the mind of Lydia had been opened, Paul’s preaching should have been only literal; − (187) and yet the Lord doth not inspire her with bare revelations only, but he giveth her the reverence of his word, so that the voice of man, which might otherwise have been uttered in vain, doth pierce into a mind endued with heavenly light. −
Therefore, let those brain-sick fellows be packing, [begone,] who, under color [pretext] of the Spirit, refuse external doctrine. For we must note the temperature of moderation which Luke setteth down here, that we can have or obtain nothing by the hearing of the word alone, without the grace of the Spirit; and that the Spirit is given us, not that he may bring contempt of the word, but rather that he may dip [instill] into our minds into our minds, and write in our hearts the faith thereof. −
Now, if the cause be demanded why the Lord opened one woman’s heart alone, we must return unto that principle, that so many believe as we are ordained − (188) to life. For the fear of God, which went before the plain and manifest knowledge of Christ in Lydia, was also a fruit of free election. The describers of situations of places − (189) say, that Thyratira is a city of Lydia situate upon the side of the river called Hermus, and that it was sometimes called Pelopia; but some there be who attribute it to Phrygia, some to Mysia. −
(184) −
“
Obstructos esse Christo ingressus,” that the entrance of Christ was hindered.
(185) −
“
Acutiori ingenio,” of acutor intellect.
(186) −
“
[ Ενθουσιασμους ],” inspirations.
(187) −
“
Literalis,” literal, (gone no farther than the letter.)
(188) −
“
Praeordinati,” preordained.
(189) −
“
Geographi,” geographers.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act. 16:14. Lydia.Certainly a proper name, not a patronymic (Zckler). She had probably become addicted to Jewish religious practices in her native city (Ramsay). Thyatira.A town in Lydia, famous for its dyeing.
Act. 16:15. Come into my house, and abide there.Up to this time the four teachers may have supported themselves by their own labours, Paul as a tent maker, Luke as a physician, Silas and Timothy in ways unknown. That Paul was reluctant to accept Lydias invitation has been argued from the words, And she constrained us (compare Luk. 24:29); and this he may well have been, not because of unwillingness to partake of the hospitality of others (see Rom. 16:23), or to receive assistance from them when his circumstances required (Act. 24:23; Act. 28:10; Php. 4:15), but because he wished to avoid the imputation of being actuated by mercenary motives (Act. 20:34; 2Co. 12:17; 2Co. 12:19).
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.Act. 16:14-15
A Sabbath in Philippi; or, the Conversion of Lydia
I. The antecedents.
1. Lydias settlement in Philippi. A native of Thyatira, on the confines of Lydia and Mysia, afterwards the seat of a Christian Church (Rev. 2:18); a seller of purple, for which the Lydians were celebrated, the guild of dyers at Thyatira, , having left behind them an inscription which attests the accuracy of the sacred historian; Lydia, so called not from her native district, since the name was common among both Greeks and Romans, in prosecution of her calling had crossed the gean and settled in Philippi. Had she not done so, she might never have met Paul. But a good mans (and also a good womans) footsteps are ordered by the Lord (Psa. 37:23).
2. Lydias conversion to Judaism. That like the Eunuch (Act. 8:27) and Cornelius (Act. 10:2) she had become an adherent of the Jewish faith, a proselyte, is the clear sense of the clause, one that worshipped God. Had she been been still a heathen she would not have been found in the proseuche, or place of prayer. An illustration of how God leads those who fear Him and seek the truth (Psa. 25:9).
3. Lydias presence in the house of prayer. Had she on that memorable day when Paul visited the proseuche been absent from any causeill-health, business, pleasure, or indifferenceshe had missed the blessing that was that day being prepared for her. A lesson for irregular attenders of the sanctuary. Compare the case of Thomas (Joh. 20:24).
4. Lydias attention to Pauls words in the meeting. Lydia listenedall worshippers do not this. Listening for Lydia proved the way to faith (Rom. 10:17). A hint for careless hearers of the word.
II. The accompaniments.
1. The opening of Lydias heart. By an inward work of grace performed thereupon by the Lord, i.e., Jesus Christ, through His Spirit. Mans heart, naturally shut against the truth (1Co. 2:14; Eph. 4:18; Rev. 3:20), can be opened only by heavenly influence (Mat. 11:25; Luk. 24:45; 1Co. 3:6-7).
2. The attention of Lydias spirit. This more than such hearing as the understanding gives. The language points to such inward marking of the truth, whether heard or read, as an awakened or opened spirit supplies, discerning the suitability of the truth to its needs and laying hold of the truth so discerned for the satisfaction of those needs.
3. The decision of Lydias will. Faith a voluntary act of the soul appropriating to itself the Lord Jesus Christ as presented in the gospel and a deliberate resting on Him for salvation (Gal. 2:20; 2Ti. 1:12).
III. The consequents.Confession.
1. By baptism. Necessary after faith in the case of adults (Act. 2:38). As to its bearing on the baptism of infants, see below. Whether Lydia was baptized at once or afterwards and whether immersed or sprinkled are points not determined.
2. By good works. She desired to attest the sincerity of her conversion and her gratitude to those through whose instrumentality it had been brought about by pressing on Paul and his companions the hospitalities of her roof.
Learn.
1. That Gods hand is in every conversion.
2. That Gods grace alone can effect any conversion.
3. That without Gods word there can be no conversion.
4. That obedience to Gods commandments, ceremonial and moral, best attests conversion.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act. 16:14. The Church of Christ in Europe.
I. Commenced in the important town of Philippi.The keystone of Romes greatness became the foundation-stone of Christs kingdom.
II. Planted by Divine direction.God guided the steps of Paul and Silas to Macedonia.
III. Founded by the apostle of the Gentiles.Pauls preaching the instrument used to convert Lydia.
IV. Originated in a prayer meeting. The kingdom of God comoth not with observation.
V. Rooted among the humbler classes of society.Not many wise, not many mighty are called.
VI. Begun with the conversion of a woman.If first in the transgression, woman is oftenest first in repentance, faith, and salvation. In Tinnevelly, in South India, where are now 120,000 converts, the first convert was a woman. Clarinda heard Schwartz preach, received light into her heart, was baptised, and by her efforts in obtaining a native evangelist and in building a church was instrumental in giving light to large numbers of her countrymen and countrywomen (Zenana Mission Quarterly of the United Presbyterian Church, No. I., p. 4).
VII. Started with a representative of commerce.Upon the bells of the horses should be holiness unto the Lord.
The First Convert.
I. Who was this person that was the first in Philippi to experience the saving power of the gospel?We are told that it was a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God. In the account which is here given of her, I think there are several things which made it unlikely, beforehand, that she should be the first person converted to the faith of Christ. In the first place, she was a stranger in the country. She was not a native of Philippi, nor even of Macedonia. She was from Thyatira, a city of Asia Minor. When the gospel crossed over from Asia into Europe, we would expect that the first person to whom its preaching should be blessed should be some person of the country. Again, there was another circumstance connected with this woman which made it unlikely that she should be the first convert to the gospel. She was not a Jewess by descent; she was only a Gentile proselyte. This is what is to be understood by the expression that she worshipped God. It is almost the same as that made use of about Cornelius (Act. 10:2). There is one other circumstance mentioned concerning Lydia, which might also have made it unlikely that she should have been the first brought under the saving influence of the gospel. It was the busy trade in which she was engaged. Others there may have been in the group which Paul addressed, the mothers of families quietly occupied in their home duties, with such influences surrounding them as would draw out their minds in devotional and solemn feeling. It is not those whom we think the most likely or the most promising that are always brought to the saving knowledge of the gospel; but it is sometimes those whom we would judge the most unlikely.
II. And now we are to look at the manner in which she was converted.It is very briefly, but at the same time very plainly toldWhose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. I think it means first that she felt interested in them as a matter of personal concern. What we each want, what makes the saving difference in any individual case, is that God the Holy Ghost should open the heart to receive that truth which is heard with the outward hearing.
III. I can only just refer to what we are told of Lydia, in the next verse, after her conversion.She was baptised and her household.M. F. Day.
Lydias Heart Opened.Look at this incident in the light which it casts on personal conversion.
I. We have the central faculty on which this change is wrought: the heart. The heart is the generic term in which primarily we include the entire phenomena of the animal and the spiritual man. Metaphorically it concentrates whatever distributively belongs to the physical, the emotional, and the intellectual nature. In popular speech it is the organ of vitality; the great arterial centre, the common ground and basis on which all the functions of life are dependent. In its Scriptural import the heart is the normal status that conditions mans relations to God. The heart, therefore, is the power in man that most of all needs to be changed. Individual tendencies, constitutional idiosyncrasies, even moral aberrations and vicious practices, can be arrested and are frequently mastered by culture. The heart never outgrows its inherent depravity. To change the heart in man, then, whatever else it may mean, is not merely to amend the life; for the life may be superficially correct, while the heart is utterly false. For the same reason, it cannot be any mere intellectual change, such as a new way of thinking of God, of His claims, or of His worship; nor yet does does it consist in any quickened sensibility of the conscience in its outward reverence for the truth; all of which are perfectly congruous with the felt, ascendent alienation of the heart from God and goodness. The new birth, as our Lords language implies, is the coming into life of that which did not previously exist. Redemption through Christ is potentially the recreation of the lost Divine order in the soul. Its aim is not to awaken or to direct merely the religious instincts, but to renew the soul after the image in which it was created.
II. From the subject we pass to the method of this change.Let us mark
1. The supernatural source in which the charge originates. Regeneration is a supernatural work wrought by the exercise of a Divine power upon the soul. It is always this where it is real. It may not be miraculous, it probably is not; it would not be more real or superhuman for being miraculous; but it certainly is not the product of human nature. It may be simulated, but it cannot be fabricated by any art or device of man.
2. A second characteristic of this Divine power in conversion is in the variety of methods in which it operates. In the instance before us the work was done silently as the young spring bud is opened by the morning sun. It was the sublime serenity of a translation out of darkness into light. In the history of the jailor, the same work is done, not in silence, but in tumult; not in a translation, but in a resurrection. Instead of the gentleness of the budding leaf or the silence of the falling dew, there were the throes of the earthquake, shaking the prison walls, and turning into a storm of agony the soul of the man. And this variety in the methods of the Divine working according to the constitutional differences in men unfolds to us in perp tuity, the mental difficulties with which the gospel has to contend and the different methods in which it proceeds in dealing with them. Uniform in its effects, it is yet multiform in its modes of action.
III. The reality of Lydias conversion was seen in its immediate fruits.
1. She attended unto the things which were spoken by Paul. If listless before, if curious only, if speculative, she is awake now.
2. She was baptised, and her household. She took upon herself and upon her home the professon of the Christian faith.John Burton.
Act. 16:14-15, The Conversion of Lydia. (Another treatment.)Remarkable as
I. The conversion of a woman.The first instance of such in the Acts. Others occurred afterwards (Act. 17:4; Act. 17:12; Act. 17:34). Relation of woman to Christianity. What the gospel has done for woman, and what woman can do for the gospel.
II. The conversion of a merchantess.Again first example recorded in the Acts. Trade and religion not incompatible. Commerce might be the handmaid of the gospel. The gospel fitted to purify and ennoble commerce.
III. The conversion of a European. Or, at least, of one on European shores. Once more the first case mentioned in Lukes narrative. Whether the gospel had before this found its way to Rome is uncertain. But in any case Lydia may be regarded as the beginning of the Church of Christ in Europe.
The Conversion of Lydia. (A third treatment.)
I. How occasioned.
1. By attending a prayer meeting.
2. By listening to a sermon.
II. Through what effected.
1. By Divine grace.
2. Through human faith.
III. By what followed.
1. Baptism.
2. Good works.
Act. 16:15. Household Baptism.
I. The apostolic practice.To baptise the entire household when its head became a believer, as in the cases of the jailor (Act. 16:33), Crispus (Act. 18:8), Stephanus (1Co. 1:16), and no doubt others, in addition to that of Lydia.
II. The probable basis.Not the faith of each individual baptised. If it cannot be argued that any of the households baptised contained childrenthough children in a household are the rule rather than the exceptionit can as little be reasoned that all who were baptised, assuming them to be relatives, servants, grown-up sons or daughters, believed. In the case of the jailor and his household, it is not said that they, but only that he believed on God (Act. 16:34). Yet they as well as he received baptism, and probably on the following grounds.
1. The fact was recognised that children had been included in the Abrahamic covenant, and through circumcision were admitted into the Hebrew Church. From this the step was doubtless easy to argue that children of believing parents should be received into the Christian Church through baptism, which like circumcision partook of the character of an initiatory rite, and all the more that Christ had not enjoined their exclusion.
2. The language of Christ concerning children had declared that of such was the kingdom of heaven (Mat. 19:14); and from this the inference was not difficult to draw that, if children might without personal faith receive the substance of salvation, they might also on the same terms receive its external sign.
3. The instructions given to the apostles by Christ to baptise all nations, teaching them to observe all things, etc. (Mat. 28:20), might appear to them to warrant the deduction that discipleship might in certain cases, as for instance of children of believing parents, go before instruction and therefore before faith.
III. The warrantable inference.That infant baptism accords with Scripture. This seems borne out by the view the apostle takes of the children of believing parents or of parents of whom one only is believing (1Co. 7:14). What would Lydia have said asks Besser, if the preachers of the Lord Jesus had refused to baptise the little children of her house? She must have become doubtful of her own faiththe free gift of God.
The Characteristics of True Faith.
I. Humble.Submitting itself to the judgment of advanced Christians.
II. Learning.Longing after further progress in knowledge.
III. Thankful.Both to God, the prime author, and to man, the instrument (when he is so) of its existence.
IV. Active.Working by lovecome to my house.
V. Obedient.She and all her house were baptised.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
(14) Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira.The city so named, now known as Ak-hissar, was in the Roman province of Asia, but came within the boundaries of the older kingdom of Lydia, and it is probable that, like so many slaves and women of the libertin class, she took her name from her country. Afra, Grca, Syra, are familiar examples of like names. Lydia occurs, it will be remembered, once and again, in Horace (Od. i. 14; iii. 9). Thyatira, one of the cities in the valley of the Lycus, was, like many other towns of Asia Minor, famous for its dyeing works, especially for purple, or crimson, which rivalled the fame of Tyre or Miletus (Strabo, xiii. 4, 14). Inscriptions found on the spot bear witness to the existence of a guild, or corporation, of purple-sellers, with which Lydia doubtless was connected. In Rev. 1:11; Rev. 2:18, it appears as one of the seven churches to which special epistles were to be sent from their divine Head. It had been founded as a colony, in the modern sense of the term, from Macedonia, as the sequel of the conquest of the Persian monarchy by Alexander the Great, and this may in part explain Lydias presence at Philippi. The fact that she, and not her husband, is named as the purple-seller, is at least presumptive evidence that she was carrying on the business by herself.
Which worshipped God.She was, i.e., a proselyte (see Note on Act. 13:10), and, as the sequel shows, one of the better type, drawn to Judaism, not by superstitious fear, or weak credulity, but by the higher ethical and spiritual teaching which it presented.
Heard.For heard read was listening.
Whose heart the Lord opened.The scene is one which might well call for the master touches of a great painter. The river flowing calmly by, the preacher sitting and talking familiarly, but earnestly, to the groups of women, one, at least, among them listening with looks and tears that told of deep emotions, and the consciousness of a new life.
That she attended.Better, to give heed to, as in Act. 8:6, and elsewhere.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
14. Named Lydia A personal name, often used, derived from the name of the province of Lydia.
Seller of purple (See note on Luk 16:19.)
Thyatira The purple traffic in this region was earlier than Homer, and women were the purplers. By the great Roman roads the traffic between Thyatira was, at this time, easy; and inscriptions are still extant describing the trade as it once existed.
Worshipped In this piety Lydia was remarkably distinguished from the women of her country. Wetstein gives repeated passages from Greek writers affirming that Lydian women were unchaste, all.
‘And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one who worshipped God, heard us, whose heart the Lord opened to give heed to the things which were spoken by Paul.’
Among those who listened was Lydia, a dealer in purple dyes and dyed cloth from Thyatira, that centre of syncretistic religion (compare Rev 2:20), who had a house in Philippi, and who was a true ‘worshipper of God’, a ‘God-fearer’. And her heart was opened by God to Paul’s words and she drank them in and in her innermost soul she responded fully, knowing that this was what she had waited for, for so long.
The conversion of Lydia:
v. 14. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
v. 15. And 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.
In the audience on the river bank, on that memorable morning when the first Christian service was conducted on European soil, was a certain woman, a merchant by the name of Lydia, the name by which she was probably known for business purposes, since she hailed from Thyatira in Lydia, a district of proconsular Asia. She was a dealer in purple, that is, in garments dyed with a very costly dye, and must therefore have been comparatively well-to-do. “Thyatira was noted for its dyeing. Madder root, with which they dyed a Turkey-red, grows abundantly in the neighborhood. As the ancients employed the names of colors with great laxity, this was often termed purple. ” Lydia was a God-fearing woman, that is, she was a Jewish proselyte, she believed in and reverenced the God of the Jews, whose worship had been taught her. She listened carefully to the entire discourse, and the Lord opened her heart fully to attend to the matters which were explained by Paul, the news that Jesus of Nazareth was the promised Messiah. So thoroughly was she and all the members of her household (she may have been a widow with a number of children, as well as a number of servants] convinced of the truth of the Gospel that she and they all confessed their faith forthwith and were baptized a fine nucleus for a congregation in whose welfare Paul always took great interest. The gratitude of Lydia for the blessings of which she had now been made a partaker prompted her to extend a cordial invitation to the missionaries to accept her hospitality. It was in the form of earnest pleading that she said to them: If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, since the fact that you baptized me seems to argue that you consider me a believer in the Lord, please come to my house and abide there. And she did not rest until she had persuaded them to come and be her guests. Such hospitality in return for the great spiritual gifts received is a proof for the change of heart produced by faith, and is well-pleasing to the Lord.
Act 16:14. Thyatira, Was a city bordering both on Asia and Lydia; and this woman seems to have derived her name from the latter on that account. She was a proselyte of the gate; that is, one who worshipped the true God, though she did not conform to the Jewish law in all its rites and ceremonies. She heard St. Paul with serious attention; and, through the goodness and grace of God, her heart was affected, and her mind convincedofthetruth and excellence of the Christian religion, which she immediately embraced with the heart unto righteousness, and was baptized with her whole family.
Act 16:14 . . . .] Also a woman was listening , etc. was a common female name (Hor. Od . i. 8, iii. 9, vi. 20), and therefore it remains doubtful whether she received her name “a solo natali” (Grotius, de Wette, and others).
] (fabrics and clothes dyed purple) (Hesychius, Phot. Bibl . 201. 41). The dyeing of purple was actively carried on (Val. Fl. iv. 368; Claud. Rapt. P . i. 274; Plin. H. N. vii. 57; Ael. H. A . 4. 46; Max. Tyr. xl. 2), especially in Lydia, to which Thyatira belonged (Ptol. v. 2; Plin. v. 31), and an inscription found at Thyatira particularly mentions the guild of dyers of that place. See Spon. Miscell. erud. ant . p. 113.
. . ] A female proselyte . See on Act 13:16 ; Act 13:43 .
. . .] Luke recognises the attentive interest , which Lydia with her heart unclosed directed to the word, as produced by the influence of the exalted Christ ( ) working for the promotion of His kingdom, who opened ( ) the heart of Lydia, i.e. wrought in her self-consciousness, as the centre and sphere of action of her inner vital energy, the corresponding readiness, in order that she might attend to what was preached ( . .). The fidem habere (Grotius, Kuinoel, Heinrichs) followed, but still was not the itself . Comp. on Act 8:6 . Moreover, Chrysostom correctly remarks: . Comp. Mal 1:4Mal 1:4 ; Luk 24:45 ; Eph 1:18 . She experienced the motus inevitabiles of grace, to which she offered no resistance, but with willing submission rendered the moral self-conscious compliance by which she arrived at faith. [53]
[53] Comp. Luthardt, vom freien Willen , p. 427 f.
DISCOURSE: 1785 Act 16:14-15. And 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. And 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.
IN preaching the Gospel to mankind, every minister will not be alike successful; though every one may expect such a measure of success, as shall be a testimony from God to the truth of his declarations, and a seal to the commission with which he has been charged [Note: Jer 23:22.]. More especially may we hope to convert sinners unto God, if we are attentive to the calls of his providence, respecting the proper sphere of our labours. We may, like the Apostles, spread our net wide, and toil all the night, and catch nothing: but, if our Lord instruct us where to cast the net, we may hope to enclose a multitude of fishes. The commission given to the Apostles was, to go and preach the Gospel to every creature: yet there were particular places to which, at particular times, their attention was more especially directed. St. Paul, after going through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, would have gone into Asia and Bithynia; but he was forbidden by the Holy Ghost to go there [Note: ver. 6, 7.]; and was instructed by a vision to go over rather into Macedonia [Note: ver. 9, 10.]. There therefore he went; and there he met with the woman of whom our text speaks; and was the happy instrument of saving her soul alive. Her name, her occupation, her character, and the place of her nativity, are all distinctly noticed: she was called Lydia; and was of the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple clothes; and a worshipper of the true God. We forbear, however, to dwell on these circumstances, in order that we may consider more fully the means and evidences of her conversion:
I.
The means of her conversion
Lydia was, by nature, like all the rest of mankind: her heart was shut against the truths of the Gospel: nor could she either receive or know them, because she possessed not a spiritual discernment. But the Lord knocked, as it were, at the door of her heart, and constrained her to open to him: he fixed her attention to the subject which Paul insisted on; gave her an insight into it; inclined her cordially to embrace the truth; and thus subdued her to the obedience of faith. Nor can it be effected by any other means whatever That a great and effectual work was wrought upon her will appear, whilst we consider,
II.
The evidences of her conversion
Here we are called to notice,
1.
Her public profession of the faith of Christ
[She was not ashamed to acknowledge the conviction that had been wrought on her mind; nor was she afraid to confess her faith in Jesus of Nazareth. Accordingly, she was, together with all her household, baptized immediately, in token that she had embraced the Christian covenant, and was become a disciple of the Lord Jesus. This, it is true, was not a decisive proof of sound conversion; because some submitted to the rite of baptism who had not received the grace of God in truth [Note: Act 8:13.]: but it was a strong presumptive evidence of her sincerity, inasmuch as it exposed her to all the obloquy and persecution, which were the common lot of Christians at that day. The insincere were deterred by these considerations from acting according to the dictates of their conscience [Note: Joh 12:42-43.]: but the upright uniformly and universally complied with them; and exerted their influence over their respective households, to bring them also by baptism into covenant with Christ.
In this, her example deserves particular attention: for though, on account of our having already received the seal of the covenant in baptism, we are not again to be baptized, yet are we to maintain the same fidelity as she did, and to shew, by the whole of our conduct, whose we are, and whom we have engaged to serve [Note: Rom 10:10.] ]
2.
Her zealous attachment to the cause of Christ
[She felt an ardent love towards him who had been the instrument of her conversion; and a most unfeigned desire to glorify her God, to whose grace alone she was indebted for all the blessings she had received. Hence she desired, and urged the Apostles, if they accounted her sincere, to come and take up their abode under her roof. This was attended, not only with expense, but with considerable danger too [Note: Act 16:22; Act 17:6-9.]: but she had counted the cost in every way, and was well content to pay it.
This was an excellent evidence in her favour: for this kind of love is particularly specified by God himself as one of those things which accompany salvation [Note: Heb 6:9-10.]: and in a very eminent degree it may be considered as fulfilling the law of Christ [Note: Gal 6:2; Gal 6:10.]. Respecting the exercise of such dispositions under the Christian dispensation, and the consecration of all our wealth to the service of our God, the Prophet Isaiah spoke repeatedly [Note: Isa 23:18; Isa 60:9.]: and wherever the grace of God reigns in the heart, it will produce these effects in the life and conversation [Note: 2Co 8:7-8.].]
We shall conclude this subject with some reflections naturally arising from it: How necessary in divine ordinances is the Lords presence!
[Of all the women who heard the Apostle at that time, we hear only of one who gave due attention to the things that were spoken by him: and the source of the difference between her and the others was, that the Lord opened her heart. To this source must we trace all the good that is done by the ministration of the Gospel [Note: Isa 53:1. Act 11:21. 1Th 1:5.]: whoever be the preacher, God alone is the author of the blessing [Note: 2Co 3:6-7.].]
2.
How great are the obligations of those whose eyes are opened!
[Consider the change wrought on her at the time, and the effect of it on her everlasting state: what cause had she to adore and magnify the grace of God! So it is with all who are made monuments of Divine grace: they are indeed brands plucked out of the burning; and to all eternity must they ascribe their happiness, not to themselves, but unto Him that chose them from before the foundation of the world, and gave them to his dear Son, to be the trophies of his redeeming love [Note: Joh 15:16. Rom 9:16. Eph 1:4-6.].]
3.
How anxious should we be to adorn the doctrine we have received!
[Lydia did not wait to have this burthen imposed upon her; she sought of her own accord, and that with great earnestness permission to bear it; yea, she accounted it not a burthen, but an honour and a joy. Thus it was with the Christians in the Churches of Macedonia [Note: 2Co 8:1-4.]: and thus should it be with us also. We should long and pant after opportunities of honouring our God: we should value nothing any further than it may be subservient to that end: we should account ourselves, and all that we possess, as the Lords property [Note: 1Co 6:20.]; and we should make it the one labour of our lives to glorify him with our bodies and our spirits, which are his.]
And 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. (15) And 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.
Every circumstance in the history of this woman is striking, and merits our attention.
First s We find a special call of Paul to Macedon; and the first reason for it, is given in the history of this woman being called to God, through the instrumentality of Paul’s preaching. The Lord hath said, he will seek out his sheep, and deliver them out of all places whither they have been scattered, Eze 34:12 .
It is further remarkable in the case of this woman’s conversion, that though she was in this city of Philippi, when Paul was sent here, she was not an inhabitant of this place, but of Thyatira, a country far removed from it; for Philippi was in Europe, and Thyatira on the borders of Asia. So that the Lord must have brought her to Philippi, and then called Paul thither, to bring about the purposes of his grace. Doth the Reader ask, whether the conversion of this woman might not have been accomplished without those means, had she remained in Thyatira? I answer, Yes, without doubt, the Lord might so have wrought. But the Lord is pleased not unfrequently, to appoint otherwise; and what the Lord appoints must be right. And it is very precious when we see how the Lord, who fixeth the bounds of his people’s habitations, arrangeth everything for his glory, and his people’s happiness.
There is another sweet circumstance in this woman’s history. Though in the eyes of the world she was a person of no great rank or character, a seller of purple only, not one dressed, as the rich man in the parable is described, in purple and fine linen, but one that moved about from place to place to get her daily bread, yet so precious in the eyes of Jesus, as one of his jewels, that a special messenger shall be sent to her to tell her words whereby she must be saved. Reader! learn from hence how valuable in the eyes of Jesus are all his redeemed ones, Luk 16:19 .
I pray the Reader to consider another feature respecting this woman. God the Holy Ghost hath caused her name to be handed down in the Church with honorable testimony. Had she not been precious to the Lord, neither her history, nor name would have been given. But now her name is known by thousands, and her history also, while millions of the human race, and multitudes which have made a figure also in their day and generation among the carnal and ungodly, and thought themselves persons of no small consequence, are now buried in everlasting oblivion, and are known no more. Oh the blessedness of being in Christ! Oh, the blessedness of being recorded in his book and having our names written in heaven, Phi 4:3 ; Luk 10:20 ; Rev 13:8 ; Psa 139:16 .
But the principal feature to be noticed in Lydia’s history, is, that the Lord opened her heart to attend to the things which were spoken by Paul. Yes. For if the Lord had not opened her heart, Paul never could. Reader! this is one of the most important points in the Gospel to be regarded. Oh! that it was well and duly considered, because in every instance it must be the same. For it is not man’s preaching, but the Lord’s ordering, and the opening of the heart is the Lord’s work, and not man’s. Did men but consider what a work is wrought when conversion-work is wrought, how different would be their views concerning the importance of salvation from what they now have of it. In every instance, all the persons of the Godhead must, and do concur. No man can come to Christ, without the drawings of the Father. And these drawings are a proof of his everlasting love, Joh 6:44 ; Jer 31:3 . None can open the heart but He who hath the key of David, Rev 3:7 . None but that God who moved over the face of the waters at the old creation, can cause light to spring out of darkness in the new, 2Co 4:6 . So that the whole persons of Jehovah put their Almighty hand to the work in the conversion of Lydia; and the same is essential in the instance of every sinner, whom the Lord makes willing in the day of his power, Psa 110:3 . Reader! what saith your experience to this scriptural testimony? If He who opened Lydia’s heart hath mercifully opened your’s, you can best explain the greatness of the work, the difficulties of it, the state of your mind before it was wrought, in the dominion of sin and Satan, and the state of your heart since God was so gracious, as will render unnecessary any observations of mine upon the subject to explain. All those blessed effects which marked Lydia’s conduct, will more or less manifest themselves in your life and conversation. All the Lord’s faithful servants, his ordinances, his word, his sabbaths, his people, will be dear to the heart. Nothing will be judged equally valuable as Christ and his.
14 And 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.
Ver. 14. Whose heart the Lord opened ] Man’s heart is naturally locked up and barricaded against God, till he, by his mighty Spirit, make forcible entrance, beating the devil out of his trenches, 2Co 10:4 .
14. ] The guild of dyers ( ) at Thyatira have left inscriptions, still existing, shewing the accuracy of our narrative. The celebrity of the purple dyeing of the neighbourhood is as old as Homer: , , Il. . 141. So also Claudian, de Raptu Proserp. i. 270: ‘non sic decus ardet eburnum Lydia Sidonio quod fmina tinxerit ostro’ (Lewin, i. 242). Thyatira was a city of the province of Asia. Thus, although forbidden to preach the word in Asia , their first convert at Philippi is an Asiatic . Lydia is a proper name , not ‘ita dicta a solo natali,’ as Grot.: though its origin may have been that. It was a common female name. See Hor. Od. i. 8; iii. 9.
. . . ] A proselyte; see reff. N. T.
, was listening , when , the act of God, took place.
] ‘cor clausum per se: sed Dei est id aperire.’ Bengel.
. ] It appears rather to have been a conversation ( , we spoke and not ) than a set discourse: the things which Paul was saying.
Act 16:14 . : she may have taken her name “a solo natali,” as Grotius and others have thought, like many of the libertinae , Afra, Grca, Syra; but the name was a popular one for women, cf. its frequent use in Horace. Renan takes it as meaning “the Lydian,” and compares in inscriptions, St. Paul , p. 116, cf. also Zahn, Einleitung , i., 375, but on the other hand, Nsgen, in loco . : a seller of purple at Philippi of the purple dyed garments from Thyatira, which formed the finest class of her wares. It is evident that she must have possessed a considerable amount of capital to carry on this trade, and we may note that she was thus in a position to help Paul in the expenses connected with his trial, without endorsing Renan’s view that she was his wife, St. Paul , p. 148; see below on Act 24:26 . The expression . shows that she was “a proselyte of the gate”; she could easily have gained her knowledge of the Jewish religion as she was where a Jewish colony had been planted, and there is reason to believe that the Jews were specially devoted to the dyeing industry for which Thyatira and the Lydian land in general were noted. Thus the inscriptions make it certain that there was a guild of dyers at Thyatira, cf. Spohn, Miscell. erud. ant. , p. 113; Blass in loco ; Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics of Phrygia , i., p. 145; Renan, St. Paul , p. 146, note; Zahn, Einleitung , i., p. 376. According to Strabo, Thyatira was a Mysian town, but Ptolemy, Act 16:2 , describes it as belonging to Lydia. : imperfect, denoting continuous hearing; the baptism would naturally follow after a period of hearing and instruction, “quod evenit aor [293] declaratur” Blass, see also Bengel. , cf. Act 17:3 , Eph 1:18 ; in LXX, cf. Hos 2:15 (17), Mal 1:4Mal 1:4 . The verb is frequent in St. Luke, Luk 24:31-32 ; Luk 24:45 , and in Act 2:23 quotation, Act 7:56 ; Act 17:3 ; only once elsewhere in N.T., Mar 7:34 . “To open is the part of God, to pay attention that of the woman,” Chrysostom: . . .: C. and H. see an indication of St. Luke’s own modesty: “ we spake” in Act 16:13 , but now only Paul is mentioned.
[293] aorist tense.
seller of purple. Greek. porphuropolis. Only here. The celebrated purple dye was made from the murex, a shell-fish. Referred to by Homer.
Thyatira. On the Lycus in Lydia. Inscriptions of the guild of Dyers at Thyatira.
which worshipped = one worshipping. Greek. sebomai. App-137. No doubt a proselyte.
God. App-98.
heard = was hearing.
opened = opened effectually. Greek. dianoigo. Only here, Act 17:3. Mar 7:34, Mar 7:35. Luk 2:23; Luk 24:31, Luk 24:32, Luk 24:45.
14. ] The guild of dyers ( ) at Thyatira have left inscriptions, still existing, shewing the accuracy of our narrative. The celebrity of the purple dyeing of the neighbourhood is as old as Homer: , , Il. . 141. So also Claudian, de Raptu Proserp. i. 270: non sic decus ardet eburnum Lydia Sidonio quod fmina tinxerit ostro (Lewin, i. 242). Thyatira was a city of the province of Asia. Thus, although forbidden to preach the word in Asia, their first convert at Philippi is an Asiatic. Lydia is a proper name, not ita dicta a solo natali, as Grot.: though its origin may have been that. It was a common female name. See Hor. Od. i. 8; iii. 9.
. . .] A proselyte; see reff. N. T.
, was listening,-when , the act of God, took place.
] cor clausum per se: sed Dei est id aperire. Bengel.
. ] It appears rather to have been a conversation (, we spoke-and not ) than a set discourse: the things which Paul was saying.
Act 16:14. , Lydia) The name of this woman, or else her surname, which was better known than her name. The city, Thyatira, is in Lydia, as most of the cities, which also occur in the Apocalypse.-, a seller of purple) The women of Lydia were celebrated for the art of purple-dyeing: thence also arose their merchandise.-, of the city) Either the native city simply, or also the commerce of the city (its staple manufacture), which Lydia was engaged in, is indicated.- , who worshipped GOD) She had imbibed some knowledge from the prophets.-, opened) , to be opened, is properly said of the eyes: and the heart (understanding) has eyes. Eph 1:18, The eyes of your understanding (, heart) being enlightened. The heart is in itself closed; but it is the prerogative of GOD to open it. So 2Ma 1:4, ( ) , may God open your heart.
Welcomed; Attested; Imprisoned
Act 16:14-24
This was an epoch-making moment, but how quietly it is recorded. There was no heralding of the gospel which was to transform Europe. The need for it was unspoken and unfelt. It stole in like the dawn.
Pauls first experiences in Europe were not promising. In most cities there was a Jewish synagogue; but here only a small group of pious women in an arbor by the riverside. Let none despise the day of small things. What a contrast between Lydia, who had come over from Asia Minor, and employed a number of hands in the dyeing trade, and the poor girl who was possessed by the demon! Yet each of them recognized the divine ministry of the newly arrived messengers. What a contrast, also, between the gradual response of Lydias heart in the revelation of the risen Christ, to whom it opened as a flower to the sun, and the sudden awakening of the jailor!
When Christ touches the pockets of worldly men, He arouses their direct opposition. The world is troubled when it loses its gains; the saints are troubled when they see Christs property being injured! See Act 16:18.
Lydia: Act 16:40
Thyatira: Rev 1:11, Rev 2:18-24
worshipped: Act 8:27, Act 10:2, Act 18:7, Joh 12:20
whose: Act 11:21, Psa 110:3, Son 5:4, Isa 50:5, Luk 24:45, Joh 6:44, Joh 6:45, Rom 9:16, 1Co 3:6, 1Co 3:7, 2Co 3:14-16, 2Co 4:4-6, Eph 1:17, Eph 1:18, Phi 2:13, Jam 1:16, Jam 1:17, Rev 3:7, Rev 3:20
Reciprocal: Neh 8:3 – ears Job 33:16 – openeth Job 36:10 – openeth Pro 11:16 – gracious Mat 13:11 – Because Mat 13:23 – good Luk 19:48 – were very attentive to hear him Luk 22:12 – he Luk 24:29 – General Act 8:12 – they believed Act 18:8 – believed 1Co 2:5 – but 1Co 2:14 – neither Eph 2:8 – that Phi 1:6 – begun Phi 4:3 – help Col 1:6 – knew 1Th 1:5 – but 1Th 2:13 – because 1Ti 5:10 – if she have lodged
LYDIA
And 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.
Act 16:14
It is at a prayer-meeting that we first make acquaintance with Lydia. An open-air prayer-meeting. Indeed it is a pleasant picture which Luke sketches, in the only passage of Scripture which tells us of Lydia. By the bank of a gentle river that flowed near the town of Philippi, a number of pious people used to gather on the Sabbath day to wait upon God. Lydia, though a stranger in the place, had heard of these Sabbath meetings. She was only a visitor, having come on an errand of business; but she had deep yearnings after the truth. How richly rewarded she was!
I. An industrious woman.We admire her for her industrious habits, her sensible, practical character. She was not ashamed to work for her living. She followed an honest trade, and apparently was a person of considerable independence of spirit. She was not a wearer of purple, but a seller of it. To be clothed in purple and fine linen was a token of rank and wealth; to sell it was a sign that she belonged to what might probably be called the middle classes of society. The Jews of those times had far more sensible ideas than we in England have to-day as to what constitutes true gentility. Indeed, it was one of the enactments of their civil law that every young person should be taught some trade.
II. A devout woman.We see here, too, a devout person, who faithfully avails herself of religious privilege. It was at the little meeting by the river-side, when she listened to the words of St. Paul, that her heart was really opened to receive the truth; but though only then did she experience the great change, she had evidently already felt an interest in Divine things. There was no eloquent preacher to attract her to that quiet spot by the river-side. She did not know that St. Paul was to be there. It was just a place where prayer was wont to be made.
III. A Christian woman.We see here, not only an industrious and devout, but a really Christian woman, a converted person, whose heart the Lord opened to receive His truth. We are not informed what were the things which were spoken of Paul, and which were divinely blessed to effect the saving change, but we can have little doubt on that point. Jesus and His resurrection was his theme wherever he went. Her great desire was to place her house and substance at the disposal of her new and Divine Master, and to show all hospitality to His servants. Her home, such as it was, was at their service, and we have reason to believe was not refused; for on the liberation of St. Paul and St. Silas from prison they gladly bent their steps thither, and remained during their stay at Philippi; and on their departure, Luke and Timothy made it their headquarters whilst they followed up the work that had been begun, and set upon a firm basis the infant Christian Church of Philippi. No church afterwards had a more honourable record; no church yielded so much joy and satisfaction to the great Apostle of the Gentiles; and the significant fact should never be forgotten, that it owed its origin to the conversion of a woman.
Illustration
When Jenny Lind, at the height of her popularity, was visiting America, she was asked to write something in a private album, and she dipped her pen in ink and wrote
In vain I seek for rest
In all created good;
It leaves me still unblest,
And makes me cry for God.
And, sure, at rest I cannot be
Until my soul finds rest in Thee.
(SECOND OUTLINE)
LYDIAS CONVERSION
Lydia was an attendant on the means of grace. Take heed that it may be said of you too, not now and then, but constantly.
I. Her conversion.
(a) To whom the glory of the change belonged. The Lord opened her heart. Let the glory be ascribed to Him, to Whom it is due. To the right apprehension of this truth we need simplicity of faith and guidance from above. The Scripture gives all the glory of mans conversion unto God.
(b) The gracious change itself. Pride, self-love, indulgence, thoughtlessness, bars of iron, and gates of brass, yet the Lord opened. Oh, the power of the change! Have you experienced it?
(c) The manner of the change. She attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul. What things? Humbling things; she hearkened to that which told her, In thee dwelleth no good thing, she turned not away from the word of truth when it cast down self-righteousness. Mysterious things; the great mystery of godlinessGod manifest in the flesh; the doctrine of Christ crucifiedto the Jews a stumblingblock, to the Greeks foolishness, to her was made the power of God unto salvation. Heavenly thingsabsorbing things. Whatever she heard she gave heed thereto; conscience received the application.
II. And afterwards.
(a) She acknowledged Christ by obedience to His commands. Baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost (Mat 28:19), she put on Christ as her Saviour and her God; she framed no excuses to avoid the open confession of her Lord.
(b) She claimed the promise for her household.
(c) She braved danger in the cause (Act 16:15). Come in and abide; the city might threaten, the cost might be burdensome, but to all this what would she reply? The Lord hath opened my heart, can I but open my house?
(d) She remained steadfast in the faith. At least the persecution that forthwith arose moved her not; the indignities done to St. Paul and St. Silas made her not ashamed, and though they were about to separate and necessarily leave her and a few others to combat their difficulties alone, none of these things moved her. Hers was the house (Act 16:40) into which they retired on being brought out of prison; there they met the brethren, and thence they departed on their way.
Rev. Francis Storr.
Illustration
The trade of Lydia was a profitable one, and in her wealth, joined to the affection which he cherished for the Church of Philippi beyond all other Churches, we see the probable reason why St. Paul made all other Churches jealous by accepting pecuniary aid from his Philippian converts, and from them alone.
4
Act 16:14. Smith’s Bible Dictionary says Lydia was a Jewish proselyte, which accounts for her being present at the prayer meeting on the sabbath day, and also explains why she worshipped God. One meaning of opened is to have things explained so that the heart (mind) could understand what is said. The Lord did this for Lydia through the preaching of Paul, and the result was that she attended or accepted it.
Act 16:14. Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira. The city of Thyatira, on the confines of Lydia and Mysia, and one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in the Apocalypse, was celebrated in very early days for its purple dyes and purple fabrics. Among the ruins of the city has been found an inscription relating to the guild of dyers, curiously testifying to the accuracy of even the unimportant details of the narrative (see Homer, Iliad, iv. 141). The business which brought this Lydia to Philippi was connected either with the sale of the colouring matter or more likely with the fabric already dyed. The purple colour so esteemed in the ancient world included many tints. Thyatira was originally a Macedonian colony founded by Alexander the Great. This would account for the residence of Lydia of Philippi in Macedonia in the inland Asian city of Thyatira. This city was famous in the old world for its dyes.
Which worshipped God, heard (us). This Lydia was a proselyte to Judaism from heathendom, and, with the other Jews of Philippi, was in the habit of attending the Jewish services of prayer, and praise, and instruction; and it was at one of these meetings for the worship of the God of Israel that this devout woman met Paul.
See notes on verse 13
14. Lydia, who worshipped God, a pious Jewess, preaching in that synagogue, is converted to the Christhood of Jesus. All the facts of this brief history involve the conclusion that she was a saved woman, knowing experimentally the God of Abraham and Moses, and there faithfully preaching the gospel in the Jewish dispensation, like the saints of all bygone ages trusting the prophetic Christ. Hence she only needed conversion to the historic Christ, i. e., the Christhood of Jesus the Nazarene, whom Paul preached. We Americans and Europeans are the wrong people to depreciate and much less antagonize womans ministry when we see here that our gospel came that way. Here was a Jewish synagogue conducted by women [perhaps in the absence of suitable men]. It was free for men as well as women. Hence Paul and his comrades there found an open door to preach the gospel, with results so unlike the awful antagonism they generally met in synagogues conducted by men, as these godly women hailed the gospel as a feast and rejoice in the glad news that the Christ of prophecy has already come in the person of Jesus, whom Paul preached.
Verse 14
Of–Thyatira; from Thyatira. Her residence at this time was at Philippi. (Acts 16:15.)
16:14 {8} And 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.
(8) The Lord opens the heart to hear the word which is preached.
At least one of the women was a lady who was in Philippi on business. She trusted Christ. Thyatira, her hometown in the province of Asia, was a city famous for its purple dye and cloth (cf. Rev 2:18-29). [Note: See Richard S. Hess, Song of Songs, pp. 121-22.] During the Roman Period, laws restricted who could wear clothes dyed purple because it was the most precious of all colors. Thus Lydia undoubtedly dealt with an exclusive and affluent clientele. It had not been the right time for Paul to evangelize Asia (Act 16:6), but God brought a woman who lived there to him in Macedonia. Her name, Lydia, may have some connection with the fact that her hometown stood in an area that was formerly part of the old kingdom of Lydia. Some scholars have even surmised that Lydia was not her name but only her place of origin. We owe coined money to the Lydian kingdom. King Croesus first produced uniform coins there in the sixth century B.C. Wealthy King Croesus may have been the person behind the legend of King Midas whose touch supposedly turned anything to gold.
Luke again emphasized God’s initiative in opening her heart to the gospel (Act 16:14, cf. 2Co 4:4) and the hearts of those in her household (cf. Act 16:33; Act 11:14). Her "household" included servants as well as her family (cf. Act 10:24; Act 10:44; Act 16:31; Act 18:8; Rom 16:10-11; 1Co 1:16). Water baptism is in view (Act 16:15). It followed her conversion immediately (cf. Act 16:33; Act 8:36; et al.).
Lydia offered her large home to Paul and his companions as their headquarters while they remained in Philippi. This was a common practice in the Roman world, especially among Christians, since public housing facilities were few and unpleasant (cf. Rom 12:13; 1Pe 4:9).
"Young people sometimes hear a fervent missionary from a distant field tell of the need of young men and young women for work in Africa or China or in some other country. They say, ’I must answer the call.’ They arrange to leave everything here and go out to the mission field, only to find that nobody wants them. And they say, ’Isn’t that queer? They were pleading that we come, and instead of wanting us they are ready, in some instances, to kill us.’ Was the missionary wrong? Did he give a false impression of conditions? Not at all! The heathen do not realize their need often until the preaching of the true God gives them a sense of their real condition, but it is that need, nevertheless, which calls for someone to help." [Note: Ironside, Lectures on . . ., p. 368.]
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
THE CONVERSION OF LYDIA
Now this is the way in which the work of conversion is always effected
[We say not that every person is wrought upon as suddenly as she was; or that there are not many subordinate points in which the conversion of others may differ from hers: but we are sure that every natural man is blind to the Gospel of Christ [Note: 1Co 2:14.]; that both the sublimity of its doctrines and the purity of its precepts is offensive to him; that an effort of omnipotence also is exerted to overcome the reluctance of his soul; and that, till that influence is felt, he will hold fast his delusions, confounding good and evil, sweet and bitter, light and darkness.]
[If good dispositions would effect it, or if human eloquence could effect it, she might have been converted without any such exercise of the Divine power; seeing that she was already a worshipper of the true God, and had Paul for her instructor. But we are expressly told, that the work of conversion depends not on any such circumstances, but that it is altogether the effect of a divine operation on the soul [Note: Joh 1:13.]. The Disciples, who had the peculiar advantage of our Lords instructions for above three years together, and that in private as well as in public, could not understand the most important parts of Scripture, till he opened their understandings [Note: Luk 24:45.]. In like manner, there is yet a veil on the hearts of men whilst they read and hear the Scriptures; nor can any but God remove it [Note: 2Co 3:13-16.]. Hence it is plainly declared by our Lord himself, that no man can come unto him, except he be drawn of the Father [Note: Joh 6:44-45.]. However humiliating therefore the truth may be, we are constrained to say, in relation to every man that is converted, that the work is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy [Note: Rom 9:16.].]
1.
Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament
Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)