Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Acts 16:17
The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation.
17. followed Paul and us, and cried ] Whatever the nature of the mental and spiritual malady under which this damsel suffered, it produced on her the like effect which is recorded of evil spirits in the history of Jesus (Mar 1:25; Luk 4:41), and forced her to confess to the true character of the Christian teachers. The devils believe and tremble (Jas 2:19).
After this verse the writer ceases for a time to indicate by his language that he was with St Paul, but in Act 20:5, where the Apostle comes once again to Philippi, the first person plural appears in the narrative. It seems therefore not improbable that St Luke was left behind to labour for the spread of the Gospel in Macedonia and only taken away again by St Paul after the work had been well established.
most high God ] Cf. the words of the demoniac, Mar 5:7.
shew unto us ] The older reading is “ unto you.”
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The same followed Paul … – Why she did this, or under what presence, the sacred writer has not informed us. It may have been:
- That as she prophesied for gain, she supposed that Paul and Silas would reward her if she publicly proclaimed that they were the servants of God. Or,
- Because she was conscious that an evil spirit possessed her, and she feared that Paul and Silas would expel that spirit, and by proclaiming them to be the servants of God she hoped to conciliate their favor. Or,
- More probably it was because she saw evident tokens of their being sent from God, and that their doctrine would prevail; and by proclaiming this she hoped to acquire more authority, and a higher reputation for being herself inspired. Compare Mar 5:7.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Act 16:17
These men are servants of the Most High God and show to us the way of salvation.
The confession of the girl
What a strange thing have we here! the devil preaching the gospel; at least confirming the word of those who preached it. How was it that the prince of darkness could thus support the men who were labouring to destroy his kingdom? How could he give his testimony to the truth of that gospel by which his throne was to be subverted? Was not Satan here casting out Satan, and contributing to the overthrow of his own dominion? No: his speaking truth was a master stroke of devilish policy. He spoke the truth to counteract it; to put Paul and Silas and the possessed woman on the same ground, as if they all agreed: and if Paul and Silas had been pleased with this testimony, and appealed to it, and observed to the people that she who had told them so correctly many things which they could not have found out, confessed them as the servants of God and the preachers of salvation, he would have gained a great point. Let the Pythoness once be identified with the Christian teachers and she might teach, under the name of Christianity, such things as the devil has since often taught, and called them the way of salvation. The devil confessing Christ is in fact more dangerous than the devil denying Christ: for he only confesses to oppose. He confesses, and misrepresents, so that he makes the doctrine of Christ sometimes one thing and sometimes another; and anything but what it really is. Sometimes it is salvation by mans merit, heaven purchased by the performance of outward works. Thus he builds up a fatal system of self-righteousness. Yet there is truth in what he teaches. The works are necessary; but he assigns to them a wrong office, puts them in the place of Christ, and thus leads men to reject that way of salvation, to which, by the mouth of the Pythoness, he bore witness. At other times he takes the direct contrary course; and with the show of honouring Christ teaches men to look for salvation by a faith which produces no works. Thus his doctrine is–what it were to be wished his kingdom was–divided against itself: sometimes it is Christ requiring what God has not commanded; sometimes it is Christ allowing what God has forbidden, or forbidden what God has allowed. Alas! this confession of the Pythoness, as it was not altogether the first instance of Satans acknowledging Christ, so neither was it the last by many, many examples. And Christian teachers have too often been ignorant of his devices, not having received the wisdom to detect him, when transformed into an angel of light. Paul had this wisdom. (J. Fawcett, M. A.)
Serving God
At the very end of the nave of Westminster Abbey there is a monument erected to a young philosopher and clergyman who ill his short space of life, which lasted only twenty-one years, made discoveries in science of a most surprising kind. His name was Jeremiah Horrox. There was one thing which he felt ever had a higher claim upon him even than science. It was to do his duty in the humble sphere in which he found himself; and when he was on the eve of watching the transit of the planet Venus across the sun, and was waiting with the utmost keenness of observation for this phenomenon, he put even all these thoughts aside, and went, on the Sunday on which this sight was to be observed, to perform his humble parish duty in the church where he was pastor. He mentions it in his journal, in words which are now written over his monument: Called aside to greater things, which ought not to be neglected for the sake of subordinate pursuits. Subordinate, secondary, in one sense, the pursuits could not be, for they were the discovery of the glory of God in the greatest of His works; but subordinate in another sense they were, for they came across, in that instance, the single-minded discharge of the task which he owed to his Divine Master. (Dean Stanley.)
The exactest way of salvation
Sir Thomas Smith, the eminent secretary of state to Queen Elizabeth, when on his death bed, sent to his friends, the Bishops of Winchester and Worcester, and solemnly entreated them to draw from the Word of God the plainest and exactest way of salvation; adding, It is a matter of lamentation that men know not to what end they are born into the world till they are ready to get out of it.
The confession of the slave
Truth is truth, by whomsoever confessed, for whatever motive, and in whatever way. Here it was confessed by a devil-possessed girl. Perhaps her better nature was in the ascendant at the time. As we know from the Gospels demoniacal possession was intermittent, and the poor creatures had their lucid intervals. So this damsel, conscious for the moment of her misery and degradation, may have meant this as a sort of appeal for help. Perhaps, however, it may have been in mockery. No doubt the apostles had asserted their authority as servants of the most high God, and certainly the way of salvation was their constant theme. And the girl gifted with powers of mimicry may have reproduced their peculiar accent for the purpose of creating amusement. On the former hypothesis Pauls pity was excited: on the latter his indignation and alarm lest the gospel should be brought into contempt. Anyhow the testimony is true as a description of:–
I. The character of gospel ministers.
1. They are men
(1) Not angels; do not therefore expect angelic attributes of them. One of the greatest hindrances to the work of the Church is the extravagant demands which are made of the ministry. It discourages the men, and induces indolence in the people.
(2) They are men having knowledge of human needs, invested with human sympathies, gifted with the faculty of communicating Divine thought in human language.
2. They are servants.
(1) A humbling thought. All magisterial airs, all pomp and show, are utterly inconsistent with this character. A servant is a subordinate and has simply to do what he is told.
(2) A suggestion of responsibility and labour. What is a servant for but for work? And for the efficient discharge of that work he is held responsible.
3. They are servants of the Most High God.
(1) Their office therefore is invested with the loftiest dignity. What greater honour than to be the servant of a sovereign. Our Lord Himself gloried in this title.
(2) Their persons are secure. God will protect His servants till they can say, I have finished my course.
(3) Their reward is great; as is to be expected from such a Master. Be thou faithful, etc.
II. Their work. To show the way of salvation.
1. There is a way of salvation.
(1) A way to it–i.e., means whereby it may be secured.
(a) Repentance–consciousness of being in the wrong way, regret for it, confession of it, and desire to get out of it.
(b) Faith. Acceptance of the right way; of Him who is the Way; walking in that Way–i.e., humble dependence on Christ.
(2) Salvation itself is a way–a progress from darkness to light, from misery to blessedness, from sin to holiness, from uselessness or injuriousness to usefulness, from earth to heaven, from grace to glory. Salvation is a state, but it is an endlessly progressive state. No matter however high the attainment the saved one is to forget the things that are behind, etc. So viewed salvation is the right way, the happy way.
2. This way has to be shown.
(1) Hence the guide must know it, and not theoretically, from books or from what others have told him; but from being in it. Personal salvation is the essential qualification for a minister, and a guarantee of his competency for his work.
(2) Knowing it the guide must show it; by precept and example: simply, clearly, powerfully. (J. W. Burn.)
The nature of the Christian ministry
I. The work of all ministers of the gospel.
1. They are to show the way of salvation. This is the great object they should ever have in view.
2. The way of salvation they are to show is, by faith in Christ.
3. They are to show the way, not the ways of salvation. There never was, and never will be, but one way. This their work implies–They ought to know it themselves.
II. The appellation here given them; with the reasons of their being selected and employed in this service. Servants of God.
1. It denotes that they are sent by Him to this work.
2. The dignity of their office–servants, not of men–of the highest men, but of God–of the most high God. They are employed as mortals; because this method is adapted to our receiving information on the subject with composure.
Learn:
1. The guilt of those who neglect a gospel ministry.
2. Be helpers of ministers. (The Evangelist.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 17. These men are the servants, c.] It is astonishing how such a testimony could be given in such a case every syllable of it true, and at the same time full, clear, and distinct. But mark the deep design and artifice of this evil spirit:
1. He well knew that the Jewish law abhorred all magic, incantations, magical rites, and dealings with familiar spirits; he therefore bears what was in itself a true testimony to the apostles, that by it he may destroy their credit, and ruin their usefulness. The Jews, by this testimony, would be led at once to believe that the apostles were in compact with these demons, and that the miracles they wrought were done by the agency of these wicked spirits, and that the whole was the effect of magic; and this, of course, would harden their hearts against the preaching of the Gospel.
2. The GENTILES, finding that their own demon bore testimony to the apostles, would naturally consider that the whole was one system; that they had nothing to learn, nothing to correct; and thus the preaching of the apostles must be useless to them. In such a predicament is this, nothing could have saved the credit of the apostles but their dispossessing this woman of her familiar spirit, and that in the most incontestable manner; for what could have saved the credit of Moses and Aaron, when the magicians of Egypt turned their rods into serpents, had not Aaron’s rod devoured theirs? And what could have saved the credit of these apostles but the casting out of this spirit of divination, with which, otherwise, both Jews and Gentiles would have believed them in compact?
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
The devil might be forced by God to confess this; or, he might do it voluntarily by Gods permission: First, To draw men on to believe him in other things, being he commended the servants of God, and spake the truth in this. Secondly, That, by flattering St. Paul, he might puff him up, and occasion him to sin. But an evil spirit, (or an evil man), when he dissembles as it he were good, is then worst of all.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17. These men are servants of themost high God, &c.Glorious testimony! But see on Lu4:41.
this did she many daysthatis, on many successive occasions when on their way to their usualplace of meeting, or when engaged in religious services.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
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
, “Elion”, the “Most High”, Ge 14:22 and these men were his servants, not merely by right of creation, as all men are, or should be; nor only through the power of divine grace upon their souls, bringing them into a willing obedience to him, as all the saints are; but by office, being ministers of the word: wherefore it follows,
which show unto us the way of salvation; which is not by the works of men; for by them the justice of God cannot be satisfied, nor his law fulfilled; God has declared against this way of salvation; it would make void the death of Christ, and frustrate the design of God in it; which is to magnify his grace, and exclude boasting in man: to which may be added, that the best works of men being imperfect, and attended with much sin, would rather damn than save; wherefore it is sinful, dangerous, and vain, to attempt salvation in this way. The only way of salvation is by the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the law is fulfilled, satisfaction is made for sin, peace and pardon are procured, an everlasting righteousness is brought in, and through whom grace and glory are given: and this is a way of salvation, agreeable to all the perfections of God; in which the vilest sinner made sensible of his sins, and of his need of this, has no reason to despair; it is exceeding suitable to his case, and is a way in which none ever perish, that are directed to it: and now this way of salvation is only shown in the Gospel, by the ministers of it; not by the light of nature, for to men who only have that, it is foolishness; nor by the law of Moses, for to such who are under that, it is a stumbling block; nor by the carnal reason of men, it is not of men, nor after men, but by divine revelation: and therefore the natural man receives it not, it is hid from such; and therefore they project various ways of salvation, which are pleasing in their own eyes, but the end of them are the ways of death; the way to life and immortality, is only brought to light in the Gospel: whether she said this of her own accord, or was obliged to it by divine impulse; and whether it was through fear of Paul, and in flattery to him, or was with a good or bad design, is not easy to determine: however, certain it is, what she said was truth; and sometimes the devil himself, the father of lies, is obliged to speak it.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Most High God ( ). Pagan inscriptions use this language for the Supreme Being. It looks like supernatural testimony like that borne by the demoniacs to Jesus as “son of the Most High God” (Lu 8:28. Cf; also Mark 1:24; Mark 3:11; Matt 8:29; Luke 4:41, etc.). She may have heard Paul preach about Jesus as the way of salvation.
The way of salvation ( ). A way of salvation, strictly speaking (no article). There were many “ways of salvation” offered to men then as now.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
1) “The same followed Paul and us,” (aute katakolouthousa to Paulo kai hemin) “This one (certain, special damsel) or maid, female slave girl, continually following after, trailing around after Paul and us,” our missionary team or band.
2) “And cried, saying,” (ekrazed legousa) “She cried out, spoke out loudly, above the din of noise of the crowd, saying, distinctly,” in demonic like ravings:
3) “These men are servants of the most high God,” (houtoi hoi anthropoi douloi tou theou tou hupsistou eisin) “These men (Paul, Silas, Luke, and perhaps other missionary helpers) are slave-like servants (free-slaves) of the most high God,” the God of heaven and earth, the one God. Tho demon incited this mentally deranged girl gave supernatural testimony to the mission of Paul and his friends, as also found in Mat 8:29; Mar 3:11; Luk 4:41; Luk 8:28.
4) “Which shew unto us the way of salvation.” (oitines katangellousin humin hodon soterias) “Who announce or herald to you all a way of salvation,” a way of deliverance, which was as “a way” also “the way” besides or apart from which there is none other, Joh 14:6; Act 4:12; Rom 1:14-16; Joh 8:24. This seems to have been the alternating testimony of a slave-girl whose conscious, frustrated soul alternated between sanity and insanity, fear and hope.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(17) The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying.Better, kept on crying. Assuming that the case now before us presented phenomena analogous to those of the cases of demoniac possession, we may refer to what has been said in the Excursus on that subject appended to St. Matthews Gospel for general views of the question. Here it will be enough to note the same symptom of a divided consciousness. We lose much of the human interest of the narrative if we merely think of a demon bearing, as in mockery, his witness to the work of Christ, in order that he might thwart that work. That continual cry spoke, we may well believe, of the girls mind as longing for deliverance, and peace, and calm. She sees in the preachers those whom she recognises as able to deliver her, as unlike as possible to the masters who traded on her maddened misery. And yet the thraldom in which she found herself led her to cries that simply impeded their work. We note, as characteristic, the recurrence of the name of the Most High God, which meets us from the lips of the demoniac in the Gospels. (See Note on Mar. 5:7.) As the name which was often in the mouths of exorcists, it became familiar to those who were regarded as subjects for their treatment. As she seems day by day to have gone to the river-side oratory, it is probable that she also had some points of contact with the faith of those who worshipped there, and had listened there to the preaching of the Apostles. Might not she claim a share in the way of salvation which was proclaimed to them?
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
17. Servants most high God Parallel to this are the testimonies of the demons to Christ in Mar 1:24; Mar 5:7. It is as if the inferior and infernal did by a spontaneous necessity confess and do compulsory homage to the superior and divine. And as the cases are similar, so the conduct of Jesus and Paul are similar. They allow the demon to make his necessitated confession, as if to confound the demoniac side, but do not accept the testimony as congenial or worthy. Christ wants no demon-preachers.
Way of salvation Secular men cannot indulge usually in language so spiritual; but the demons knew the full force of spiritual phraseology. The devils believe and tremble. Yet in this us of the demon there is either a mockery, or the damsel is able to impose a tinge of her own thought into her demoniac utterances.
Salvation Either from Jews, or from the teachings of the apostles, the meaning of the term salvation had become known both to the pythoness and to the jailer, Act 16:30.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘The same following after Paul and us cried out, saying, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.” ’
The spirit within this woman recognised in the Pauline party messengers of the true God. From such they could not be hidden. It was probably also deeply concerned that they should be here and wanted to give a warning to the people. The result was that it caused her to follow them and begin to shout after them, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation.”
The description was probably intended to be detrimental, and to be a warning to the people of Philippi. ‘The Most High God’ was a title used of the God of Israel by foreigners (Dan 3:26; Dan 5:18; Dan 5:21; Gen 14:18-22), and the spirit was warning the people that these Jews, the servants of the Most High God, had come claiming to bring them a way of salvation, a way that was best avoided. There were few Jews in Philippi (no synagogue), possibly because it was known to be antagonistic towards Jews. Let them then beware of these Jews. It spoke a form of truth but its intention was to deceive men into rejecting s ‘Jewish salvation’.
Others, however, see this as an attempt by Satan to ally himself with the Gospel with the aim of destroying it by later introducing error. If the Gospel could be linked with the spirit of Apollo it could become just another aspect of idol worship, with Jesus linked with the Python spirit. We see similar attempts in spiritualism today to distort the truth about Christ by making Him simply another spirit.
As regularly in the Gospels, we see here that evil spirits were aware of the presence of Christ. They could not help but testify of Him and His saving power, for they feared Him. But they did not do so in a friendly way. It was always in fear and antagonism. Thus here it was probably intending by its words to express a warning concerning something that it saw as wholly detrimental. ‘Be careful,’ it was saying, ‘ or these men will save you by a Jewish salvation,’ and this in what was clearly an anti-Semitic city. Not wanting to have anything to do with Jesus itself, it assumed that no sensible man would want to either.
‘The Most High God’. This was a title used by evil spirits of God in Mar 5:7, in the Psalms of God as exalted in Israel (Psa 78:56) and was a title by which the God of Israel was known to Gentiles (Dan 3:26; Dan 5:18; Dan 5:21; Gen 14:18-22; Heb 7:1). It could be used as a title of fear, of worship and as a designation for the One God Whom the Jews claimed to worship. It could, however, be used as a title of Zeus, and of other gods. It was therefore an enigmatic title. Thus different hearers would interpret it in different ways. But the spirit probably intended by it a hated name.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Act 16:17-18 . The soothsaying damsel, similar to a somnambulist, [57] reads in the souls of the apostle and his companions, and announces their characteristic dignity. But Paul, after he had first patiently let her alone for many days, sees in her exclamation a recognition on the part of the demon dwelling within her, as Jesus Himself met with recognition and homage from demons (Mar 3:11 ); and in order not to accept for himself and his work demoniacal testimony, which would not of itself be hushed, at length being painfully grieved ( , see on Act 4:2 ), and turning to her as she followed him, he, in the name of Jesus Christ (comp. Act 3:6 , Act 4:7 ), commands the demon to come out of her. Now, as the slave considered Paul to be the servant of the most high God, who thus must have power over the god by whom she believed herself possessed, her fixed idea was at once destroyed by that command of power, and she was consequently restored from her overstrained state of mind to her former natural condition. Of a special set purpose , for which the slave made her exclamation, . . . (Chrysostom: the god by whom she was possessed, Apollo, hoped, on account of this exclamation, to be left in possession of her; Walch: the damsel so cried out, in order to get money from Paul; Ewald: in order to offer her services to them; Camerarius, Morus, Rosenmller, Heinrichs, Kuinoel: in order to exalt her own reputation), there is no hint in the text; it was the involuntary and irresistible outburst of her morbidly exalted soothsaying nature.
[57] But she was not a somnambulist. See Delitzsch, Psychol. p. 310.
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
17 The 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.
Ver. 17. These men are the servants ] Satan etsi semel videatur verax, millies est mendax et semper fallax. Mar 1:25 ; Joh 8:47 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
17. ] , used to cry out : several occasions are referred to. The recognition of Paul and his company here by the spirit is strictly analogous to that of our Lord by the dmons, Mat 8:29 ; Luk 4:34 ; and the same account to be given of both: viz. that the evil spirit knew and confessed the power of God and His Christ, whether in His own Person or that of His servants.
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Act 16:17 . , but if we follow R.V. the present participle denotes that she continuously followed after ( ), and kept crying ( ). The verb is only used by St. Luke in N.T., cf. Luk 23:35 ; in LXX, Jer 17:16 , Dan., LXX, Act 9:10 , Est 7:1Est 7:1 , Jdg 11:6 , 1Ma 6:23 , but not in same literal sense as here; used by Polyb., Plut., Jos. : placed emphatically first (see also Friedrich, pp. 10, 89). If we turn to the Gospel narratives of those possessed with evil spirits, as affording an analogy to the narrative here, we recall how Jesus had found recognition, cf. Mar 1:24 ; Mar 3:11 , Luk 4:41 (where the same verb, , is used of the ). . .: similar title used by the demoniacs in Mar 5:7 , Luk 8:28 ; see Plumptre’s note on former passage. Both Zeller and Friedrich note that Luke alone employs . of God without any word in apposition, Luk 1:32 ; Luk 1:35 ; Luk 1:76 ; Luk 6:35 , Act 7:48 , and that we have the title with , both in his Gospel and Acts. (Heb 7:1 , probably from Gen 14:18 .) very strongly supported, see critical note. But might easily have been altered into , as the former would appear to be an unfitting expression for the evil spirit: but may point to that disturbed and divided consciousness which seems to have been so characteristic of the possessed (Edersheim); at one time the girl was overmastered by the evil spirit who was her real , at another she felt a longing for deliverance from her bondage, and in she associates herself with those around her who felt a similar longing for some way of salvation, for we must by no means regard her as a mere impostor (Ramsay).
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
The same = This one.
followed . . . and = following persistently. Greek. katakoloutheo. Only here and Luk 23:55.
cried = kept crying, i.e. the demon in her. Compare Mat 8:29. Luk 4:33.
men. Greek. anthropos. App-123.
servants = bond-servants. Greek. doulos. App-190.
Most High God. See note on Luk 1:32 and compare Mar 5:7. Not necessarily a testimony to the true God, as the term was applied to Zeus.
shew = proclaim. Greek. katangello. App-121.
us. The texts read “you”.
salvation. Compare Luk 4:34, where a demon testifies to the Lord, to discredit Him.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
17.] , used to cry out: several occasions are referred to. The recognition of Paul and his company here by the spirit is strictly analogous to that of our Lord by the dmons, Mat 8:29; Luk 4:34; and the same account to be given of both: viz. that the evil spirit knew and confessed the power of God and His Christ, whether in His own Person or that of His servants.
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Act 16:17. , having followed close after) near, much, and from behind. Comp. the , having turned, in Act 16:18.-, these) Noble words; but there was no need of such a testimony, but rather need of repressing it, lest Paul should seem to have dealings with this spirit. It was not one of the worst spirits, inasmuch as it did not sooner move Paul to restrain it: but yet it deserved to be expelled.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
most high God (See Scofield “Mat 7:22”). This marks the “spirit”, Act 16:18, as being a demon.
salvation See note, (See Scofield “Rom 1:16”).
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
These: Act 19:13, Mat 8:29, Mar 1:24, Luk 4:34, Luk 4:41
the servants: Dan 3:26, Dan 3:28, Dan 6:16, Dan 6:20, Jon 1:9, 1Pe 2:16
the most: Gen 14:18-22, Psa 57:2, Psa 78:35, Dan 4:2, Dan 5:18, Dan 5:21, Mic 6:6, Mar 5:7, Luk 8:28
the way: Act 16:30, Act 16:31, Act 18:26, Mat 7:13, Mat 7:14, Mat 22:16, Mar 12:14, Luk 1:77, Luk 1:79, Luk 20:21, Joh 14:6, Heb 10:19-22
Reciprocal: Gen 14:19 – high 1Ki 18:29 – prophesied Mal 2:7 – the messenger Mal 3:18 – between him Mar 1:25 – rebuked Mar 3:11 – unclean Mar 5:6 – he ran Luk 1:32 – the Son Luk 1:76 – Highest Luk 4:35 – Jesus Act 13:26 – to you Act 18:25 – instructed Act 19:15 – General Act 22:4 – this Act 27:2 – with us Act 27:23 – and 1Co 9:1 – I not an Heb 7:1 – the most Jam 2:19 – the 2Pe 2:2 – ways
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
7
Act 16:17. All that the girl said was the truth concerning Paul and his group, but the Lord will not accept testimony from such characters as she.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Act 16:17. And cried, saying, These men are servants of the most high God. This testimony on the part of the evil spirit which possessed the unhappy slave-girl to the work and power of Christ and His servants, Paul and Silas, was by no means an unusual incident in the early days of Christianity. On several occasions, during the public ministry of the Lord Jesus, had these devils borne loud and public testimony to His majesty and power; they had not only obeyed His voice, and freed their poor victims from their presence, but had, apparently of their own free will, borne witness to the veiled glory of the unknown Teacher, declaring now that He was the Holy One of God, and at another time the Son of God. It is observable that neither Christ nor His servants would ever accept this testimony from demons. On several occasions it is expressly recorded how the Master silenced these evil spirits in the hour of their acknowledgment of His majesty (see, for instance, Mar 3:12; Luk 4:34-35; Luk 4:41).
In like manner we read how Paul here, being grieved or troubled at the demons perpetual acknowledgment of his Divine mission, in his Masters name silenced and expelled the spirit which had made its home in the poor slave of Philippi. A curious question, however, suggests itself, how it was Paul suffered the demon, after he was aware of its presence, so long to remain tormenting the girl? Bengels explanation is singular. He concludes that the spirit did not belong to the worst order of spirits, otherwise Pauls indignation had been more quickly stirred up. But the true explanation seems to be, that there was something in the unhappy possessed one herself which prevented an earlier deliverance. There is but little doubt that these fearful soul-maladies which, in the days of Christ and His servant Paul, apparently raged in strangely-aggravated forms, were often due, in the first instance, to some terrible sin the hapless victim had indulged in. Demoniacal possession, however, seems, in some instances, to have been inherited; The sins of the father were visited on the children. Is this heritage of evil an unknown thing among us now?
We know nothing of the circumstances of the possession of this slave of Philippi. There was something doubtless connected with it, which stayed Paul from an earlier exercise of his exorcising power. The words of the narrative seem to suggest that in the end the expulsion of the spirit was determined upon rather to silence the unwelcome testimony of a demon than to benefit the sufferer. In her case, the remittal of the punishment, if it were a punishment, possibly might have been not a blessing. It is, however, more than probable that, during the many days, some of the solemn, beautiful words of Christ uttered or explained by Paul penetrated the poor darkened soul of this unhappy one, and awoke in her some sense of her lost and degraded condition. Then she perhaps cried for help, and received it. The whole question of possession by evil spirits, insanity in its varied forms, epilepsy, and other kindred maladies, and their connection with sin, is as yet very little understood.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
Act 16:17-18. The same followed Paul and us Luke, Silas, and Timothy; and cried, saying With great earnestness of voice and gesture; These men are the servants of the most high God, &c. A great truth: but they did not need, nor would accept of, such testimony. And this she did many succeeding days. But, at length, Paul being wearied with so tedious a circumstance, and grieved Under an apprehension that this stratagem of Satan might lead the people to imagine that the preachers of the gospel acted in a confederacy with the evil spirit, to whom the heathen worship was addressed; turned Toward the damsel; and said to the spirit By whose emotion she spake; I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ Whose gospel I preach; to come out of her. And he came out the same hour So that she had never afterward such kind of supernatural agitations, nor pretended to any gift of prophecy for the future.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
See notes on verse 16
Fuente: McGarvey and Pendleton Commentaries (New Testament)
This girl’s screaming recalls the behavior of the demon-possessed people whom Jesus encountered. The title "Most High God" would have had meaning for Greeks, Romans, and Jews. All of these groups had some interest in a (not "the") way of salvation. The Greeks called Zeus the "Most High God." [Note: C. Roberts, T. C. Skeat, and A. D. Nock, "The Guild of Zeus Hypsistos," Harvard Theological Review 29 (1936):39-88.] However it is probable that those who heard this girl associated the Most High God with the God of the Jews. [Note: Levinskaya, pp. 98-100.] In any case the girl’s crying out would have aroused the interest of Greeks as well as Jews. Paul proceeded to take advantage of this situation. She seems to have appointed herself the apostles’ herald announcing them wherever they went. Paul did not want her to continue doing that, however. Her presence and public relations work implied that the missionaries were allies of the demon that people knew indwelt her (cf. Mar 1:24-25). Jesus working through Paul cast the demon out (Mar 9:14-29; Luk 4:33-35; Luk 6:18; Luk 7:21; Act 8:9-24; Act 13:6-12; Act 19:13-20). Luke did not record whether this girl became a Christian, though she probably did. His interest lay in what happened as a result of this incident.
Act 16:18 raises a question about Paul’s motivation in exorcising this demon. The text says that he became annoyed after the girl had accompanied the missionaries for many days. Why did he not cast the demon out immediately because he felt compassion for the girl? We can only conclude that God did not lead him to cast the demon out sooner because He used this witness to bring people to Himself. Undoubtedly Paul felt compassion for her since there is plenty of evidence elsewhere that Paul was a compassionate person. It was evidently the continued irritation that this girl created in Paul that God finally used to lead Paul to cast the demon out of her.