Lydia, person
Lydia, person
Lydia, a woman of Thyatira, ‘a seller of purple,’ who dwelt in the city of Philippi in Macedonia (Act 16:14-15). Lydia was not by birth a Jewess, but a proselyte, as the phrase ‘who worshipped God’ imports. She was converted by the preaching of Paul; and after she and her household had been baptized, she pressed the use of her house so earnestly upon him and his associates, that they were constrained to accept the invitation. The Lydians were famous for the art of dyeing purple vests, and Lydia, as a ‘seller of purple,’ is supposed to have been a dealer in vests so dyed, rather than in the dye itself.