Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
Verse 1
Derbe and Lystra. He had visited these cities before, and been exposed to great danger through the hostility of the Jews.
Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
Verse 2
Which; which disciple,--Timotheus.
Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.
Verse 3
And circumcised him. Although a Gentile convert was under no obligation to submit to this rite, still he was at liberty to do so, if he judged it expedient on any account.
And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
Verse 4
Decrees; relating to the duties of Gentile converts, as expressed in the letter contained in the Acts 15:19-29.
And so were the churches established in the faith, and increased in number daily.
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,
After they were come to Mysia, they assayed to go into Bithynia: but the Spirit suffered them not.
And they passing by Mysia came down to Troas.
And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.
And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavored to go into Macedonia, assuredly gathering that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them.
Verse 10
We. Here Luke, the author of this history, first uses a form of expression implying that he was Paul's companion in those journeys.
Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;
Verse 11
To go to Macedonia it was necessary to cross the Egean Sea.--Samothracia; an island in that sea.--Neapolis; a port of Macedonia.
And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and we were in that city abiding certain days.
And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.
Verse 13
By a river side. Philippi was remote from Jerusalem, and the few Jews who resided there appear to have had only this place of retirement and prayer, instead of the customary synagogue, within the city.
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.
Verse 14
Of--Thyatira; from Thyatira. Her residence at this time was at Philippi. (Acts 16:15.)
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.
Verse 15
Her household; her family.
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:
Verse 16
Went to prayer; were going to the place of prayer, mentioned in Acts 16:13, on some occasion subsequent to their meeting with Lydia.--Soothsaying. It scarcely need be said that these powers of divination were pretended. Paul treats the case as one of demoniacal possession.
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.
And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.
And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,
And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,
And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans.
And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.
Verse 22
Rent of their clothes; that is, the clothes of Paul and Silas, preliminary to the punishment. The case is different from that recorded Matthew 26:65, where the judge rent his own clothes as an expression of affected abhorrence for the prisoner's guilt.
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:
Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Verse 24
Stocks; a wooden instrument, with holes, into which the feet were secured in a constrained and painful position. Under these circumstances, prisoners could not sleep. It is necessary to observe this, in order to understand the full force of the statement, that at midnight Paul and Silas were occupied in singing praises.
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.
And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.
And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.
Verse 27
Would have killed himself; dreading the terrible punishment which he might have incurred.
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.
Then he called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,
And brought them out, and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Verse 31
And thou shalt be saved. The brevity, simplicity, and directness of this reply are, in the circumstances, singularly beautiful. Enough at that moment to have his faith directed simply to the Savior, with the assurance that this would bring to his soul the needed and sought salvation,--the how being a matter for after teaching.
And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.
And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.
Verse 33
Was baptized. Probably at the same fountain, since it took place "straightway," the one washing the stripes on his part being immediately succeeded by the baptism of the keeper "and all his" on theirs.
And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his house.
And when it was day, the magistrates sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.
And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace.
But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they thrust us out privily? nay verily; but let them come themselves and fetch us out.
Verse 37
Being Romans. The Roman laws gave to Roman citizens many peculiar and exclusive privileges, and the government punished severely any infraction of them. Over the natives of the conquered provinces, the magistrates exercised a far more arbitrary and irresponsible power. This privilege of Roman citizenship pertained not merely to Rome, but to many other places, on which the freedom had been conferred; and it might be purchased by individuals for money. See the dialogue between Paul and the Roman chief captain. (Acts 22:25-29.)--And fetch us out. They demanded this as an act of public acknowledgment that they had beet unjustly condemned.
And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates: and they feared, when they heard that they were Romans.
And they came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city.
And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia and when they had seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.