Acts 16
Summary for Acts 16:1-3: 16:1-3 a Paul returned to churches that he and Barnabas had established on their previous journey.16:3 b Paul had Timothy circumcised to enhance Timothy’s acceptance and effectiveness as a Jew in Jewish circles (contrast Titus, who was a full Gentile, Gal 2:3 c). Elsewhere Paul clarified that it makes no difference to God whether one is circumcised or not circumcised (Rom 2:25-29 d; Gal 5:6 e; 6:15 f). Paul was prepared to use any legitimate means to communicate the Good News (1 Cor 9:20-21 g) to various audiences.
Summary for Acts 16:4-5: 16:4-5 h Paul and Silas faithfully communicated the decisions of the Jerusalem council. The wisdom of the decision was indicated as the churches were strengthened in their faith and grew larger every day (cp. 2:41 i; 4:4 j; 5:14 k; 6:1 l; 9:31 m; 21:20 n).
Summary for Acts 16:6-10: 16:6-10 o God directed the missionaries’ travels: The Holy Spirit had prevented them from proceeding westward into the province of Asia, the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go north to Bithynia, and then Paul had a vision calling them to go northwest over the Aegean Sea to Macedonia. God’s Spirit guided his servants in Acts in a variety of ways, including divine visions (see also 9:10 p; 10:9-16 q; 22:18 r), direct intuition (cp. 8:29 s, 39 t; 10:19 u; 20:22 v), counsel with other believers (cp. 15:29 w), guidance through prayer (13:2 x, 4 y), insight through Scripture (28:25-27 z), and prophecy (11:28 aa). Guidance by the indwelling Holy Spirit helped them to accomplish their mission to be Christ’s witnesses (1:8 ab; see also 4:8 ac, 31 ad; 11:24 ae; 13:9 af).
16:8 ag Troas, a major port on the Aegean Sea, was one of the more significant cities in the Roman Empire. Paul’s strategy was often to visit principal places such as Troas, Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus. When the Christian faith had been planted in major centers, local Christian workers could carry it into outlying areas (e.g., Epaphras took the message from Ephesus to Colosse, Col 1:7 ah; 4:12-13 ai).
Summary for Acts 16:9-10: 16:9-10 aj a vision: See thematic note for Visions at end of chapter.
16:10 ak we: The most natural interpretation of the shift from “they” to “we” is that Luke accompanied Paul from Troas to Philippi (16:10-17 al). Later Luke joined Paul again at Philippi and sailed with him to Troas, then to Miletus (20:5-15 am), then from Miletus to Jerusalem (21:1-18 an). After Paul’s two-year imprisonment in Caesarea, Luke traveled with him to Rome (27:1–28:16 ao).
16:11 ap Samothrace is a small mountainous island lying west-northwest of the Hellespont about twenty miles (32 km) from the coast of Thrace.
• Neapolis (modern Kavala) was the seaport for Philippi and the eastern terminus of the famous Via Egnatia (the Egnatian Way), which ran from Rome to Asia.
16:12 aq At Philippi, about ten miles (17 km) inland from Neapolis, Paul began his missionary labors in Europe.
Summary for Acts 16:13-36: 16:13-36 ar Luke gives his readers cameos of three lives touched by the Good News in Philippi: a wealthy woman (16:14-15 as), an exploited slave girl (16:16-21 at), and a middle-class officer (16:23-36 au). 16:13 av The Jewish community at Philippi was too small to have a synagogue, which required ten adult males. Instead, Jews met for prayer in an open space by the Gangites (now called Angista) River that afforded privacy, quiet, and water for Jewish purification rites.
Summary for Acts 16:14-15: 16:14-15 aw The first person changed by Christ in Philippi was Lydia, a successful businesswoman from Thyatira (modern Akhisar), a city of western Asia Minor famous for its woolen fabrics, weavers, and linens. Lydia responded to the message and she and her household were baptized (cp. 16:32-33 ax).
• One of Lydia’s first acts as a true believer in the Lord was to extend hospitality to the visiting missionaries. Hospitality is an important Christian virtue (Matt 25:31-46 ay; Rom 12:13 az; 16:23 ba; 1 Tim 3:2 bb; Titus 1:8 bc; Heb 13:2 bd; 1 Pet 4:9 be; 3 Jn 1:5-8 bf; cp. Gen 18:1-8 bg; 19:1-3 bh; 24:23-33 bi).
Summary for Acts 16:16-18: 16:16-18 bj The second portrait of a changed life in Philippi is of a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future.
• Even though the demon within her was stating the truth, Paul, like Jesus, did not permit it to proclaim the Christian message (cp. Mark 1:25 bk, 34 bl; 3:11-12 bm; Luke 4:35 bn, 41 bo). The Lord had commanded that the gospel be proclaimed by his disciples, not by opponents (Acts 1:8 bp; 9:15 bq; 26:15-18 br; Matt 28:18-20 bs; Luke 24:46-49 bt; John 20:21 bu; see Acts 22:15 bv).
Summary for Acts 16:19-21: 16:19-21 bw As in the ministry of Jesus, sometimes the Good News threatened established commercial interests (see also 19:25-27 bx; Mark 5:1-20 by). The slave girl’s exploiters viciously attacked the missionaries and dragged them before the authorities as criminals, blamed them for fomenting a disturbance, resorted to racial bias (these Jews), and appealed to the Philippians’ pride (us Romans; the Philippians prided themselves on being Roman citizens of a Roman colony).
• customs that are illegal: By law, Jews were not permitted to make converts of Romans.
Summary for Acts 16:22-24: 16:22-24 bz All reasonable security measures were taken to ensure that Paul and Silas didn’t escape after they had been stripped and beaten with wooden rods (see 22:24-26 ca; 2 Cor 6:5 cb; 11:23-25 cc). As at Christ’s tomb (Matt 27:65 cd), however, human effort did not prevent divine intervention.
16:25 ce Paul and Silas, like the persecuted apostles in Jerusalem, were joyful, “rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus” (5:41 cf).
16:26 cg The massive earthquake is reminiscent of the great earthquake at Jesus’ resurrection (Matt 28:2-3 ch).
Summary for Acts 16:27-36: 16:27-36 ci Luke’s third portrait in Philippi is of the Philippian jailer who, shaken by what had happened, responded in faith when challenged to accept the Lord Jesus and be saved. He was baptized with his household and rejoiced in his newfound faith as he reached out with hospitality to the preachers. 16:27 cj The Roman jailer clearly knew that his life could be forfeited if the prisoners for whom he was responsible escaped. This was standard practice (12:19 ck; 27:42 cl; cp. Code of Justinian 9.4.4).
Summary for Acts 16:29-30: 16:29-30 cm Paul and Silas had impressed the jailer with their cheerful faith (16:25 cn), their composure in crisis, and their concern for his well-being (16:28 co). Whatever the jailer’s previous understanding of Paul’s message, God touched his heart, and he cried out for divine help.
Summary for Acts 16:31-34: 16:31-34 cp Paul and Silas directed the jailer to a faith in Christ that brings blessing both to him and to his family. The whole household received Christian instruction, and their response was expressed in baptism and the offering of hospitality to Paul and Silas.
Summary for Acts 16:37-39: 16:37-39 cq Paul and Silas were both Roman citizens, so the beating and imprisonment (16:22-24 cr) had been illegal. After the city officials learned of this, they were justifiably alarmed because they had committed a crime against Rome.
• Let them come themselves to release us: Paul made use of his rights as a Roman citizen in order to clear his name and ensure that no disrepute would attach to the Christian message or those who accepted it. Luke intended to show that Christianity should enjoy the same status as Judaism in the Roman Empire as a permitted religion—the Christian faith was compatible with the life of a Roman citizen. Accordingly, it was important to note that Paul made use of his rights as a Roman citizen (cp. 22:25-27 cs) and was ready to use the privileges of citizenship to advance the cause of Christ in a hostile world.
16:40 ct This meeting in the home of Lydia bolstered the spirits of the Philippian Christians who had to deal with the fallout from the missionaries’ work there.
Thematic note: Visions
Visions are closely related to other revelatory experiences such as dreams (Gen 37:5-10 cu; 40:5-19 cv). Classic examples include Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek 37:1-14 cw) and Isaiah’s vision of God’s throne (Isa 6 cx). Visions were often the means by which the Old Testament prophets received messages from the Lord. These visions often contained very striking imagery. The imagery generally offered a graphic, metaphorical depiction of an earthly reality, which was then interpreted for the one seeing the vision by God or an angel.
Visions are also prominent in the book of Acts, and they are usually connected with prayer (Acts 9:10-12 cy; 16:9-10 cz; 22:17-21 da; 23:11 db; see Luke 1:8-20 dc). On one occasion, Cornelius, a Roman officer, was visited by an angel (Acts 10:1-6 dd, 30-32 de), who told him to send for Peter. The following day, Peter received a vision as he prayed (10:9-16 df; see 11:5-10 dg) that directly related to his subsequent encounter with Cornelius. In Acts 9, the visions of Paul and Ananias likewise highlight God’s involvement in their lives (9:3-6 dh, 10-16 di). These visions are not chance coincidences but the providential outworking of God’s saving purposes in the world.
Visions give divine direction and show Christian workers the way in which they should carry out the Great Commission. Paul had visions on the Damascus road at his conversion (Acts 9:3-6 dj; 22:6-10 dk; 26:12-19 dl), on the threshold of his missionary advance into Europe (16:9 dm), at Corinth (18:9-11 dn), in the Temple (22:17-21 do), and again in Jerusalem before he set out on his trip to Rome (23:11 dp). Through visions God is active in guiding the affairs of the church and in extending its mission (see the study notes on 10:3, 9-16; 22:17-22; 23:11; see also Gal 1:8-9 dq and study note there).
Passages for Further Study
Gen 37:5-10 dr; 40:1–41:36 ds; Isa 6:1-13 dt; Jer 14:14 du; Ezek 37:1-14 dv; Dan 8:1-27 dw; 9:21 dx; Hos 12:10 dy; Obad 1:1 dz; Hab 2:3 ea; Luke 1:8-20 eb; Acts 9:3-6 ec, 10-16 ed; 10:3-6 ee, 9-16 ef, 30-32 eg; 11:5-9 eh; 16:9-10 ei; 18:9-11 ej; 22:6-10 ek, 17-21 el; 23:11 em; 26:14-19 en; 2 Cor 12:1-10 eo; Rev 1:9–22:7 ep
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