Act 16:10-17 | TNotes | STEP | 16:10 we: The most natural interpretation of the shift from “they” to “we” is that Luke accompanied Paul from Troas to Philippi (16:10-17 ). Later Luke joined Paul again at Philippi and sailed with him to Troas, then to Miletus (20:5-15 ), then from Miletus to Jerusalem (21:1-18 ). After Paul’s two-year imprisonment in Caesarea, Luke traveled with him to Rome (27:1

16:10 ^a we: The most natural interpretation of the shift from “they” to “we” is that Luke accompanied Paul from Troas to Philippi (16:10-17 ^b). Later Luke joined Paul again at Philippi and sailed with him to Troas, then to Miletus (20:5-15 ^c), then from Miletus to Jerusalem (21:1-18 ^d). After Paul’s two-year imprisonment in Caesarea, Luke traveled with him to Rome (27:1–28:16 ^e).
16:11 ^f 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 ^g 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 ^h Luke gives his readers cameos of three lives touched by the Good News in Philippi: a wealthy woman (16:14-15 ⁱ), an exploited slave girl (16:16-21 ^j), and a middle-class officer (16:23-36 ^k). 16:13 ^l 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 ^m 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 ⁿ).

• 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 ^o; Rom 12:13 ^p; 16:23 ^q; 1 Tim 3:2 ^r; Titus 1:8 ^s; Heb 13:2 ^t; 1 Pet 4:9 ^u; 3 Jn 1:5-8 ^v; cp. Gen 18:1-8 ^w; 19:1-3 ^x; 24:23-33 ^y).
Summary for Acts 16:16-18: 16:16-18 ^z 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 ^aa, 34 ^ab; 3:11-12 ^ac; Luke 4:35 ^ad, 41 ^ae). The Lord had commanded that the gospel be proclaimed by his disciples, not by opponents (Acts 1:8 ^af; 9:15 ^ag; 26:15-18 ^ah; Matt 28:18-20 ^ai; Luke 24:46-49 ^aj; John 20:21 ^ak; see Acts 22:15 ^al).