Act 16:13-15 | TNotes | STEP | Summary for Acts 16:13-36: 16:13-36 Luke gives his readers cameos of three lives touched by the Good News in Philippi: a wealthy woman (16:14-15 ), an exploited slave girl (16:16-21 ), and a middle-class officer (16:23-36 ). 16:13 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 16:13-36: 16:13-36 ^a Luke gives his readers cameos of three lives touched by the Good News in Philippi: a wealthy woman (16:14-15 ^b), an exploited slave girl (16:16-21 ^c), and a middle-class officer (16:23-36 ^d). 16:13 ^e 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 ^f 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 ^g).

• 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 ^h; Rom 12:13 ⁱ; 16:23 ^j; 1 Tim 3:2 ^k; Titus 1:8 ^l; Heb 13:2 ^m; 1 Pet 4:9 ⁿ; 3 Jn 1:5-8 ^o; cp. Gen 18:1-8 ^p; 19:1-3 ^q; 24:23-33 ^r).