CRITICAL REMARKS
Acts 16:12. The chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony.—Better, a city of Macedonia, the first of the district, a colony—i.e., of Rome. Macedonia was divided into four parts; but whether “the first” meant “the first arrived at” (Winer, Zöckler, Lightfoot Alford), not a very valuable observation; or the first in political importance (Farrar, Ramsay), which Philippi was, though Thessalonica was the capital of Macedonia, and Amphipolis of the province; or “the first to be made a colony” (Grotius, Meyer, Wendt, Overbeck), the distinction pointed out in the text; or “the first city on the frontier” (Wordsworth), is debated, and is not clear. Wordsworth’s idea derives support from the occurrence of a similar phrase in Xenophon (Anab., I. iv. 1): εἰς Ἰσσούς, τῆς Κιλικίας ἐσχάτην πόλιν. Dr. Hort thinks some early corruption has crept into the text, and that instead of μερίδος should be read Πιερίδος (M for II), for Philippi belonged to the Pieria of Mount Paragon, and might well be called “a chief city of Pierian Macedonia” (Westcott and Hort’s The New Testament in Greek, 2:97, Appendix.) Ramsay says: “The term ‘first’ was commonly assumed by towns which were or claimed to be chief of a district or province.”
Acts 16:13. By a river side.—Neither the Strymon nor the Nestos, which are both distant from Philippi, but the smaller stream Gangas close by the town. Where prayer was wont to be made; or, where we supposed there has as a place of prayer (R.V.). The received reading corrected thus, where a place of prayer was wont to be, has the support of good authorities. Josephus (Ant., XIV. x. 23) mentions the custom of making “prayer houses” at the seaside.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Acts 16:11-13
Paul and Silas in Philippi; or, the Gospel carried to Europe
I. The journey to Philippi.—
1. From Troas to Samothraoia. No sooner had Paul and his companions, Silas, Timothy, and Luke, the beloved physician, who had now joined the apostle (see “Critical Remarks,” Acts 16:10, and “Hints” on Acts 16:11), understood the significance of the midnight vision than they proceeded to comply with the call of the Macedonian man. With the early dawn, having turned their steps towards the harbour, and found a ship about to sail for Europe, they engaged berths. As the vessel weighed anchor and shot into the deep “the sun rose and spread the day over the sea and the islands as far as Athos and Samothrace” (Conybeare and Howson). Running in a straight course, or, in modern nautical phrase, sailing before the (south) wind (see Acts 21:1, and compare Acts 27:16), the vessel would reach the island of Samothrace that day, anchoring for the night to the leeward of it. Samothrace, the present-day Samothraki, about half-way between Troas and Neapolis, contains the highest land in this part of the Ægean except Mount Athos.
2. From Samothrace to Neapolis. “A run of seven or eight hours would bring the vessel under the lee of the island of Thasos, and within a few miles of the coast of Macedonia” (Conybeare and Howson), which accordingly was reached next day. The harbour in which the four passengers disembarked belonged to the town of Neapolis, the modern Kavala, in Thrace, on the Gulf of Strymon, and about ten miles distant from Philippi, to which it served as a port. Hence the missionaries did not linger in Neapolis, but pushed on towards the capital of the district.
3. From Neapolis to Philippi. A short journey of not more than three hours would conduct them to “the chief city of that part of Macedonia,” or to “a city of Macedonia, the first of the district [see “Critical Remarks”], a Roman colony.” This city was Philippi, once an obscure place, called Krenides from its streams and springs, but erected into a frontier city against the Thracian mountaineers, and named after himself by the father of Alexander, and constituted a colonia by Augustus. It was “a fact of deep significance that the first city at which Paul arrived on his entrance into Europe was that colony which was more fit than any other in the empire to be considered the representative of Imperial Rome” (Conybeare and Howson, i. 267).
II. The stay in Philippi.—
1. How long it continued. Impossible to tell. Clearly two Sabbaths (Acts 16:13; Acts 16:16), and most likely some weeks were spent in the city (Acts 16:20).
2. What incidents occurred.
(1) The conversion of Lydia on the first Sabbath in a prayer-house by the river-side, through Paul’s preaching (Acts 16:13-15). See below.
(2) The cure of a Pythoness, or damsel possessing a spirit of divination, by the word of Paul who, in the name of Jesus, commanded the spirit to come out of her (Acts 16:16-18).
(3) The imprisonment of Paul and Silas by the town magistrates, who first commanded them to be beaten and then handed them over to the care of the town jailor (Acts 16:19-24).
(4) The conversion of the jailor, who was spiritually awakened by an earthquake which shook the foundations of the prison at midnight, and by Paul was directed how to find salvation (Acts 16:25-34).
III. The departure from Philippi.—
1. After liberation from jail. This took place:
(1) on the morning after the earthquake—“when it was day”;
(2) at the request of the magistrates, who had become alarmed at the situation, either in consequence of the earthquake which seemed like an interposition of the gods on behalf of the prisoners, or because on reflection they had grown convinced of the injustice of what they had done (Acts 16:35-36);
(3) after the remonstrance of Paul, who declined to be surreptitiously thrust out of bonds after having been publicly scourged, and that, too, while they were Romans, and who demanded that they should be honourably and openly liberated by the magistrates themselves (Acts 16:37); and
(4) by the hands of the magistrates, who, on learning that their prisoners were Roman citizens, feared what might happen to themselves for having so thoughtlessly violated the sanctity of Roman law, and, like evildoers generally who tremble when confronted with the consequences of their crimes, were exceeding glad to get them peacefully despatched beyond the city precincts (Acts 16:39).
2. After visiting the house of Lydia. Having resided there before arrest and imprisonment (Acts 16:15), they naturally returned thither on release from confinement. Not, however, to stay, but to exchange Christian greetings with, and address words of comfort to, the brethren there assembled, who, having been converted by their ministry, formed the nucleus of the Church to which afterwards the epistle to the Philippians was directed. This done, they departed, but not for ever (see Acts 20:6).
Learn.—
1. That the track of the gospel over land and sea has always been guided by God.
2. That Europeans have reasons to bless God for having so early sent the gospel to their shores.
3. That nothing befalls God’s people without His express permission.
4. That events which seem to hinder may eventually further the gospel.
5. That the gospel spreads by means of preaching.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Acts 16:11. The Writer of the “We” Passages; or, Luke the Beloved Physician (see Introduction).—“Of Luke himself, beyond what we learn of his movements and of his character from his own writings, we know but little. There is no reason to reject the unanimous tradition that he was by birth an Antiochene, and it is clear (?) from St. Paul’s allusions that he was a Gentile convert, and that he had not been circumcised (Colossians 4:10-11; Colossians 4:14). That he was a close observer, a careful narrator, a man of cultivated intellect, and possessed of a good Greek style we see from his two books; and they also reveal to us a character gentle and manly, sympathetic and self-denying. The incidental allusion of St. Paul shows us that he was a physician, and this allusion is singularly confirmed by his own turns of phrase. The rank of a physician in those days was not in any respect so high as now it is, and does not at all exclude the possibility that St. Luke may have been a freedman; but on this, and all else which concerns him, Scripture and tradition leave us entirely uninformed. That he was familiar with naval matters is strikingly shown in his account of the shipwreck, and it has even been conjectured that he exercised his art in the huge and crowded merchant vessels which were incessantly coasting from point to point of the Mediterranean.—Farrar, “The Life and Work of St. Paul,” chap. xxiv.
St. Luke and St. Paul.—“It may be well to note the phenomena in the writings ascribed to the physician which, though they do not directly indicate his calling, at least fall in with it and are best explained by it.… Thus we find him noting specifically the special combination of fevers (πυρετοί, as in Hippoc., Aph., vii. 63, 64—the plural is obviously technical for feverish symptoms) and a bloody flux (δυσεντερία) from which the father of Publius suffered at Melita (Acts 28:8), and using in relation to the generous gifts which it called forth the special word “honour” (τιμή), which, like our “honorarium,” was applied to the payments made to those who practised a profession and not a trade (?). So, again, in the healing of the cripple in the temple (Acts 3:7), he records with a technical precision which our English Version but partially represents that “his feet” (not the common πόδες, but βάσεις—a word used by Hippocrates, p. 637) “and ankle-bones” (σφυρά) “were strengthened,” the previous crippled state being due to the congenital imperfect development of the bones and tendons of the feet.… So he stated that the paralysis of Æneas lasted eight years, and that for the whole of that period he had been bedridden (Acts 9:33); that from Saul’s eyes “there fell as it had been the scales” (ὡσεὶ λεπίδες) of the incrustation incidental to ophthalmia (Acts 9:18); and that the damsel at Philippi had “a spirit of Python,” or Apollo, “presenting phenomena identical with the convulsive movements and wild cries of the Pythian priestess at Delphi” (Acts 16:16); while as one whose previous studies had made him acquainted with the recorded cases of phthiriasis, such as those of Antiochus Epiphancs (2Ma. 9:9), Pheretima (Herod., iv. 205), and Sylla, and perhaps Herod the Great (Josephus, Ant., Acts 17:15), he would note with a special interest the addition of another instance in the death of Herod Agrippa as “eaten by worms,” σκωληκόβρωτος (Acts 12:23).—Dean Plumptre, in “The Expositor” (1876), iv., pp. 137–139.
Acts 16:13. An Ancient Prayer Meeting.
I. The place of worship.—
1. Outside the city. Rendered necessary because of the character of the city which, being large and heathen, was not much suited for devotion. Those who wish to pray should withdraw from both the world’s bustle and the world’s superstition and sin (Matthew 6:6).
2. By a river side. Jewish prayer-houses were usually erected on river-banks, or at places where water could be easily obtained for ceremonial lustrations. Suggestive of that inward cleansing which is required by all who would approach God in prayer (Isaiah 1:15-16; James 4:8).
3. In a prayer-house. Not an ordinary synagogue (Schürer), there being few Jews in the town; most likely an open space consecrated to Divine worship. Prayer may be offered anywhere. If Christians, for any reason, cannot obtain comfortable edifices in which to worship, rather than not worship at all they should betake themselves to river-banks, hillsides, district moors, dens, and caves of the earth.
II. The time of worship.—The Sabbath. Whether on other days is not clear (see Acts 16:16); but in any case the seventh-day worship was not neglected. Neither should the Lord’s-day worship be omitted by Christians (Acts 20:7; Hebrews 10:25).
III. The congregation of worshippers.—A few women; amongst them some converts to Judaism, like Lydia (see below). If no men were present before Paul and his companions arrived upon the scene, the intrusion of four male worshippers must have caused a sensation. Women have always been more devout than men (Acts 1:14, Acts 13:50).
IV. The acts of worship.—
1. Prayer. This the primary object of such gatherings.
2. Reading of the Scriptures. Though not stated, this may be assumed.
3. Exposition of the word. As in the synagogue by any capable person who might happen to be present (Acts 13:15).
Acts 16:13. The Opening of the Mission.
I. When was it that they had an opportunity of preaching? It was on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath was the great day on which he knew that his work was to be done.
II. Observe, then, the place at which he preached. It was by the river-side, “where prayer was wont to be made.” There appears to have been no synagogue at Philippi.
III. One other thing to be observed is, the persons to whom they preached. They “sat down and spake unto the women which resorted thither.”
Now, what are the lessons which we are to learn for ourselves from this account of the first preaching of the gospel at Philippi?
1. It is fitted to remind us of the great practical value of the Sabbath.
2. Another lesson which we learn from the history, closely connected with this, is the importance of meeting together for united prayer whenever we have the opportunity.
3. One other thing we are taught by this passage of history which we have been considering to-day, and that is, not to despise any means of doing good, however small it may be, which is put within our reach. We do not know what great results may follow it.—M. F. Day.