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.
And on the sabbath - the first after their arrival, as the words imply,
We went out of the city - or, according to what is clearly the true reading, 'outside the (city) gate' х poleoos (G4172) is the received reading, according to E G H, etc. But 'Aleph (') A B C D, and the Vulgate, and other versions, have pulees (G4439)].
By a river-side - not the Strymon, as some good critics think, for this was too far away, but one of the small streams which gave name to the place ere the city was founded. The Gangas is that which recent travelers judge most likely to be the one intended.
Where prayer was wont to be made - not, 'where was wont to be a place of prayer' (as Neander, DeWette, Meyer, Humphry, Hackett, Lechler); for what sense is there in this, as applied either to a building or to a place of any kind? but 'where a prayer-meeting was wont to be held.' It is plain there was no synagogue at Philippi (contrast Acts 17:1), the number of the Jews being small. The meeting appears to have consisted wholly of women, and these not all Jewish by birth. The neighbourhood of streams was preferred, on account of the ceremonial washings used on such occasions.
And we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted there - a humble congregation, and a simple manner of preaching. But here and thus were gathered the first fruits of Europe unto Christ, and they were of the female sex, of whose accession and services honourable mention will again and again be made.