Acts Chapter 16 verse 14 Holy Bible

Pulpit Commentary

Pulpit CommentaryVerse 14. - One that for which, A.V.; to give heed for that she attended, A.V.; by for of, A.V. A certain woman, etc. Whether her personal name was Lydia, or whether she was commonly so called on account of her native country and her trade, must remain uncertain. Thyatira was in Lydia. Lydian women, from the time of Homer downwards, were famous for their purple dyes; and it appears from an inscription found in Thyatira, that there was there a guild of dyers, called οἱ βαφεῖς (Lewin, 2:214). One that worshipped God (σεβομένη τὸν Θεὸν); i.e. a proselyte. So in Acts 13:43 we find οἱ σεβόμενοι προσήλυτοι the devout or religious proselytes. And so αἱ σεβόμεναι γυναῖκες, the devout women. And so, in Acts 18:7, Justus is described as σεβόμενος τὸν Θεὸν one who worshipped God (see too Acts 17:4, 17). In Acts 10:1 Cornelius is spoken of as εὐσεβὴς καὶ φοβούμενος τὸν Θεὸν. It has been suggested that possibly Euodias and Syntyche (Philippians 4:2) were of the same class, and converted at the same time as Lydia. There is certainly a coincidence between the mention of the women in ver. 13 and the prominence given to the Philippian women in Philippians 4:2, 3. It is well observed by Chrysostom, on the latter part of this verse, "The opening of the heart was God's work, the attending was hers: so that it was both God's doing and man's" (camp. Philippians 2:12, 13). To open (διανοίγειν) is applied as here to the heart (2 Macc. 1:4); to the eyes (Luke 24:31); to the ears (Mark 7:34, 35); to the understanding (Luke 24:45); to the Scriptures (Luke 24:32); "Corclausum per se. Dei est id aporire "(Bengel).

Ellicott's Commentary

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers(14) Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira.--The city so named, now known as Ak-hissar, was in the Roman province of Asia, but came within the boundaries of the older kingdom of Lydia, and it is probable that, like so many slaves and women of the libertinae class, she took her name from her country. Afra, Graeca, Syra, are familiar examples of like names. "Lydia" occurs, it will be remembered, once and again, in Horace (Od. i. 14; iii. 9). Thyatira, one of the cities in the valley of the Lycus, was, like many other towns of Asia Minor, famous for its dyeing works, especially for purple, or crimson, which rivalled the fame of Tyre or Miletus (Strabo, xiii. 4, ? 14). Inscriptions found on the spot bear witness to the existence of a guild, or corporation, of purple-sellers, with which Lydia doubtless was connected. In Revelation 1:11; Revelation 2:18, it appears as one of the seven churches to which special epistles were to be sent from their divine Head. It had been founded as a colony, in the modern sense of the term, from Macedonia, as the sequel of the conquest of the Persian monarchy by Alexander the Great, and this may in part explain Lydia's presence at Philippi. The fact that she, and not her husband, is named as the purple-seller, is at least presumptive evidence that she was carrying on the business by herself.Which worshipped God.--She was, i.e., a proselyte (see Note on Acts 13:10), and, as the sequel shows, one of the better type, drawn to Judaism, not by superstitious fear, or weak credulity, but by the higher ethical and spiritual teaching which it presented.Heard.--For "heard" read was listening.Whose heart the Lord opened.--The scene is one which might well call for the master touches of a great painter. The river flowing calmly by, the preacher sitting and talking familiarly, but earnestly, to the groups of women, one, at least, among them listening with looks and tears that told of deep emotions, and the consciousness of a new life.That she attended.--Better, to give heed to, as in Acts 8:6, and elsewhere. . . .