Acts 16:12

12 From there we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. ^[a] And we stayed there several days.

Acts 16:12 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 16:12

And from thence to Philippi
This place is by Appianus called Datos, which was its original name; and by Diodorus Siculus, Crenidae ^F3, from the fountains of water, which were many and wholesome, that were about it; and it had its name Philippi, from Philip king of Macedon, father of Alexander the great, who rebuilt it ^F4: it is now vulgarly called Chrixopolis, that is, Chrysopolis, from the veins and mines of gold found about it; it was famous for a battle here fought between Augustus Caesar and Anthony on the one side, and Brutus and Cassius on the other, in which the latter were vanquished:

which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia;
which is called Edonis, in which Ptolomy places it;

and a colony:
that is, of the Romans; see ( Acts 16:37 Acts 16:38 ) and which Pliny ^F5 also calls a colony:

and we were in that city abiding many days;
without doing anything, having no opportunity, or door opened to them to preach the Gospel; which must be a great trial of their faith, after Paul had seen such a vision, by which they were so strongly assured it was the will of God they should come and preach the Gospel here, and after they had travelled so far by sea and land; though some observe, that the word used signifies not only to abide, but to exercise themselves, by teaching and preaching the word, which it is supposed they did with success; and that the women they after met with by the river side, were such, at least some of them, who had been converted under their ministry; but the former seems to be the truest sense.

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FOOTNOTES:

F3 Ptolom. Geograph. l. 3. c. 13.
F4 Pausaniae Eliac. 2. l. 6. p. 352. Plin. Nat. Hist. l. 4. c. 11.
F5 Ib.

Acts 16:12 In-Context

10 As soon as Paul had seen the vision, we got ready to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

11 We sailed from Troas straight to Samothrace, and the following day on to Neapolis.

12 From there we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there.

14 Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally we went to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia—a colony