Acts 16 Footnotes

16:1,3 At Lystra, Paul took Timothy (Rm 16:21; 1Co 4:17; 16:10; 2Co 1:1,19; Php 1:1; 2:19; Col 1:1; 1Th 1:1; 3:2,6; 2Th 1:1; 1Tm 1:2,18; 6:20; 2Tm 1:1; Phm 1) as a protégé. Timothy was the son of a Jewish mother and Greek father. Being a Jew to the Jews (1Co 9:20), Paul had Timothy (who was half-Jewish) circumcised for the sake of contextualized witness to that group.

16:6-8 Paul and his companions passed through Phrygian Galatia. They were prevented by the Spirit from speaking the word of God in Asia. The hindrance need not have taken place earlier, as some have thought. The Greek syntax indicates this could have taken place as they completed their journey through Phrygian Galatia and entered into Asia. Mysia was a part of the province of Asia, so this verse may indicate that although Paul and his companions traveled through Asia, they were not permitted to preach; or, it may have taken a more narrow definition of Asia based on earlier usage, distinguishing it from Mysia. They were also prevented by the Spirit of Jesus from going north to Bithynia. It seems the purpose was to get them to Troas in as direct a way as possible.

16:10 Here begins the first “we” section (see the introduction), indicating that Luke joined the journey in Troas.

16:12 Philippi was a leading city in Macedonia and a Roman colony where many veterans lived; Thessalonica was Macedonia’s capital. (Some have amended the text based on later Latin manuscripts to indicate that Philippi was in Macedonia’s first district.)

16:13 “Place of prayer” indicated where Philippi’s Jews gathered. Apparently the Jewish population of Philippi was too small to warrant a synagogue. Ten Jewish males were required to have a synagogue.

16:14 Lydia apparently was a prominent woman (as she sold purple cloth, which had important uses in the empire).

16:15 Household baptisms are mentioned in Ac 11:14 and 18:8; what they involved is unknown. Probably the household leader believed and other members (adults and servants) responded similarly.

16:17-18 The demonic spirit actually spoke truth through the girl, but its incessant and distracting manner led Paul to cast out the demon.

16:21 Practicing various religions was not in itself illegal in the empire, but the Romans greatly feared civil disturbances. Any unrest was usually severely crushed.

16:27 If their prisoners escaped, Roman guards would likely pay the same penalty assigned their prisoners.

16:35 Some speculate that since the magistrates showed no awareness of either the earthquake or the jailer’s conversion, v. 35 naturally follows immediately after twenty-four. The intervening verses are therefore considered a later insertion from a body of mythological literature involving natural phenomena. However, this argument comes from silence. The magistrates’ action to release Paul and Silas may well have been in response to the earthquake and its consequences.

16:37 Paul’s Roman citizenship is first mentioned here (22:25-29; 23:27; 25:11), though understandably not in his letters since Paul only invoked it at places where his legal rights were threatened and due process was ignored. Paul’s citizenship was probably registered in Tarsus, but citizens also often carried small wooden tablets equivalent to passports (some of which have been found) to prove their identification. Paul may well have carried such a document, producing it at key times.