Acts 16:12-15

16:12 and from there to Philippi, ¹  which is a leading city of that district ²  of Macedonia, ³  a Roman colony. ⁴  We stayed in this city for some days. 16:13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down ⁵  and began to speak ⁶  to the women ⁷  who had assembled there. ⁸  16:14 A ⁹  woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth ¹⁰  from the city of Thyatira, ¹¹  a God-fearing woman, listened to us. ¹²  The Lord opened her heart to respond ¹³  to what Paul was saying. 16:15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, ¹⁴  “If ¹⁵  you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, ¹⁶  come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded ¹⁷  us.

¹ map For location see JP1-C1; JP2-C1; JP3-C1; JP4-C1.

² tc ‡ Or perhaps, “a city in the first district” (there are a number of textual variants). L&N 1.85 follow the text of UBS⁴ and NA²⁷ here: “In Ac 16:12…the Greek New Testament published by the United Bible Societies has adopted a conjectural emendation, since the more traditional text, πρώτη τῆς μερίδος, literally ‘first of the district,’ is not only misleading in meaning but does not reflect the historical fact that Philippi was a city in one of the four districts of Macedonia but was not a capital city.” The original text is probably πρώτη τῆς μερίδος (prwth th" merido", “first of that district”) as found in Ì⁷⁴ א A C Ψ 33^vid 36 81 323 945 1175 1891 pc. This has traditionally been translated to give the impression that Philippi was the capital city of the district, but it does not necessarily have to be translated this way. The translation of the article before μερίδος as “that” acknowledges that there were other districts in the province of Macedonia.

³ sn Macedonia was the Roman province of Macedonia in Greece.

⁴ sn A Roman colony was a city whose residents were regarded as Roman citizens, since such cities were originally colonized by citizens of Rome. From Troas to Philippi was 130 mi (208 km).

⁵ tn Grk “and sitting down we began to speak.” The participle καθίσαντες (kaqisante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

⁶ tn The imperfect verb ἐλαλοῦμεν (elaloumen) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

⁷ sn To the women. Apparently there were not enough Jews present in Philippi to have a synagogue (ten men would have been required to have one).

⁸ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

⁹ tn Grk “And a.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

¹⁰ tn On the term translated “a dealer in purple cloth” see BDAG 855 s.v. πορφυρόπωλις.

¹¹ sn Thyatira was a city in the province of Lydia in Asia Minor.

¹² tn The words “to us” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

¹³ tn Although BDAG 880 s.v. προσέχω 2.b gives the meaning “pay attention to” here, this could be misunderstood by the modern English reader to mean merely listening intently. The following context, however, indicates that Lydia responded positively to Paul’s message, so the verb here was translated “to respond.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “urged us, saying.” The participle λέγουσα (legousa) is redundant in English and has not been translated.

¹⁵ tn This is a first class condition in Greek, with the statement presented as real or true for the sake of the argument.

¹⁶ tn Or “faithful to the Lord.” BDAG 821 s.v. πίστος 2 states concerning this verse, “Of one who confesses the Christian faith believing or a believer in the Lord, in Christ, in God πιστ. τῷ κυρίῳ Ac 16:15.” L&N 11.17 has “one who is included among the faithful followers of Christ – ‘believer, Christian, follower.’”

¹⁷ tn Although BDAG 759 s.v. παραβιάζομαι has “urge strongly, prevail upon,” in contemporary English “persuade” is a more frequently used synonym for “prevail upon.”