59 matching verse commentaries
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when she was baptized,.... In water, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, according to the commission of Christ, by the apostle, or some one of his companions; by whom she was instructed into the nature and use of this ordinance; and very likely it was performed in that river, by the side of which the oratory stood, where they were...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us. Lydia was evidently a woman of some property. The purple which she sold was an expensive article. She seems to have been engaged in business on her own account; and when Paul met with her, she...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And it came to pass as we went to prayer,.... That is, to the house of prayer, or to the oratory, as they were in the way to it; for this is not to be understood of their just going to the act, or duty of prayer; for the damsel that now met them, is said to follow them, and to do so for many days, one after another; and it was by their going to...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And it came to pass, as we went to prayer, a certain damsel possessed with a spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying. She professed to tell fortunes, and to speak under inspiration. She was really “possessed” by an evil spirit.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
The same followed Paul and us,.... Silas, Luke, and Timothy; the Arabic version reads, "the same followed Paul and Silas"; as they were going to the oratory: and cried, saying, these men are the servants of the most high God; not of Python, or Apollo, as she and her masters were; or of any of the deities of the Gentiles; nor of sin, nor of Satan,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which shew unto us the way of salvation. And this did she many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour. Here was an evil spirit bearing...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And this she did many days,.... As the apostle and his company passed to and from the oratory, being for that time at Lydia's house; she followed them, and repeated the above words. This she was suffered to do, time after time; not that the apostle and his friends wanted such a testimony, or that it was of any use to them; but that the expulsion...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when her masters saw,.... As they might by her sedateness and composure; she not being wild and frantic, and not having such motions and agitations she had whilst under the possession of the evil spirit: that the hope of their gains was gone; the Syriac version adds, "out of her"; namely, the evil spirit which was the ground and foundation of...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, and drew them into the market-place unto the rulers, and brought them to the magistrates, They dragged them into the Forum, the place where the courts usually sat, and brought them before the magistrates, “saying “-what? “These men have cured a demoniac,...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And brought them to the magistrates,.... The same as before; wherefore the Syriac version omits them there, and reads them both together here, calling them the magistrates and chief men of the city; though the word here used, properly signifies military captains, captains of the Roman militia: but that they were the same with the Decuriones, or...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
Saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city, and teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans. They did not know that Paul himself was a Roman citizen, or they surely would not have brought such a charge as that against him.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And teach customs,.... The Vulgate Latin and Ethiopic versions read in the singular number, "custom or law"; referring to the doctrine of salvation by Christ, in whose name the spirit of divination was cast out of the maid, and whom they took for a new deity; and so concluded that the apostle and his company were introducing a new religious law or...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And the multitude rose up together against them,.... The crowd of people that were gathered together in the court on this occasion; being no doubt spirited up by the proprietors of the maid, out of whom the spirit of divination was cast, and encouraged by the rulers, and being provoked at the hearing of unlawful customs being introduced among...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them. They beat them first, and tried them afterwards. That is often the rule with those who persecute God’s people: let them be hanged out of the way, and then we will enquire what they teach.
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And when they had laid many stripes upon them,.... Even above measure, as in 2 Corinthians 11:35. They cast them into prison; designing doubtless to inflict some greater punishment upon them, after they had further examined into their affairs: charging the jailer to keep them safely; suggesting, that he must be answerable for them, should they...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: Another prayer-meeting, and a praise-meeting, too. There...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
Who having received such a charge,.... So strict an one from the magistrates, was doubly careful and diligent: thrust them into the inner prison: the innermost part of it, the lowest or furthest part of the prison; so that there were the more doors, bolts, and bars, to break open, and pass through, should they attempt to make their escape: and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, When others were asleep, and all things were still and quiet; [See comments on Psalms 119:62], and they prayed doubtless for themselves, for their deliverance in God's time and way, and for support under their present afflictions; and for supplies of grace, to enable them to bear with patience and...
John Gill - Exposition - John Gill
And suddenly there was a great earthquake,.... An extraordinary and unusual one; which did not arise from natural causes, from wind being pent up in the earth, but from the prayers and praises of the saints, going up to heaven; when God was pleased to testify his presence and power this way; and the effects which followed upon this earthquake,...
Spurgeon - Verse Expositions - Charles H. Spurgeon
And the prisoners heard them. Paul and Silas were in the lower prison. The sound of their prayer and praise rose up through the different tiers of cells where other prisoners were confined. Act_16:26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every...