Acts 16:14 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 16:14
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
(little · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Luke 24:45 Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,
Ephesians 1:17-18 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Isaiah 50:5 The Lord GOD hath opened mine ear, and I was not rebellious, neither turned away back.
John 6:44-45 No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at the last day.
Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he wi…
2 Corinthians 3:14-16 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is don…
Romans 9:16 So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.
2 Corinthians 4:4-6 In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 16:6-15
In these verses we have,
I. Paul's travels up and down to do good. 1. He and Silas his colleague went throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, where, it should seem, the gospel was already planted, but whether by Paul's hand or no is not mentioned; it is likely it was, for in his epistle to the Galatians he speaks of his preaching the gospel to them at the first, and how very acceptable he was among them, Gal 4:13-15. And it appears by that epistle that the judaizing teachers had then done a great deal of mischief to these churches of Galatia, had prejudiced them against Paul and drawn them from the gospel of Christ, for which he there severely reproves them. But probably that was a gre…
Lydia--a common name among the Greeks and Romans.
a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira--on the confines of Lydia and Phrygia. The Lydians, particularly the inhabitants of Thyatira, were celebrated for their dyeing, in which they inherited the reputation of the Tyrians. Inscriptions to this effect, yet remaining, confirm the accuracy of our historian. This woman appears to have been in good circumstances, having an establishment at Philippi large enough to accommodate the missionary party (Act 16:15), and receiving her goods from her native town.
which worshipped God--that is, was a proselyte to the Jewish faith, and as such present at this meeting.
whose heart the Lord opened--t…
Lydia, a seller of purple - She probably had her name from the province of Lydia, in which the city of Thyatira was situated. The Lydian women have been celebrated for their beautiful purple manufactures.
Which worshipped God - That is, she was a proselyte to the Jewish religion; as were probably all the women that resorted hither.
Whose heart the Lord opened - As she was a sincere worshipper of God, she was prepared to receive the heavenly truths spoken by Paul and his companions; and, as she was faithful to the grace she had received, so God gave her more grace, and gave her now a Divine conviction that what was spoken by Paul was true; and therefore she attended unto the things - she beli…
The Church Fathers
And a certain woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple, of the city of Thyatira, a worshipper of God, heard, etc. He says "a dealer in purple" meaning a seller of purple, as we also find in another translation, which in Greek is called πορφυρόπωλις. Properly, however, the woman who first believed with the Apostle preaching in Illyricum is said to be a dealer in purple. It signifies the Church, which is accustomed to sell, as it were, purple, because it does not hesitate to shed its blood for Christ, so that through this it can obtain eternal life. Indeed, purple rightly designates the shedding and color of blood, and by the property of its nature, which is made from the blood of shellfish. Lydia, however, forced the Apostle and his companions to enter her house and to stay there, because the Church received the preaching of the gospel with internal devotion of the heart, despite being rejected by the Jews.
"And a certain woman": a woman and she of low condition, from her trade too: but mark in her a woman of elevated mind. In the first place, the fact of God's calling her bears testimony to her. "And a certain woman, named Lydia, a seller of purple": observe how the writer of the history is not ashamed of the occupations of the converts: moreover neither was this city of the Philippians a great one. Having learnt these things, let us also be ashamed of no man. Peter abides with a tanner; Paul with a woman who was a seller of purple, and a foreigner. Where is pride? "Whose heart the Lord opened." Therefore we need God, to open the heart: but God opens the hearts that are willing: for there are hardened hearts to be seen. "So that she attended to the things which were spoken of Paul." The opening, then, was God's work, the attending was hers: so that it was both God's doing and man's.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Call — (1.) To cry for help, hence to pray (Gen. 4:26). Thus men are said to “call upon the name of the Lord” (Acts 2:21; 7:59; 9:14; Rom. 10:12; 1 Cor. 1:2). (2.) God calls with respect to men when he…
Dye — The art of dyeing is one of great antiquity, although no special mention is made of it in the Old Testament. The Hebrews probably learned it from the Egyptians (see Ex. 26:1; 28:5-8), who brought it…
Lydia — (1.) Ezek. 30:5 (Heb. Lud), a province in the west of Asia Minor, which derived its name from the fourth son of Shem (Gen. 10:22). It was bounded on the east by the greater Phrygia, and on the west…
Macedonia — In New Testament times, was a Roman province lying north of Greece. It was governed by a propraetor with the title of proconsul. Paul was summoned by the vision of the “man of Macedonia” to preach…
Philippi — (1.) Formerly Crenides, “the fountain,” the capital of the province of Macedonia. It stood near the head of the Sea, about 8 miles north-west of Kavalla. It is now a ruined village, called…
Thyatira — A city of Asia Minor, on the borders of Lydia and Mysia. Its modern name is Ak-hissar, i.e., “white castle.” Here was one of the seven churches (Rev. 1:11; 2:18-28). Lydia, the seller of purple, or…
Converts · .Lydia — .Lydia
Heart · 6:22;7:27; — 6:22;7:27;
Heart, The · God: Opens — God: Opens
Lydia · through the preaching of Paul — through the preaching of Paul
Philippi · (A city of Macedonia) -Paul preaches in — (A city of Macedonia) -Paul preaches in
And a certain woman, named Lydia,.... Whether this woman was a Jewess or a Gentile, is not certain, her name will not determine; she might be called so from the country of Lydia, which was in Asia minor, and where was Thyatira, her native place; Horace makes frequent mention of one of this name (g) and it might be a Jewish name; we read of R. Simeon ben Lydia (h); and as these seem to be Jewish women that met at this oratory, she might be one:
a seller of purple; either of purple silks, much wore in the eastern countries; or of the purple dye, which in,
"Then Judas returned to spoil the tents, where they got much gold, and silver, and blue silk, and purple of the sea, and great riches.'' (…
Acts 16:11-15
11. Therefore, when we had loosed from Troas, we came with a straight course in Samothracia, and the day following to Neapolis; 12. And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of the parts of Macedonia, being a free city; and we stayed in the same city certain days. 13. And on the day of the Sabbaths we went out of the city beside a river, where was wont to be prayer; and sitting, we spake to the women which came together. 14. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purples, of the city of the Thyatirans, which worshipped God, heard; whose heart the Lord opened, that she might take heed to those things which were spoken of Paul. 15. And when she was baptized, and…
The first person changed by Christ in Philippi was Lydia, a successful businesswoman from Thyatira (modern Akhisar), a city of western Asia Minor famous for its woolen fabrics, weavers, and linens. Lydia responded to the message and she and her household were baptized (cp. 16:32-33). • One of Lydia’s first acts as a true believer in the Lord was to extend hospitality to the visiting missionaries. Hospitality is an important Christian virtue (Matt 25:31-46; Rom 12:13; 16:23; 1 Tim 3:2; Titus 1:8; Heb 13:2; 1 Pet 4:9; 3 Jn 1:5-8; cp. Gen 18:1-8; 19:1-3; 24:23-33).
Thyatira · The hometown of Lydia, a convert of Paul — The hometown of Lydia, a convert of Paul
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
