Acts 16:18 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 16:18
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.
to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — imperfect active indicative, 3rd person singular
many
πολλὰςpollas
G4183
(singular) much (in any respect) or (plural) many · adjective — accusative plural feminine
days
ἡμέρας.hēmeras
G2250
day · noun — accusative plural feminine
But
δὲde
G1161
but · conjunction
Paul
ΠαῦλοςPaulos
G3972
(little · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
grieved
διαπονηθεὶςdiaponētheis
G1278
to toil through · verb — aorist passive deponent participle, nominative singular masculine
turned
ἐπιστρέψαςepistrepsas
G1994
to revert (literally · verb — aorist active participle, nominative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
said
εἶπεν·eipen
G2036
to speak or say (by word or writing) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
spirit
πνεύματιpneumati
G4151
a current of air · noun — dative singular neuter
command
παραγγέλλωparangellō
G3853
to transmit a message · verb — present active indicative, 1st person singular
thee
σοίsoí
G4671
to thee
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
name
ὀνόματιonomati
G3686
a "name" (literally or figuratively) (authority · noun — dative singular neuter
Jesus
ἸησοῦIēsou
G2424
Jesus (i.e. Jehoshua) · noun — genitive singular masculine, a proper name
Christ
ΧριστοῦChristou
G5547
anointed · noun — genitive singular masculine, a title
out
ἐξελθεῖνexelthein
G1831
to issue (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active infinitive
of
ἀπ᾽ap᾽
G575
"off · preposition
her
αὐτῆς.autēs
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — genitive singular feminine
And
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
out
ἐξῆλθενexēlthen
G1831
to issue (literally or figuratively) · verb — second aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
same
αὐτῇautēa
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — dative singular feminine
hour
ὥρᾳ.hōra
G5610
an "hour" (literally or figuratively) · noun — dative singular feminine
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
Mark 16:17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;
Luke 10:17-19 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
Mark 1:34 And he healed many that were sick of divers diseases, and cast out many devils; and suffered not the devils to speak, because they knew him.
Mark 9:25-26 When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee,…
Acts 3:6 Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk.
Acts 9:34 And Peter said unto him, Æneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately.
Acts 19:12-17 So that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out…
Mark 1:25-26 And Jesus rebuked him, saying, Hold thy peace, and come out of him.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 16:16-24
Paul and his companions, though they were for some time buried in obscurity at Philippi, yet now begin to be taken notice of.
I. A damsel that had a spirit of divination caused them to be taken notice of, by proclaiming them to be the servants of God. Observe,
1. The account that is given of this damsel: She was puthonissa, possessed with such a spirit of divination as that damsel was by whom the oracles of Apollo at Delphos were delivered; she was actuated by an evil spirit, that dictated ambiguous answers to those who consulted her, which served to gratify their vain desire of knowing things to come, but often deceived them. In those times of ignorance, infidelity, and idolatry, the devil,…
Paul being grieved--for the poor victim; grieved to see such power possessed by the enemy of man's salvation, and grieved to observe the malignant design with which this high testimony was borne to Christ.
Adam Clarke on Acts 16:18
Paul, being grieved - Probably for the reasons assigned above.
Turned - to the spirit - Not to the woman; she was only the organ by which the spirit acted.
I command thee, in the name of Jesus - Jesus is the Savior; Satan is Abaddon and Apollyon, the destroyer. The sovereign Savior says to the destroyer, Come out of her; and he came out in the same hour. Every circumstance of this case proves it to have been a real possession. We have already had several opportunities of remarking the great accuracy of St. Luke in his accounts of demoniacs: his education as a physician gave him advantages to detect imposture of this kind where it subsisted; but he sees none in this case. He speaks of the spi…
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 of the evil spirit might be more manliest, and more taken notice of:
but Paul being grieved; at the unhappy condition the maid was in, being possessed with such a spirit: and that the people were so imposed upon and deluded by it; and that it should be thought that there was any combination and agreement between that and him:
turned; himself to her…
The Church Fathers
Paul says, that is, stirred up and distressed, having noticed even by her face that she spoke the truth, ordered the demon to come out of her: teaching us that we should not accept demons under the ploy of bearing testimony to the truth, but should shut off every path of deceit from them, and close our ears to all that belongs to them. [SEVERUS]
I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. Bar-Jesus, who was an adversary of the faith, was struck blind both in physical weakness and loss of his sight. But he managed to deprive this woman, who though perverted in mind, yet spoke the truth, only of her wicked art. For it was unfitting that the word of the Gospel should be proclaimed by an unclean spirit; he commanded this one to depart and be silent, for devils must confess the Lord with trembling, not praise with joy.
But here it is proper to enquire, both why the demon uttered these things and why Paul rebuked him. In imitation of his Teacher; for so Christ did also rebuke: since it was not his will to have testimony from them. And wherefore did the devil also practise this? Intending to confound the order of things, and to seize upon the dignity of the Apostles, and to persuade many to pay attention to them: which had it happened, they would easily have made themselves appear from hence worthy of credit, and have brought in their own designs. That these things then might not be, and the deceit might not have a beginning, he stops their mouths even when speaking the truth, so that in their falsehoods men should not at all give heed unto them, but stop their ears altogether against the things said by them.
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
Exorcist — (Acts 19:13). “In that sceptical and therefore superstitious age professional exorcist abounded. Many of these professional exorcists were disreputable Jews, like Simon in Samaria and Elymas in…
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…
Philippians, Epistle To The — was St. Paul from Rome in A.D. 62 or 63. St. Paul’s connection with Philippi was of a peculiar character, which gave rise to the writing of this epistle. St. Paul entered its walls A.D. 52. (Acts…
Demons · .By Paul — .By Paul
Miracles Wrought Through Servants Of God · Paul: An unclean spirit cast out — Paul: An unclean spirit cast out
Philippi · (A city of Macedonia) -Paul preaches in — (A city of Macedonia) -Paul preaches in
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).
Acts 16:16-22
16. And it happened, as we went to prayer, a certain maid, having a spirit of divination, did meet us, which brought her masters much gain by divining. 17. She followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most high God, which preach to us the way of salvation. 18. And this she did many days. And Paul, taking it grievously, and turning back, said to the spirit, I command thee, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that thou come out of her. And he came out the same hour. 19. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, having taken Paul and Silas, they drew them into the market-place to the rulers. 20. And when they had presented…
The second portrait of a changed life in Philippi is of a slave girl who had a spirit that enabled her to tell the future. • Even though the demon within her was stating the truth, Paul, like Jesus, did not permit it to proclaim the Christian message (cp. Mark 1:25, 34; 3:11-12; Luke 4:35, 41). The Lord had commanded that the gospel be proclaimed by his disciples, not by opponents (Acts 1:8; 9:15; 26:15-18; Matt 28:18-20; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21; see Acts 22:15).
