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Bible chapter guide
Acts 16
Timothy joins Paul at Lystra. Forbidden to speak in Asia, they see a vision of a man of Macedonia and cross to Philippi, where Lydia believes. A slave girl is freed of a spirit, Paul and Silas are beaten and jailed, and at midnight an earthquake opens the prison and the jailer is baptized.
Summary written for the Labs; read the chapter itself for the full text.
What happens in this chapter
At Lystra Paul takes on Timothy, whose mother is a Jewish believer and father a Greek. The team is stopped twice, first from speaking in Asia and then from entering Bithynia, and comes down to Troas, where Paul sees a man of Macedonia in the night asking for help and the narrative switches to 'we'. They cross by Samothrace and Neapolis to Philippi, a Roman colony, where Lydia, a dealer in purple from Thyatira, is baptised with her household by the river. After Paul frees a slave girl from a spirit of divination, her owners have him and Silas beaten and jailed; an earthquake at midnight opens the prison, the jailer believes, and next day the magistrates learn too late that they have flogged Roman citizens.
What the lab shows, and where to look
This is the busiest chapter on the second journey route of Paul's Roads. Step from Lystra to 'Phrygia and Galatia', where the marker stands at Pisidian Antioch for a region Acts leaves vague, then to 'Opposite Mysia', whose point is marked artistic because Acts names only the region. At Troas the 'we' begins. The crossing to Neapolis is two days by the text. On the Paul's Second Journey page, Philippi's card places the riverside prayer by the Gangites stream, as plausible.
- Lystra (2nd journey) · Paul's Roads
- Phrygia and Galatia (2nd journey) · Paul's Roads
- Opposite Mysia (2nd journey) · Paul's Roads
- Troas (2nd journey) · Paul's Roads
- Neapolis (2nd journey) · Paul's Roads
- Philippi · Paul's Second Journey
Questions people ask
Which Galatia did Paul write to?
It is debated, and the lab gives both readings as plausible. South Galatia: the Roman province included Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, churches Acts shows Paul founding, and this allows an early letter. North Galatia: 'Galatians' (Galatians 3:1) most naturally means the Celtic people around Ancyra, and Acts 16:6 and 18:23 could mean Paul passed through their land, which requires a later date. Even 16:6 is read both ways: the Greek phrase, 'Phrygia and the region of Galatia' in KJV, can mean one district, the Phrygian part of the province, or two lands, Phrygia and the Galatians' own country.
Where did Lydia meet Paul?
Acts says 'out of the city by a river side', at a place of prayer (16:13). The traditional spot is the Gangites stream about 2 km west of Philippi, where a baptistery stands today. A stream nearer the city gate is also possible, so the lab marks the site as plausible.
Who are the 'we' that start at Troas?
From 16:10 the story is told in the first person plural, which most readers take to mean the author, traditionally Luke, joined Paul at Troas. Acts never names the narrator. The 'we' stops at Philippi and picks up again there years later (20:5).
See it in the Labs
- Paul's RoadsPaul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's Second JourneyPaul's Second JourneyOpen
- Paul's RoadsPhilippi (2nd journey) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsLystra (2nd journey) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsLydia · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsTroas (2nd journey) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsDerbe (2nd journey) · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsTimothy · Paul's RoadsOpen
- Paul's RoadsPhrygia and Galatia (2nd journey) · Paul's RoadsOpen
People in this chapter
Places
Also in this chapter
How sure can we be?
- Textually stated
They sailed 'a straight course' to Samothrace, stopping overnight.
Acts 16:11 names Samothrace and 'the day following' Neapolis. Ships commonly anchored off the island's north-shore city.
- Textually stated
The crossing from Troas to Neapolis took two days.
Acts 16:11. The return crossing on the third journey took five days against the wind (Acts 20:6).
- Strongly supported
Acts 16:6: "Phrygia and the region of Galatia": KJV reads two names, "Phrygia and the region of Galatia"; the 和合本 runs them together as one area, 「弗呂家加拉太一帶地方」, but in 18:23 writes 「加拉太和弗呂家地方」. Whether Luke means one district (the Phrygian part of the province of Galatia) or two regions is part of the North and South Galatia debate: Berkhof lists the phrase among the arguments for the North Galatian view.
- Strongly supported
Lydia's household was the first church Paul founded in Europe, and her house its meeting place.
She and her household were baptized and she urged Paul's party to stay with her (Acts 16:15); after prison Paul and Silas went to her house and met the brothers there (16:40).
- Plausible
Paul passed through Iconium on the way west.
It lay on the Via Sebaste between Lystra and Pisidian Antioch, and he meant to visit 'every city' of the first journey (Acts 15:36).
- Plausible
Galatians written from Corinth, on the second journey
After revisiting the Galatian churches (Acts 16:6), Paul could have written from Corinth on hearing they were deserting Christ for a different good news (1:6).