Bible Study Acts 16
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Acts 16 · WEB

The Gospel Crosses into Europe

Listen — WEB narration 0:00 / 0:00 Narration: World English Bible (David Williams), public domain — AudioTreasure.

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He came to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed; but his father was a Greek.
2The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him.
3Paul wanted to have him go out with him, and he took and circumcised him because of the Jews who were in those parts; for they all knew that his father was a Greek.
4As they went on their way through the cities, they delivered the decrees to them to keep which had been ordained by the apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem.
5So the assemblies were strengthened in the faith, and increased in number daily.
6When they had gone through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
7When they had come opposite Mysia, they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit didn't allow them.
8Passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.
9A vision appeared to Paul in the night. There was a man of Macedonia standing, begging him, and saying, "Come over into Macedonia and help us."
10When he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to go out to Macedonia, concluding that the Lord had called us to preach the Good News to them.
11Setting sail therefore from Troas, we made a straight course to Samothrace, and the day following to Neapolis;
12and from there to Philippi, which is a city of Macedonia, the foremost of the district, a Roman colony. We were staying some days in this city.
13On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together.
14A certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, one who worshiped God, heard us; whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.
15When she and her household were baptized, she begged us, saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and stay." So she persuaded us.
16As we were going to prayer, a certain girl having a spirit of divination met us, who brought her masters much gain by fortune telling.
17Following Paul and us, she cried out, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who proclaim to us a way of salvation!"
18She was doing this for many days. But Paul, becoming greatly annoyed, turned and said to the spirit, "I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her!" It came out that very hour.
19But when her masters saw that the hope of their gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas, and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.
20When they had brought them to the magistrates, they said, "These men, being Jews, are agitating our city,
21and advocate customs which it is not lawful for us to accept or to observe, being Romans."
22The multitude rose up together against them, and the magistrates tore their clothes off them, and commanded them to be beaten with rods.
23When they had laid many stripes on them, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them safely,
24who, having received such a command, threw them into the inner prison, and secured their feet in the stocks.
25But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were loosened.
27The jailer, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
28But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, "Don't harm yourself, for we are all here!"
29He called for lights and sprang in, and, fell down trembling before Paul and Silas,
30and brought them out and said, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"
31They said, "Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household."
32They spoke the word of the Lord to him, and to all who were in his house.
33He took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes, and was immediately baptized, he and all his household.
34He brought them up into his house, and set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, with all his household, having believed in God.
35But when it was day, the magistrates sent the sergeants, saying, "Let those men go."
36The jailer reported these words to Paul, saying, "The magistrates have sent to let you go; now therefore come out, and go in peace."
37But Paul said to them, "They have beaten us publicly without a trial, men who are Romans, and have cast us into prison! Do they now release us secretly? No, most certainly, but let them come themselves and bring us out!"
38The sergeants reported these words to the magistrates, and they were afraid when they heard that they were Romans,
39and they came and begged them. When they had brought them out, they asked them to depart from the city.
40They went out of the prison, and entered into Lydia's house. When they had seen the brothers, they encouraged them, and departed.
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Summary

Paul picks up young Timothy at Lystra and circumcises him so that mixed-heritage Jewish-Gentile workers won't be a stumbling block in Jewish communities. The Spirit redirects the team away from Asia and Bithynia, and a vision of a Macedonian man calling for help in the night opens the door to Europe. In Philippi a businesswoman named Lydia is the first European convert; a slave girl exploited for fortune-telling is delivered; and Paul and Silas are beaten without trial and thrown in the inner prison. At midnight they pray and sing — God shakes the prison open — and the jailer, on the brink of suicide, asks the great question: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" The answer ("Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ") is followed by baptism and a meal, and Paul finally insists on a public release after the magistrates discover they have illegally flogged Roman citizens.

Themes

  • The Spirit's guidance — including by closed doors
  • The gospel crossing into Europe
  • Diverse converts: businesswoman, slave girl, jailer
  • Worship in prison
  • Christian use of legal rights

Key verses

  • Acts 16:14 — “Whose heart the Lord opened to listen to the things which were spoken by Paul.”
  • Acts 16:25 — “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”
  • Acts 16:30-31 — “Sirs, what must I do to be saved? They said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved.”
  • Acts 16:9 — “Come over into Macedonia and help us.”

Context & background

C. AD 49-50. Timothy was likely from Lystra (modern Hatunsaray, Turkey); his Jewish mother Eunice and grandmother Lois shaped his faith (2 Timothy 1:5). Paul's circumcising him (a contradiction in light of Galatians 2:3?) was not about salvation but about credibility — a half-Jewish uncircumcised man would have been viewed as apostate by synagogues. The "we" passages begin at v. 10 (and continue at intervals through Acts), suggesting Luke joined the team at Troas. Troas (Alexandria Troas, Turkey) was the port at the northwest tip of Asia; from there it was a two-day sail across the northern Aegean. Macedonia (modern northern Greece, North Macedonia, parts of Bulgaria/Albania) was the home of Alexander the Great. Philippi was a Roman colony (residents had Roman citizenship and the city was administered under Roman law); it lacked the ten Jewish men needed for a synagogue, hence the riverside prayer place. Lydia traded in purple dye from Thyatira (modern Akhisar, Turkey), an expensive luxury good — she was wealthy enough to host the mission team and the new church. Roman law (Lex Porcia, Lex Julia) forbade scourging an uncondemned Roman citizen — Paul's invocation of his citizenship (v. 37) provided legal cover for the fledgling church.

Cross-references

  • 2 Corinthians 11:25 — "Three times I was beaten with rods" — Philippi was one of them.
  • Acts 22:25-29 — Paul invokes his Roman citizenship again, more dramatically.
  • John 4 / Acts 8 — Other accounts of God's sovereign opening of hearts to belief.
  • Philippians 1:3-6 — Paul's later letter to this very church begins with thanksgiving for the partnership "from the first day until now" — i.e., from Lydia onward.
  • Psalms — Paul and Silas singing in chains echoes the prayer of the saints in distress.

Check your reading

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  1. Observe

    What vision did Paul receive at Troas that redirected the missionary team into Europe?

  2. Observe

    What did the Philippian jailer ask Paul and Silas after the earthquake, and what answer did he receive?

  3. Interpret

    Paul circumcised Timothy (v. 3) but refused to circumcise Titus (Galatians 2:3). What principle explains the difference between the two cases?

  4. Interpret

    Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns at midnight in the inner prison while the other prisoners listened (v. 25). Why did the jailer's subsequent question — "What must I do to be saved?" — arise from this context?

  5. Apply

    The Lord "opened" Lydia's heart to respond to Paul's message (v. 14). How should that shape the way you pray for people who are not yet believers?

  6. Apply

    Paul and Silas worshiped audibly at midnight in the inner prison, and "the prisoners were listening to them" (v. 25). What does this teach about the witness value of worship in hard circumstances?

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