Acts

16:6-15

6. Gospel consolidation and expansion to Greece, 15:36-21:16

ii] Paul's vision of the man of Macedonia, 16:6-15

In this passage Luke commences his account of the evangelization of the Aegean shores, 16:6-19:20. He first recounts the call of the man from Macedonia, v6-10, and then the conversion of Lydia, v11-15.

The geographical significance of Paul's move into Europe is quite limited. The language and culture is similar on both sides of the Hellespont and all the related provinces are united under the power of Rome. None-the-less, for Luke there is significance and this is found in the steady movement of the gospel from Jerusalem to the ends of the world, or better, its center, namely Rome. Again Luke relates this movement as divinely directed, even to the point of frustrating the plans of Paul's missionary team, v6-10.

Luke's account of Paul's mission in Philippi is quite detailed, running to the end of chapter 16. Whereas Paul's mission has, up to this point, been synagogue based, here it is focused on individuals and households. The shift from a Jewish church to a Gentile church is evident in Luke's account. "Salvation, rather than the kingdom of God or eternal life, is highlighted as the message proclaimed in this city", Peterson.

kwluqenteV (kwluw) part. "having been kept" - having been prevented. The participle may be causal, "because". We would love to answer the how questions, but the text gives little away. Was one of the other apostles working in this area? Paul's team was obviously heading for Ephesus, but the Spirit had another mission for them. "They made a tour of the Phrygian and Galatian districts, because they had been prevented by the Holy Spirit", Barclay.

uJpo + gen. "by [the Holy Spirit]" - by. Expressing agency.

lalhsai (lalew) "from preaching [the word]" - to speak. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verbal aspect of the participle "having been prevented".

th/ Asia/ "the province of Asia" - the Asia. Asia was an important Roman province bounded by Bithynia in the north, Lycia in the south, and Galatia in the east.

elqonteV (ercomai) aor. part. "when they came" - having come. The participle is adverbial, probably temporal, as NIV.

kata + acc. "to" - up to, toward. Here taking a spacial in direction sense.

thn Musian "the boarder of Mysia" - the Mysia. Mysia was originally a separate cultural and geographic region, but had been incorporated into the province of Asia. Boarder/frontier is assumed. "In the region of / in the latitude of", are other possibilities.

poreuqhnai (poreuomai) aor. pas. inf. "to enter" - to go [into Bithynia]. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of the verb "were trying".

ouk eiasen (eaw) aor. "would not allow" - did not permit.

to pneuma Ihsou "the Spirit of Jesus" - An interesting change from Holy Spirit in v6. Some commentators suggest the different way the travellers were prevented prompted the different title. It is more likely the titles are interchangeable, but are not intended to blur the individuality of the Spirit and Jesus. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus.

parelqonteV (parercomai) aor. part. "so they passed by" - having passed by. The participle is adverbial, probably consecutive, "so as a result"; "So they passed Mysia by", Moffatt; "traversed", Peterson.

Trw/ada (Trw/aV) "Troas" - An ancient Greek city known as Alexandria Troas, now a Roman colony and important port.

dia + gen. "during [the night]" - through [the night a vision appeared to Paul]. Luke probably intends us to understand that it was that night, during that night, the first night after their arrival in Troas. The presence of the article in thV nuktoV "the night", makes this point, although the article is not found in all manuscripts, in which case it would mean "by night", Moule IB.

oJrama (a) "[Paul] had a vision" - a vision. An apparition.

h\n estwV (iJsthmi) perf. part. "standing" - had been standing. The participle conjoins the following participles which take the present tense and given that iJsthmi is not used in the present tense for the sense "standing" it is best to treat this participle, with the imperfect verb to-be, as an imperfect periphrastic construction, cf. Cully; "a certain Macedonian man was standing and [was] begging him and [was] saying."

parakalwn (parakalew) pres. part. "begging" - urging, exhorting.... Paraphrastic imperfect. The word "begging" carries a negative sense in English. The sense of the verb is carried better with a word like "urging", even "pleading".

legwn (legw) pres. part. "-" - saying. Paraphrastic imperfect.

diabaV (diabainw) aor. part. "come over [to Macedonia]" - having come over. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the imperative verb "help".

wJV "after" - when. Introducing a temporal clause, as NIV. "After" carries the sense better in English than "when".

ezhthsamen (zhtew) aor. "we got ready" - we sought, in the sense of to attempt to attain some state or condition*. They sought to act upon Paul's vision by immediately heading for Macedonia, ie. "we got ready." Note the "we". Luke has joined the mission team.

exelqein (exercomai) aor. inf. "to leave" - to go out. The infinitive is complementary, completing the sense of "we got ready".

sumbibazonteV (sumbibazw) pres. part. "concluding" - putting together, showing for certain, proving = concluding. The participle is adverbial, probably causal; "for we concluded that God had called us", Barclay.

oJti "that" - that. Introducing a dependent statement of perception expressing what they concluded.

proskeklhtai (proskaleomai) perf. "had called" - summon. The significance of "called" in English is losing its impact due to secularization. A word like "instructed" or "summoned" carries more meaning.

euaggelisasqai (euaggelizomai) aor. inf. "to preach the gospel" - to proclaim, preach, communicate. The infinitive is adverbial, probably final, expressing the purpose of the calling; "in order to preach the gospel to them." The word, meaning "to communicate", most often means to communicate the gospel in particular.

anacqenteV (anagw) aor. pas. part. "we put out to sea" - having set sail, to put out to sea. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "we made a straight run / before a favorable wind", as NIV. "Samothrace was a good day's sail from Troas, as was Neapolis form Samothrace", Bruce.

prwthV meridoV thV MakedoniaV poliV "the leading city of that district of Macedonia" - a prominent of district of Macedonia city. The Greek is unclear. Philippi is not the leading city of Macedonia, that honour goes to the capital, Thessalonica. Nor is Philippi the leading city in its district, that honour goes to Amphipolis. The TEV has a stab at the meaning with "a city of the first district of Macedonia."

hmen .... diatribonteV (diatribw) pres. part. "we stayed" - we were staying. An imperfect periphrastic construction, probably emphasizing aspect - the length of stay.

exw thV pulhV "outside the city gate" - outside the gate. "Outside the city" makes the point.

para "to" - beside. They have come out of the city and are beside the river.

einai (eimi) "[where we expected] to [find a place of prayer]" - [where we were supposing of prayer] to be. The infinitive forms a dependent statement of perception expressing what they "expected/supposed", "that there would be there a house of prayer." The word for "prayer" is not normally used of "a place of prayer", but that is obviously the intention here. The TEV "a place for prayer" is a better English rendering, since the site is certainly not an official, or unofficial synagogue. "The Jews meet at this spot for prayer."

kaqisanteV (kaqizw) aor. part. "we sat down" - having sat down. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "we were speaking"; "we sat down and spoke to the women who were assembled there."

sebomenh ton qeon "who was a worshiper of God" - worshiping God. The expression implies she is a God-fearer, rather than of Jewish descent.

hJV oJ kurioV dihnoixen thn kardian "the Lord opened her heart" - of whom the Lord opened the heart. The language is quaint in English, and given that for a Jew the "heart" is the seat of understanding rather than emotion, we could say "enabled her to understand." If we try to update the language to "made her receptive", or even worse, "caused her to accept", we move beyond a form of figurative language which both recognizes divine sovereignty and human free-will.

prosecein (prosecw) pres. inf. "to respond" - to pay attention. The infinitive is adverbial, final, expressing purpose; "in order to make here a ready listener to what Paul said", cf. Cassirer. It is taking the meaning of this word too far to translate it as "respond" or worse, "accept" or "believe". "To listen eagerly", NRSV, is better. If a person is a seeker, the Lord makes sure that not only do they hear the gospel, but that they can understand it and so properly respond to it. Lydia is obviously a seeker, given that she is a God-fearer, and so the Lord not only shuffles the missionaries over to Macadonia to speak with her, but provides her with a clear word.

wJV "when" - as, like. Here taking its particular temporal sense, forming a temporal clause, as NIV.

oJ oikoV authV "the members of her household" - the house of her. Again we see this interesting feature, found in the New Testament church, where the household (family members, possibly also staff) is included in the conversion of the head of the home. They are all baptized, but did they all believe? Did the faith of the head of the home somehow cover the members of the home? We are probably witnessing the high status given to the family in the scriptures. God has designed the family as the basic unit of human association and it is therefore only natural that kingdom blessings do not undermine this unit. None-the-less, it is going too far to suggest that salvation is realized in family units. It is often the case, but it is not the rule. Of course, those who support family (infant) baptism find some support for their position in this New Testament feature.

ei + ind. "if" - Introducing a conditional clause, 1st. class, where the condition is assumed to be true, here with a perfect tense in the protasis, "if, as is the case ..... then ......" It takes a stative, or true-to-fact sense. "If you judge me to be faithful ....... stay."

kekrikate (krinw) perf. "[if] you consider" - judge. "If you are really convinced", Barclay.

einai (eimi) "-" - to be. The infinitive of the verb to-be introduces a dependent statement of perception, expressing what they have decided; "If you have decided that I am a true believer."

pisthn adj. "a believer" - [to be] faithful [to the Lord]. A genuine believer.

eiselqonteV (eisercomai) aor. part. "come [and stay]" - having entered. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the imperative verb "stay/remain/abide"; "come and stay", as NIV.

Acts Introduction

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