Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Paul, on account of the Jews, circumcises Timothy, and takes him as a companion of his preaching in Asia and Bithynia, and through a vision is called into Macedonia; therefore at Philippi he converts Lydia the purple-seller, and casts out a demon from a girl: for which reason, having been beaten with rods, together with Silas, while praying and praising God by night, he causes an earthquake by which the doors of the prison are flung open. Upon seeing these things, the prison guard is converted, and Paul is released by the Magistrate with honor.
Vulgate Text: Acts 16:1-40
1. And he came to Derbe and Lystra. And behold, there was a certain disciple there, named Timothy, the son of a faithful Jewish woman, his father a Gentile. 2. To him the brethren that were in Lystra and Iconium gave good testimony. 3. Him Paul wished to take with him: and taking him, he circumcised him, on account of the Jews who were in those places. For they all knew that his father was a Gentile. 4. And as they passed through the cities, they delivered to them the decrees to keep, which had been decreed by the Apostles and elders who were at Jerusalem. 5. And the Churches indeed were confirmed in faith, and increased in number daily. 6. And passing through Phrygia and the region of Galatia, they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word of God in Asia. 7. And when they had come into Mysia, they attempted to go into Bithynia; and the Spirit of Jesus did not permit them. 8. And when they had passed through Mysia, they went down to Troas; 9. and a vision was shown to Paul in the night: there was a certain man of Macedonia standing, and beseeching him, and saying: Cross over into Macedonia, help us. 10. And as soon as he had seen the vision, immediately we sought to set out for Macedonia, being assured that God had called us to evangelize to them. 11. And sailing from Troas, we came by a straight course to Samothracia, and the following day to Neapolis. 12. And from there to Philippi, which is the first city of that part of Macedonia, a colony. And we remained in this city for some days, conferring. 13. And on the sabbath day we went out the gate beside the river, where there seemed to be a place of prayer: and sitting down we spoke to the women who had assembled. 14. And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of the Thyatirans, who worshipped God, listened: whose heart the Lord opened to attend to those things which were spoken by Paul. 15. And when she had been baptized, and her household, she beseeched us, saying: If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, enter into my house and stay there. And she compelled us. 16. And it came to pass, as we were going to prayer, that a certain girl having a spirit of Python met us, who brought great gain to her masters by divining. 17. She, following Paul and us, cried out, saying: These men are servants of the Most High God, who announce unto you the way of salvation. 18. And this she did for many days. But Paul being grieved, turned, and said to the spirit: I command you in the name of Jesus Christ to go out from her. And he went out the same hour. 19. But her masters, seeing that the hope of their gain was gone, apprehending Paul and Silas, brought them into the market-place to the rulers; 20. and presenting them to the magistrates, they said: These men disturb our city, seeing they are Jews; 21. and they preach a way which it is not lawful for us to receive nor observe, being Romans. 22. And the people ran together against them: and the magistrates, rending off their clothes, commanded them to be beaten with rods. 23. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them carefully. 24. Who having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. 25. And at midnight, Paul and Silas, praying, praised God; and they that were in prison heard them. 26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened; and the bonds of all were loosed. 27. And the jailer being awakened, and seeing the doors of the prison open, drawing his sword, was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had fled. 28. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying: Do yourself no harm, for we are all here. 29. And calling for a light, he went in, and trembling, fell down at the feet of Paul and Silas; 30. and bringing them out, he said: Masters, what must I do, that I may be saved? 31. But they said: Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you shall be saved, you and your household. 32. And they preached the word of the Lord to him, with all that were in his house. 33. And he, taking them the same hour of the night, washed their stripes: and himself was baptized, and all his house immediately. 34. And when he had brought them into his own house, he set a table for them, and rejoiced with all his house, believing God. 35. And when the day came, the magistrates sent the lictors, saying: Let those men go. 36. And the keeper of the prison told these words to Paul: The magistrates have sent to let you go: now therefore depart, and go in peace. 37. But Paul said to them: They have publicly beaten us, uncondemned, men that are Romans, and have cast us into prison: and now do they thrust us out privately? Not so; but let them come, 38. and themselves bring us out. And the lictors reported these words to the magistrates. And they were afraid, hearing that they were Romans: 39. and coming, they besought them, and bringing them out, they desired them to depart out of the city. 40. And going out of the prison, they entered into the house of Lydia, and having seen the brethren, they comforted them, and departed.
Verse 1: Son of a Faithful Jewish Woman
1. SON OF A JEWISH WOMAN. — So the Roman, the Greek, and the Syriac. Some read "of a widow" for "of a Jewish woman." She was called Eunice, that is, Victory, whom, together with Timothy's grandmother named Lois, the Apostle praises, II Timothy I, 5.
FAITHFUL, — that is, Christian, namely one who had been converted from Judaism to Christianity.
HIS FATHER A GENTILE. — Marriages with Canaanites were forbidden to the Jews, Exodus xxxiv, 16, but not with other Gentiles. Hence the following took Gentile wives: Jacob, Genesis xxix, 23; Joseph, Genesis xli, 45; Moses, Exodus II, 21; and after the giving of the law of Moses: David, II Kings III, 3; Solomon, III Kings III, 4. Esther the Jewess married the Gentile Ahasuerus, chapter II, verse 17. So in the beginning Christians contracted marriages with Gentiles, and the Apostle forbids them to be separated, I Corinthians chapter VII, verse 12. Afterward, however, the Church invalidated these marriages: hence this impediment of marriage is called disparity of worship; but she did not invalidate marriage with heretics, but prohibited it, on account of the danger of perversion. See Sanchez, On Matrimony, tract On Disparity of Worship.
Verse 2: Testimony Was Given to Him
2. TESTIMONY WAS GIVEN TO HIM — of unfeigned faith, of virtue and of good education in the study of the Sacred Scriptures, as is evident from I Timothy vi, 12, and II Timothy I, 3. Hence Paul calls Timothy his dearest son, and beyond others the faithful and strenuous helper and assistant of his journey, and ordained him Bishop of the Church of Ephesus, I Corinthians IV, 17; Philippians II, 20 and 23; Romans XVI, 21. See what is said in each of the Epistles to Timothy.
Verse 3: He Circumcised Him on Account of the Jews
3. HE CIRCUMCISED HIM ON ACCOUNT OF THE JEWS. — Paul did this of his own accord, lest the Jews cause him trouble, because he had taken Timothy, a Gentile, as a companion in preaching, and in order that he might win them over and lead them more easily to Christ: for the legal observances were dead, but not yet death-dealing. Titus, however, equally a Gentile, Paul did not allow to be circumcised, because the Jews wanted to compel him to it, lest he seem to subscribe to their false opinion, by which they were teaching that circumcision was necessary for salvation. See what is said at Galatians II, 3. St. Gregory praises the discretion of St. Paul, book XXVIII of the Morals, chapter vi or XII: "For the most part," he says, "virtue, when held without discretion, is lost; when omitted with discretion, it is retained." And St. Chrysostom attributes the great conversion which followed in verse 5 to St. Paul's zeal for concord.
WAS A GENTILE, — ὑπῆρχεν. The Syriac, "had been a Gentile." For some think that the father of Timothy was at this time dead, and therefore it must be said, if his mother was a widow, as I said some read in verse 1.
Verse 4: They Delivered the Decrees
4. DECREES, — not of faith, but of laws, that is, precepts. Hence explaining he adds: "Which had been decreed by the Apostles." Therefore the laws of the Apostles, Bishops, Pastors, etc., are binding, which heretics deny.
Verse 6: Forbidden by the Holy Spirit to Speak in Asia
6. THEY WERE FORBIDDEN BY THE HOLY SPIRIT TO SPEAK THE WORD OF GOD IN ASIA. — Why? Some wrongly answer: Because, they say, the Asians were rejected and reprobated by God; for God wills all men to be saved. Hence also, a little later, He communicated the faith to the Asians through St. John and Paul.
Firstly, then, Œcumenius answers, because Paul foresaw a famine to come in Asia, which was going to divert men's cares from the faith to seeking bread. Hence Bede and Origen, homily 9 on Leviticus, give as the reason, that Paul foresaw that the Asians would despise the word of God. And St. Gregory, homily 4 on the Gospels: "Lest," he says, "the bad hearers should deserve a heavier judgment for despised preaching." Secondly and better, St. Chrysostom: Because Asia, he says, was being reserved for St. John, just as Bithynia was for St. Luke, says Gagneius. Thirdly, because the Asians were still unprepared and indisposed to receive the Gospel, but the Macedonians were more ready, as is evident from verse 9: so Sedulius, on chapter I of Romans. Just as on the contrary God commanded Paul to preach at Corinth: "For," He says, "I have much people in this city," Acts chapter XVIII, 10. Fourthly, St. Prosper, book II On the Calling of the Gentiles, chapter III, judges that there was here a hidden cause, which lies concealed from us, on account of which the grace of preaching was not denied but deferred to the Asians. Thus Paul, Romans I, 13, writes that he had often purposed to come to them, but had been prevented. Where St. Chrysostom and Ambrose rightly note that both the words and the journeys of His preachers depend on the nod of God: for these are of the utmost concern to Him.
Verse 7: Into Mysia, and the Spirit of Jesus
7. INTO MYSIA. — By St. Jerome, in Places of Hebrew Names, it is called Mesia. Ptolemy makes a twofold Mysia, greater and lesser, and both outside Bithynia in Asia, not far from Ida. Some have said the Mysians were Thracians, others Lydians. And because the Lydians called the sour beech (which grows abundantly on Olympus) Mysa, they thought that the Mysians were named from this, whose speech was mixed of Lydian and Phrygian. This Mysia therefore was in Asia. There is another Mysia in Europe, which some call Bosnia. Further, the Mysians were so vile and despised that they passed into a proverb, and a most vile man is called "the last of the Mysians." Here see the charity and humility of Paul, who evangelizes the lowly as well as the honored, mindful of that saying of Isaiah and of Christ: "The poor have the Gospel preached to them."
THE SPIRIT OF JESUS DID NOT PERMIT THEM (for the reasons just given), — that is, the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son (that is, Christ Jesus), and is proper and consubstantial to each. Whence you may gather that the Holy Spirit proceeds not only from the Father, as the Greeks wished, but also from the Son, and consequently is truly God. So St. Cyril, book II on John, chapter III, and St. Augustine, tractate 99 on John, and the Council of Ephesus, chapter On the Resurrection of Christ. For this reason He is called the Spirit of Jesus, as well as the Spirit of God the Father.
Verse 8: They Went Down to Troas
8. THEY WENT DOWN TO TROAS. — Troas is a region of Asia bordering on the Hellespont, so called from the Trojans, says Pomponius Mela, book I; Ptolemy calls it Lesser Phrygia; in it were the more noble cities: Troy, Antandrus, Smyrna, Clazomenæ, Pergamus, Thyatira, Philadelphia, Laodicia, Ida, and Tmolus. Further, St. Jerome, in Places of Hebrew Names, and Baronius judge that Troas was a city in Asia, called by another name Antigonia. But the Syriac and others judge that it is the region which I have just described. Both are probable. Indeed at chapter xx, 7, Luke indicates Troas to be a city.
Morally: Abbot Moses in Cassian, Conference 1, final chapter, notes that he often experienced that, when he wished to exhort, speech failed him, and his tongue was as it were dried up: "By which indications," he says, "it is clearly recognized that the Lord's grace breathes speech upon those disputing, according to the merit (understand: from the power of the same grace) and according to the desire of the hearers." Apostolic men and preachers, therefore, should depend wholly upon God, and should commend themselves to Him assiduously, that He may direct their journey and their tongue to where the greater glory of God will be.
Verse 9: A Vision in the Night
9. AND A VISION BY NIGHT. — This vision, then, was a dream sent by God to Paul through an angel. For an angel formed and painted in Paul's imagination a man in Macedonian dress, and his voice, so that he seemed to speak in the Macedonian manner and to say: "Cross over into Macedonia, help us;" or indeed the angel himself assumed the appearance and voice of a Macedonian man. This angel seems to have been the guardian and president of Macedonia.
By a similar vision St. Francis Xavier came to know that he was being called to the Indies. For he often saw himself in sleep carrying an Indian on his shoulders for some time, so heavy that, wearied by the very weight, he was roused from sleep: this, indeed, was a foreshadowing of the grave troubles and labors which he was to undergo for the salvation of the Indians. So Horatius Tursellinus in the Life of Xavier, book I, chapter VIII.
In a similar way Joannes Nunnius, of the illustrious Guzman family, was called to the contests of propagating the faith to the Africans, Indians, and Ethiopians. He, the first Patriarch destined for Ethiopia by the Supreme Pontiff, having borne many labors, left to posterity a great reputation for his virtue and true sanctity. For when he had entreated the Blessed Virgin for a whole year that she would indicate to him what state of life he ought to take up, the Blessed Virgin appeared to him in sleep, accompanied by two of the Society of Jesus, namely Peter Faber and Francis Strada, and said: "Do you wish to serve my Son even to the point of exhaustion?" To her Nunnius: "By all means, Lady." "Follow then," she said, "these men." Soon he met them, and sought and obtained admission into their Society; and first in Spain, then in Africa, finally in India, he labored for Christ even to the point of exhaustion. So Fr. Maffei in the Life of St. Ignatius of Loyola, book II, chapter VI.
Morally: Note that dreams are indicators of the waking mind, and of virtue or vice. For whatever the mind thinks of, does, and frequents in waking, it also dreams of: for these things naturally recur at night. A dream therefore is a sign of a thing loved, and by frequent action or meditation deeply implanted and fixed in the mind. Wherefore Plutarch, in his book On the Progress of Morals, assigning twelve signs of acquired virtue, gives one from Zeno taken from dreams. For if you dream of God, of the love of God, of the conversion of souls, it is certain that by day you frequently think, act, and are busy about God and the love of God and converting your neighbors; and consequently you burn with the love of God and of neighbor. Thus Paul, continually intent on preaching and on the salvation of the Gentiles, dreams of the same matter. God, however, so directed and adjusted that dream that he dreamed of Macedonia rather than of Galatia or Asia, and therefore a Macedonian man appeared to him, calling him into Macedonia, because He was destining him thither. St. Augustine gives the same sign, book XII On Genesis Literally, chapter XV, where he also adds the example of Solomon, who in dreams asked God for wisdom, III Kings III, because in waking he often desired it. The same elsewhere: "Mindful, Lord, of Your commandments, even in sleep we resist sins." Hence it is a sign of exceptional chastity, if in dreams no base image ever occurs; or if it occur, the imagination at once resists it, as St. Francis Xavier did, resisting it even to the shedding of blood. For just as horses often go along the road they have trodden and worn even while the charioteer sleeps, so the senses, the flesh, and the imagination do the same, even while the mind is lulled and reason sleeps. Therefore just as in sudden matters we act according to habit — for example, if a temptation or danger arises, we at once generously repel it, if we have been accustomed otherwise to repel it — so also in dreams. For, as Aristotle says, Nicomachean Ethics III, chapter VIII: "A perfected art does not deliberate: so easy to itself is its act." Do you then wish with Paul to dream piously of God, Christ, heaven, etc.? Think and ruminate the same things frequently and ardently in waking. For when you have put on the habit of this thought, it, as it were naturally, even by night, exercises itself into its own act, especially if you renew it just before sleep and fall asleep upon it.
Verse 10: Immediately We Sought to Set Out
10. IMMEDIATELY WE SOUGHT, — namely I Luke, Paul, Silas, and Timothy: for he joined Paul, verse 3, so that through more men the Gospel might be spread more widely. So St. Vincent Ferrer, the Paul of his age, in traversing the provinces of Europe to evangelize them, led with him many priests and brethren, both of his own Order and of others, who might help him, and especially might receive the confessions of penitents, says the author of his Life, book II, chapter VII. Baronius and others shrewdly note that Luke here speaks in the first person, saying "we sought," and thus includes himself, whereas up to this point he has spoken in the third person: whence it is seen that Luke first joined Paul at Troas, and from there was the inseparable companion of Paul, as St. Jerome says, book On Illustrious Men, under Luke, and accordingly from now on narrates the deeds of Paul not so much as heard, but as seen by himself. From this Baronius infers that Luke wrote the Gospel in the year of Christ 58, for in that year Paul was in Achaia and Bœotia (where St. Jerome asserts Luke to have written the Gospel), not before.
But others more probably judge that Luke was at times absent from Paul. Firstly, because from this verse onward through four chapters, namely up to chapter XX, 5, Luke changes the person, and returns from the first to the third. For when in this chapter he had changed the third person into the first by saying at verse 10: "We sought, etc., being assured that God had called us;" and verse 11: "We came to Samothracia;" and verse 12: "We were;" and verse 13: "We went out, we spoke;" and verse 16: "As we were going to prayer, etc., the Python met us;" and verse 17: "Following us," to signify that he was then Paul's companion: yet at the end of this same chapter he again changes the first person into the third, to signify that he was then absent from Paul, and he does this consistently up to chapter XX, 5. Hence at the last verse of this chapter he says of Paul and Silas: "Having seen the brethren, they comforted them; and departed." And chapter XVII, 1: "And when they had passed through Amphipolis, they came to Thessalonica," etc., by which he plainly signifies that he was not then in the company of Paul. He seems therefore to have been absent from him until Paul, traversing the regions, returned to Greece, about to sail into Syria, chapter XX, 3; for then Paul, among the other companions of this journey who are named in that verse, took Luke also along. Hence of them, as well as of himself, Luke adds in the same place, verse 5: "These going before, waited for us at Troas: but we sailed after the days of unleavened bread." And verse 15: "We came over against Chios:" and thereafter he always uses the same first person, so as to include himself. In that voyage, then, from Greece into Syria, and from there to Rome — a long and perilous voyage — Luke was the inseparable companion of Paul, not before. Secondly, because, even granting that Luke had been Paul's firm and steady companion before (which, however, is not clear), he would not on that account have adhered firmly to him. For Paul frequently sent his companions elsewhere, to confirm the Churches he had erected; as he sent Titus and Luke to Corinth, II Corinthians VIII, 18; Silas to Athens, Titus to Crete, Timothy to Ephesus, Erastus to Macedonia, Acts XIX, 22. Thirdly, because at II Corinthians VIII, 18, by the brother whose praise is in the Gospel, whom Paul says he is sending to Corinth, St. Jerome, Tertullian, Anselm — indeed, St. Ignatius (whom I cited in the same place) — understand St. Luke. Whence it follows that in the year of Christ 58 (for in that year Paul wrote the Second Epistle to the Corinthians), Luke's Gospel was already widely known and famous, and therefore had been written by Luke several years before that, namely between the year of Christ 51, in which Luke here began to adhere to Paul, and the year of Christ 58, in which Paul asserts it to be praised by the mouth of all. From what has been said it follows that Luke was absent from Paul for many years. Here note the remarkable modesty of St. Luke, in that he makes no mention of his own Gospel, of his labors, or of the assistance he rendered to St. Paul, even though Paul praises it in his Epistles. His own things, therefore, he conceals in deep silence, and pours himself entirely into the deeds of Paul: conversely, Paul calls Luke his helper and celebrates him, Epistle to Philemon, verse 24, and calls him most dear, Colossians IV, 14. And when he is in bonds at Rome: "Luke," he says, "is alone with me:" although of his other companions he soon adds: "All have forsaken me: may it not be laid to their charge," II Timothy IV, 11 and 16.
TO SET OUT FOR MACEDONIA. — When Pliny had described it, book IV, chapter X, he adds: "This is the Macedonia which once held the empire of the lands, which crossed over into Asia, Armenia, Iberia, Albania, Cappadocia, Syria, Egypt, the Taurus, the Caucasus: this held dominion among the Bactrians, Persians, Medes, the whole East being in her possession. This too, as conqueror of India, wandered in the footsteps of Father Liber and of Hercules. This same is the Macedonia whose 72 cities, sacked in one day, our emperor Paulus Æmilius sold off. So great a difference of fortune did two men display." This Macedonia now St. Paul, the Christian Alexander, and the other Paulus Æmilius, subjected not to the Romans, but to God and Christ.
Verse 11: Samothracia and Neapolis
11. SAMOTHRACIA. — The region is so called from the neighboring and bordering — or even native — Samians and Thracians, as Diodorus testifies, book V, chapter XI. Hence Virgil, Æneid VII:
And Thracian Samos, which is now called Samothracia.
NEAPOLIS. — It was a city not in Caria, as Dionysius would have it, but on the border of Thrace and Macedonia, opposite the island of Thasos. For this island, not the other, was near Samothracia: so Gagneius, Cajetan, and Arias; Œcumenius says that in his own age it was called Christopolis.
Verse 12: Philippi, the First City of That Part of Macedonia
12. PHILIPPI. — The city was so named from Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, who restored it; it was converted to Christ by St. Paul.
WHICH IS THE CHIEF CITY OF THAT PART OF MACEDONIA. — "Of the part," firstly meaning the region or province. Secondly, properly "of the part," that is, of that portion of Macedonia which met those coming from Thrace and Samothrace (whence Paul came). For Macedonia was ample, and had other cities bordering on other provinces. Thirdly, μέρος, that is part, is taken for beginning. So Virgil takes it, Æneid VII:
It will be a part of peace for me to have touched the tyrant's right hand.
So Budæus in his Commentary on the Greek language; as if to say, Philippi is the first city of the beginning of Macedonia, or that from which Macedonia begins and takes its beginning. Thus the Syriac renders it, "which is the beginning of Macedonia"; and Erasmus, "which is in the first part of Macedonia." Whence one might suspect that in our version, for prima we should read primae: "which is the city of the first part of Macedonia" — for thus the sense is clear; but the Greek and Latin copies of the Bible consistently have prima. Fourthly, therefore, the plain sense is this, as if to say: Philippi is the first city in the border of Thrace, which belongs to the portion (that is, the lot and jurisdiction) of Macedonia; for the others beyond belong to the portion (that is, the lot, right, and jurisdiction) of Thrace; indeed, one part of the city of Philippi belonged to Thrace, while the other and principal part belonged to Macedonia.
A COLONY — of the Romans, as is evident from verse 21, and therefore enjoying the right of Roman citizens, just as the noble city of the Ubii, neighboring Belgium, was called Colonia Agrippina, because Agrippina, wife of the emperor Claudius and mother of Nero, caused a Roman colony to be led there. For colonists were called Roman citizens sent to inhabit some city, who lived not by their own laws but by those of the Roman people, says Cicero, book III On the Nature of the Gods. Further, the Romans led out colonies, both to unburden the city of crowded peoples, leading their excess elsewhere; then for the feeding of the poor of the city: for to these they used to allot parcels of land elsewhere; also to pay the stipends of soldiers, or to grant rewards; especially that they might safeguard the rights and rule of the Romans in those places to which they were sent. Thus Cicero, in De Lege Agraria: "Our ancestors," he says, "so placed colonies in suitable locations against suspicions of danger, that they should appear not as towns of Italy, but as bulwarks of the empire." And speaking on behalf of Fonteius concerning the province of Gaul: "In the same province there is Narbo Martius, a colony of our citizens, a watchtower of the Roman people, and a bulwark set against and opposed to those nations." A city was also called a colony which was endowed with the rights and privileges of a colony, even if it was not formed from colonists sent from elsewhere.
CONFERRING. — So the Roman codices read, that is, "discoursing, disputing": for the Greek is διατρίβοντες; whence Scholastic disputations are called diatribes, and Erasmus approves this. Others read "remaining"; whence Vatablus and Pagninus translate "sojourning." For the Greek διατρίβοντες also means this. It comes to the same thing. For Paul's sojourning was not idle, but intent upon disputing and preaching.
Verse 13: Where Prayer Seemed to Be
13. WHERE PRAYER SEEMED TO BE. — The Greek προσευχή signifies both prayer, and an oratory, or place of prayer (as the Syriac translates), that is, a synagogue: for this was the place for Jews to pray and preach. Whence Paul also began to preach in it. Epiphanius, in heresy 80, relates that Jews and Samaritans frequently had such places outside the cities. Thus Philo, to Caius, calls the Synagogues of the Jews proseuchae. And Juvenal, satire 3: "Tell where you dwell, in what proseucha I may seek you." Just as the dining is called a coenaculum, in which the dining is done; a walking-place is called an ambulacrum, in which walking is done; so the assembly, council, and Church is called the place in which the assembly and congregation of the people or councillors takes place. Whence it is clear that this place of prayer was of the Jews, especially because Lydia, who worshipped God, came there, as is said in verse 10. Salmeron, however, thinks that it was an idol-temple, where the Gentiles used to worship and invoke their gods.
Verse 14: A Certain Woman Named Lydia
14. BY NAME LYDIA. — Some think she was called Lydia because she came from the province of Lydia, whose king was Croesus in the time of Cyrus. It favors this that Pliny writes, book VII, chapter LVI, "The Lydians in Sardis were the first to discover the method of dyeing wool with purple." But the word "by name" is an obstacle. Therefore Lydia was a proper name, not a surname from her homeland. Add that surnames are not taken from provinces so large as to be kingdoms, such as Lydia was: rather she should have been called Thyatirena from the city. Lydia is inscribed in the catalogue of Saints in the Martyrology on August 3.
A SELLER OF PURPLE. — Some think she was so called because she was clothed in purple, as being noble and born of royal lineage: for purple belongs to kings. Others, because she dyed purple. But the Greek is πορφυρόπωλις, that is, a seller of purple, such as are usually wealthy: indeed the riches and glory of Tyre consisted in producing and selling purple, as I said at Isaiah XXIII.
OF THE CITY OF THYATIRA. — It is a city of Lydia, about which I spoke at Apocalypse I, 18; from it therefore Lydia came.
WORSHIPPING GOD. — Lydia was a Gentile: therefore she knew and worshipped God either by the light of nature, from the creation and governance of the universe; or from the instruction of her elders, or from familiarity with the Jews, as also Cornelius the Centurion, Acts x. Whence Lyranus, Hugo, the Gloss, and the Carthusian think she was a proselyte.
WHOSE HEART THE LORD OPENED, — namely, He illuminated her understanding and moved her will, so that she attended to what was said by Paul, and understood them to be true; and so she came to know and love Christ. Let the preacher pray that God may open the hearts of his hearers: let the hearers likewise pray, if they desire to bear fruit from the sermon.
Verse 15: If You Have Judged Me Faithful to the Lord
15. IF YOU HAVE JUDGED ME FAITHFUL TO THE LORD. — "If," that is, "because"; as if to say: Because you have deemed me worthy of baptism and the Christian faith, because you have made me faithful and Christian, turn aside to me, that I may rejoice in your conversation, and you in my hospitality. For it does not become Christians, especially Apostles, to lodge except with Christians.
AND SHE CONSTRAINED US. — From this St. Gregory, in homily 23 on the Gospels, infers that travelers are not only to be invited to hospitality, but even drawn in. And St. Ambrose, book I On Abraham, requires of Christians, especially Bishops, that they be ready for newcomers, go out to meet them, survey the roads, be present to those who are not seeking them, seize those passing by, as Abraham did. Thus the two disciples also constrained Christ to turn aside with them to Emmaus, and therefore they deserved to recognize Him in the breaking of bread, Luke xxiv, 29.
Verse 16: Having a Spirit of Python
16. TO PRAYER: — to the place of prayer, to the proseucha, as I said at verse 13.
HAVING A SPIRIT OF PYTHON. — The Syriac, "a spirit of divination," that is, a familiar demon, indeed a possessing one, say Cajetan and Hugo (for Paul cast him out of her), who delivered oracles concerning future things. For Apollo was surnamed Pythius, either from the dragon Python, whom he slew at Delos, or from πυνθάνεσθαι, that is, "to consult," that is, from giving responses and oracles. Hence that spirit by which those inspired prophesied of future things began to be called Pytho. Hence also those sent to Delphi to consult oracles were called πύθιοι, who publicly received provisions with the kings and ate together with them, as Herodotus testifies, book VI. See what is said at Isaiah VIII, 19.
Verse 17: These Men Are Servants of the Most High God
17. THESE MEN ARE SERVANTS OF THE MOST HIGH GOD. — He does not say, "of Jesus Christ," because Christ is hateful to him, inasmuch as He has stripped him of his kingdom. The demon said this through the girl, either compelled by God: so Bede, the Gloss, Hugo, and Dionysius; or willingly, in order by this artifice to draw more to himself, as though he were a divine spirit, insofar as he was pointing out and praising the servants of God: so St. Chrysostom, Œcumenius, Lyranus, and Cajetan. St. Chrysostom adds, that he might ingratiate himself with Paul by flattery, lest Paul should expel him from the girl, and by praising him tickle him and incite him to vainglory. But a stronger reason seems to be sought from the outcome, which the most sagacious demon as much foresaw as most maliciously intended: namely, he foresaw that Paul would not endure these his words, but would expel him, and that he himself would gladly yield, so that the master of the Pythoness, now deprived of his divination revenue, might be inflamed against Paul, that they might severely chastise or kill him. For the devil sought Paul's head, to restrain his preaching and the conversion of the Gentiles; and thus it happened: for Paul was seized by them, scourged, and imprisoned. For he knew that if he destroyed Paul, he would destroy very many.
Verse 18: But Paul Being Grieved
18. BUT PAUL BEING GRIEVED, — both at the girl's misery, and at the devil's fraud, who by divining drew the peoples to himself and to magical arts. The Greek for "grieved" is διαπονηθεὶς, that is, "bearing with annoyance and indignation"; Erasmus, "affected with weariness." Paul was unwilling to receive this praise and testimony from the devil, both to show that he is the father of lies, and occasionally speaks truth only so that afterwards he may be believed when lying; and to show that all communication with the devil is forbidden to us: "For his benefits are more harmful than any wounds," says St. Leo, sermon 19 On the Passion. "For when he grants benefits, he harms all the more," says St. Augustine, book VIII On the City of God, chapter XXIV.
Verse 19: To the Magistrates
19. TO THE RULERS. — The Syriac, "to the chiefs of the city," among whom many were of the Magistracy: for they brought Paul to be punished by the Magistrate.
Verse 20: Since They Are Jews
20. SINCE THEY ARE JEWS. — They stir up odium against Paul: for the Jews were hateful to the Romans and other Gentiles on account of the singularity of their faith, their separation, and the dissimilarity of their customs. They transferred the same hatred onto the Christians, as though sprung from the Jews, as is clear from Tertullian, Apology chapter VII, and from the Apologies of Aristides, Quadratus, Athenagoras, Justin, and others of that age.
Verse 21: They Announce a Custom
21. THEY ANNOUNCE A CUSTOM, — ἔθη, that is, customs, institutions, that is, a new faith and religion, a new way of living, a new worship of a new God.
SINCE WE ARE ROMANS, — that is, colonists of the Romans, and therefore living by their law. For the Romans had ordained that no god should be admitted unless the Senate had approved him. Whence when Tiberius Caesar, having heard the miracles of Christ, wished to enroll Him among the gods, the Senate resisted, because he had not previously consulted it, as Eusebius testifies, book II of the History, chapter II.
Verse 22: Having Rent Their Tunics
22. HAVING RENT THEIR TUNICS, — those of Paul and Silas. They did this both to execrate the crime, namely that they were busying themselves to abolish the worship of the gods and to establish a new God; and to mark them with ignominy; and to strip them for the flogging, which soon followed. The Tigurine version and Clarius render it otherwise; for they translate, "having rent their own tunics," reading αὐτῶν for αὐτῶν, as if the magistrates had rent not Paul's tunics but their own, in detestation of the blasphemy they had heard and of the new religion Paul was preaching. For they considered this religion superstitious, blasphemous, and impious.
Verse 23: Many Stripes Laid Upon Them
23. AND WHEN THEY HAD LAID MANY STRIPES UPON THEM, — through the scourging with rods. Whence the Syriac renders it, "and when they had scourged them much." Others, besides rods, think that Paul and Silas were assailed partly by the raging populace, partly by the lictors, with clubs and fists: for these properly inflict "stripes." St. Chrysostom excellently here, near the end of homily 39: "Paul," he says, "was being beaten, and said nothing. Let us also imitate him. Let us repay our persecutors with gentleness, silence, longsuffering. These wounds are harder: a greater stripe and more burdensome. For it is more grievous to strike the soul than the body. We strike many, but as friends, and they are pleased; but whomever you strike with insult, since you have touched the heart, you have greatly grieved him. Thus we strike their heart the more. That gentleness strikes more than rashness, come, let us demonstrate," etc. The same, in homily 6 On the Praises of St. Paul, teaches that Paul was subject to the same weakness of the flesh as we are, but transcended it by virtue: "For it is not having a nature subject to weakness that is criminal," he says, "but to be a slave to weaknesses; whence he is rightly held great and admirable, who overcame the frailty of nature by the virtue of his will, and by this very fact showed how great is the power of free will, and stopped the mouths of those who say: Why were we not made good by nature, and born with virtue itself? For what does it matter to be by nature what you can be made by will? Indeed, the contrary follows." And shortly after: "Paul," he says, "was a statue of virtue, who strove to bring the goods of the will into the firmness of nature. He indeed grieved for the body, but being not inferior to the incorporeal powers, he despised the very pains. For when he says, 'I am crucified to the world,' what else does he seem to say but that by the virtue of the soul he has migrated even out of the body itself?"
Verse 24: He Secured Them in the Wood
24. HE SECURED THEM IN THE WOOD, — in the stocks, or pillory, into which each was inserted separately.
Verse 25: At Midnight Paul and Silas, Praying, Praised God
25. AND AT MIDNIGHT PAUL AND SILAS, PRAYING, PRAISED GOD. — See here the constancy and joy of Paul and Silas in their flogging and imprisonment, with which, exulting, they give thanks to God as for an immense gift. The Martyrs of old did the same. Again, how brief was Paul's sleep, seeing he slept only until midnight. Thirdly, that he was accustomed to rise at midnight for prayer, in the manner of David saying, Psalm CXVIII, 62: "At midnight I rose to give thanks to Thee;" and Isaiah, chapter XXVI, 6: "My soul has longed for Thee in the night." Hence the faithful of old were wont to rise at midnight for prayer, both because Christ was born around that time, and likewise suffered; and because they believed Christ would come at night for judgment, says Lactantius, book VII, chapter IX. "Wherefore," says Clement of Alexandria, II Paedagogus, chapter IX, "one must often rise from bed at night, and God must be praised: for blessed are those who have kept watch unto Him, likening themselves to angels, whom we call ἐγρηγόρους, that is, 'watchers.'" The same should be done, by the example of Paul in this passage, St. Basil teaches in Reg., question 37, and St. Jerome, to Demetrias, after other daytime hours of prayer: "In the evening," he says, "at midnight, and in the morning one must always exercise oneself." Moreover, Pliny too writes to Trajan about Christians accused before him, book X, epistle 77: "They affirmed, however, that this was the sum either of their fault or of their error, that they were accustomed to assemble on a fixed day before dawn, and to sing a hymn to Christ, as to a God, in turns among themselves." Whence it is clear that not only Clerics, but also laymen of old gathered at night for prayer and hymns. And hence arose the Nocturns, which we daily read in the Ecclesiastical Office, and this after the example of Paul and Silas, who ὕμνουν, that is, "hymned," sang hymns, as Luke says. Whence the Church in the hymn of Wednesday at Matins sings thus: "We lift up our minds and hands, / As the Prophet bids us do / By night; / And Paul decreed it by his deeds." Hence also St. Jerome writes and prescribes to Eustochium, saying: "Be the cicada of the nights." For the cicada sings by night. Thus Vincent Ferrer, St. Peter Martyr of the Order of Preachers, St. Xavier, and other Apostolic men preached by day and prayed by night, after the example of Christ who "spent the night in the prayer of God," Luke VI. See more in Cassian, book II; Francolinus, book On the Canonical Hours, chapter II; Baronius here, and in the Martyrology, at January 5.
Verse 26: There Was a Great Earthquake
26. BUT SUDDENLY THERE WAS A GREAT EARTHQUAKE. — That by it God might show that He had heard the prayers of Paul and Silas, and took care of them, and would free them from prison, and for their sake would shake the earth and all the elements, if need be. See what was said at chapter IX, verse 31. This earthquake seems to have been not only in the prison, but also in the city: for terrified by it, the Magistrate immediately ordered them to be released.
THE CHAINS OF ALL WERE LOOSED, — either by the force of the earthquake, or rather by the secret operation of an Angel: yet no one escaped, because all were stricken, and so the prisoners did not notice that they had been loosed from their chains, says Chrysostom.
Verse 27: The Keeper of the Prison
27. THE KEEPER OF THE PRISON. — Œcumenius thinks this keeper was Stephanas, whose household Paul writes that he baptized, I Corinthians I, 16, and whom he commemorates there, in the last chapter, verse 15, among the firstfruits of Achaia. But the objection is that these things took place at Philippi in Macedonia, not in Achaia; unless you say that this keeper came from Achaia, migrated to Philippi, and there, being converted by Paul, returned to Corinth in Achaia.
Verse 29: He Went In
29. HE WENT IN, — εἰσπηδήσας, that is, as the Tigurine and Pagninus render it, "rushed in, leaped in."
Verse 30: What Must I Do to Be Saved?
30. WHAT MUST I DO? — This keeper was converted by the earthquake, and because Paul and Silas, being loosed from their chains, nevertheless remained in them praising God; for from this he saw that God was fighting for Paul and Silas, as for His legates.
Verse 31: Believe in the Lord Jesus
31. BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS. — Many other things had to be believed concerning the Father and the Holy Spirit, concerning the Church and the other articles of the Creed, which therefore Paul set forth to him severally, verse 32; but the head and sum of all these was faith in Christ: for this includes and teaches all the rest. For the Christian faith believes and hands on the Apostles' Creed, in which the remaining things to be believed are contained.
Verse 35: Release Those Men
35. RELEASE THOSE MEN, — The Magistrate had rushed his sentence against Paul and Silas: whence, coming to himself, and the case being better examined, namely that on account of the Python demon cast out of the woman, that is, on account of the benefit conferred upon her and upon the whole city, he had received him so ill; perhaps also sensing, or being informed by the keeper through a messenger concerning the miracle of the earthquake, and Paul's innocence and joy, and that with his chains loosed by God he had refused to leave the prison, he immediately ordered him to be released, God impelling him to this very thing, lest the course of Paul's preaching be hindered: so Lyranus, Hugo, and Dionysius. Whence certain Greek codices add: "And when day had come, the Magistrates assembled in council, and mindful of the earthquake that had occurred, were afraid, and sent the lictors;" which words signify that the earthquake was not only in the prison, but through the whole city, as I said at verse 26.
Verse 37: Uncondemned, Roman Men
37. UNCONDEMNED. — He charges the injustice of the Magistrate, for having hastened both the sentence and the penalty without hearing the case. The Syriac renders, "innocent."
ROMAN MEN. — In the Pandects, law V, title 26, by the Lex Julia, on public violence, he is condemned who kills, tortures, beats, or orders to be led into chains a Roman citizen appealing formerly to the people, now to the Emperor. Cicero amplifies, in the fifth action against Verres, that Verres flogged Gavius, a Roman citizen. "Nor any other word," he says, "was heard from that wretched man amid the pain and the cracking of the blows, but this: 'I am a Roman citizen.'" Recent was the example of the Rhodians, who, having sinned against some Roman citizens, Claudius wholly deprived of their liberty, as Dio narrates, book LX. For by the ancient law of the Romans it was impious to subject a Roman citizen to whips or rods. Valerius Publicola first established this by a promulgated law, according to Valerius Maximus, book IV, chapter I. The same was confirmed by the Lex Porcia and the Lex Sempronia, as Cicero testifies in Pro Rabirio. See Sigonius, book I On Roman Antiquities, chapter VI.
NOT SO, BUT LET THEM COME AND THEMSELVES BRING US OUT, — ἐξαγαγέτωσαν, that is, "let them lead out." Hence it is clear that Paul, after taking food in the keeper's house, returned to the prison, that the Magistrates might find him there, and pronounce him innocent and release him. See here the magnanimity of Paul, by which he will not leave the prison unless the Magistrates pass sentence on his innocence, and that publicly. With similar counsel Socrates refused to flee the prison, lest that flight convict him rather of guilt than of innocence, says Plato in Crito. With the same cause and virtue Ignatius, the founder of our Society, did the same. Read Ribadeneira, book II of his Life, chapter XIV. Wisely Melania, imprisoned by the governor of Palestine in order to extract from her the gold which she lavishly distributed to the monasteries, said: "I was the daughter of such a one, the wife of another who in the world was famous by birth, but now I am the handmaid of Christ. Nor will you despise my humble garb: for I can, if I will, exalt myself: lest therefore perhaps unknowingly you fall into some crime, I have declared to you who I am." And she added the lesson: "For one must use loftiness of spirit against the stupid, as against a dog and a hawk, and at the time of their pride cast it upon them. Then the judge excused himself, and paid her reverence, and ordered that without any hindrance she should associate with holy men:" thus Palladius in the Lausiac History, chapter CXVII. For this cause Paul sometimes assumed courage, indeed even anger. For anger is the whetstone of virtue. "Anger," says Chrysostom, homily 6 On the Praises of St. Paul, "God the creator has implanted in us, to rouse sleeping and languid souls from sloth and idleness. For just as He has set an edge on the sword, so has He set the keenness of anger upon our mind, that we might use it when necessary. For this reason therefore Paul too often used this affection, and being angry was better than those speaking modestly, doing all things in due time for the gain and advantage of preaching."
Verse 39: They Entreated Them
39. THEY ENTREATED THEM. — Behold, Paul makes his judges his suppliants. Whence Gagneius and Dionysius say: "They entreated pardon for the injury and violation of the right of Roman citizenship." Some Greek codices add that the Magistrate came with his friends, and said: "We did not know your status, and that you are just men. And bringing them out they begged them, saying: Depart from this city, lest perhaps they rush upon you again and cry out against you."
Verse 40: They Went In to Lydia and Saw the Brethren
40. THEY WENT IN TO LYDIA, — the seller of purple, chapter V, verse 14, sorrowful and praying for Paul's liberation.
AND HAVING SEEN THE BRETHREN, — Luke, Timothy, and any others who were Paul's companions; for only Paul and Silas had been imprisoned. Hence Luke and Timothy were anxious for him. Whence Paul consoled them, narrating the earthquake and the other things which God had wrought in the prison for him, to the glory of Christ. Whence certain Greek codices add: "They narrated whatever the Lord had done for them." For at Philippi on this occasion Paul is read to have converted only Lydia and the keeper of the prison; but these scattered the seed of the faith to others. Whence Paul afterwards wrote to them the epistle to the Philippians, burning with zeal and a desire for martyrdom.
Morally, let us learn from Paul to preach with the same alacrity and earnestness to few and to many, to the poor and to the noble, to women and to boys and to men. I say the same of teaching, hearing confessions, catechism, and any other occupation and labor.
For though the fruit be small in the beginning, God will nevertheless in His own time draw forth a greater one from it. One does not ascend to great things except through small ones: therefore one must begin with these when aiming at great things. See what was said at Zechariah IV, 10.
A weak beginning a better fortune shall follow.