During his apostolic ministry Paul had to find himself in many scrapes: whatever else one may say, his life was not poor in adventures. So it was in Philippi, a relatively small Macedonian city. Macedonia by this time was already fully Hellenized...
During his apostolic ministry Paul had to find himself in many scrapes: whatever else one may say, his life was not poor in adventures. So it was in Philippi, a relatively small Macedonian city. Macedonia by this time was already fully Hellenized and belonged to the Roman Empire. There was also a Jewish community there. The city itself was fairly ordinary, not especially religious, the kind of place that in Gospel times was called "pagan." But lack of religiosity did not mean lack of superstition or lack of interest in everything supernatural: such interest is usually characteristic precisely of societies not distinguished by special religiosity. Against such a background the appearance of possessed people is quite understandable.
Sometimes these are simply ecstatics by nature, inclined to hysteria; sometimes they are people truly possessed, under the influence of a will alien and hostile to man. It is hard to say exactly what the servant girl mentioned in the book was: the description is too brief, the details few. It is clear only that she sensed the breath of the Kingdom that the apostles carried with them. For this one need not be a Christian or simply a believing person; a certain heightened "mystical" sensitivity is enough. In the end Paul, who was tired of the unceasing "religious" show accompanying his testimony, returned the servant girl to a normal state. And then her masters were indignant.
Not for religious reasons, of course, but for commercial ones: evidently they exploited their servant girl's unusual abilities to their own advantage. Still, they apparently did not want to admit such self-interested motives and decided to pose as defenders of state foundations and Roman traditions. They, of course, had no concern for the Messiah, the Kingdom, or Paul himself, just as they had no concern for Roman traditions. And the representatives of local authority cared that no unrest or disorder should happen in the city. So the local authority strives to get rid of unwanted witnesses.
The story of the Savior's earthly ministry, His condemnation and execution, is repeated. Not literally, of course, but in essence. They too wanted to get rid of Him not so much for ideological reasons as out of simple political expediency. In this respect the logic of all authorities in every age is apparently the same. Both secular and religious. The Kingdom of God threatens every authority. Except one: God's authority over the human heart.
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16:11 We ran with a straight course - Which increased their confidence that God had called them.
16:12 The first city - Neapolis was the first city they came to in that part of Macedonia which was nearest to Asia: in that part which was farthest from it, Philippi. The river Strymon ran between them. Philippi was a Roman colony.
16:13 We went out of the gate - The Jews usually held their religious assemblies (either by choice or constraint) at a distance from the heathens: by a river side - Which was also convenient for purifying themselves. Where prayer was wont to be made - Though it does not appear there was any house built there.We spake - At first in a familiar manner. Paul did not immediately begin to preach.
16:14 A worshipper of God - Probably acquainted with the prophetic writings whose heart the Lord opened - The Greek word properly refers to the opening of the eyes: and the heart has its eyes, Eph 1:18. These are closed by nature and to open them is thepeculiar work of God.
16:15 She was baptized and her family - Who can believe that in so many families there was no infant? Or that the Jews, who were so long accustomed to circumcise their children, would not now devote them to God by baptism? She entreated us - The souls of the faithful cleave to those by whom they were gained to God.She constrained us - By her importunity. They did not immediately comply, lest any should imagine they sought their own profit by coining into Macedonia.
16:17 These men are - A great truth: but St. Paul did not need, nor would accept, of such testimony.
16:19 The magistrates - The supreme magistrates of the city. In the next verse they are called by a title which often signifies pretors. These officers exercised both the military and civil authority.
16:20 Being Jews - A nation peculiarly despised by the Romans.
16:21 And teach customs which it is not lawful for us to receive - The world has received all the rules and doctrines of all thephilosophers that ever were. But this is a property of Gospel truth: it has something in it peculiarly intolerable to the world.
16:23 They laid many stripes upon them - Either they did not immediately say they were Romans, or in the tumult it was not regarded. Charging the jailer - Perhaps rather to quiet the people than because they thought them criminal.
16:24 Secured their feet in the stocks - These were probably those large pieces of wood, in use among the Romans, which not only loaded the legs of the prisoner, but also kept them extended in a very painful manner.