Atos 16

ARC · Chapter 16/28

1E chegou a Derbe e Lystra. E eis que estava ali um certo discipulo por nome Timotheo, filho de uma mulher judia fiel, mas de pae grego:

2Do qual davam bom testemunho os irmãos que estavam em Lystra e em Iconio.

3Paulo quiz que este fosse com elle: e tomando-o, o circumcidou, por causa dos judeos que estavam n'aquelles logares; porque todos sabiam que seu pae era grego.

4E, quando iam passando pelas cidades, lhes entregavam, para serem observados, os decretos que haviam sido estabelecidos pelos apostolos e anciãos em Jerusalem.

5De sorte que as egrejas eram confirmadas na fé, e cada dia se augmentavam em numero.

6E, passando pela Phrygia e pela provincia da Galacia, foram impedidos pelo Espirito Sancto de annunciar a palavra na Asia.

7E, quando chegaram a Mysia, intentavam ir para Bithynia, porém o Espirito não lh'o permittiu.

8E, passando por Mysia, desceram a Troas.

9E Paulo viu de noite uma visão, em que se apresentou um varão da Macedonia, e lhe rogou, dizendo: Passa á Macedonia, e ajuda-nos.

10E, logo que viu a visão, procurámos partir para a Macedonia, concluindo que o Senhor nos chamava para lhes annunciarmos o evangelho.

11E, navegando de Troas, fomos correndo caminho direito para Samothracia, e no dia seguinte para Napoles;

12E d'ali para Philippos, que é a primeira cidade d'esta parte da Macedonia, e é uma colonia; e estivemos alguns dias n'aquella cidade.

13E no dia de sabbado saimos fóra da cidade para o rio, onde se costumava fazer oração; e, assentando-nos, fallámos ás mulheres que ali se ajuntaram.

14E uma certa mulher, chamada Lydia, vendedora de purpura, da cidade de Thyatira, e que servia a Deus, nos ouvia, e o Senhor lhe abriu o coração para que estivesse attenta ao que Paulo dizia.

15E, depois que foi baptizada, ella e a sua casa, nos rogou, dizendo: Se haveis julgado que eu seja fiel ao Senhor, entrae em minha casa, e ficae ali. E nos constrangeu a isso.

16E aconteceu que, indo nós á oração, nos saiu ao encontro uma moça que tinha espirito de adivinhação, a qual, adivinhando, dava grande lucro aos seus senhores.

17Esta, seguindo a Paulo e a nós, clamava, dizendo: Estes homens, que nos annunciam o caminho da salvação, são servos do Deus Altissimo.

18E ella fazia isto por muitos dias. Porém, descontentando isto a Paulo, voltou-se, e disse ao espirito: Em nome de Jesus Christo, te mando que saias d'ella. E na mesma hora saiu.

19E, vendo seus senhores que a esperança do seu lucro estava perdida, pegaram de Paulo e Silas, e os levaram á praça, á presença dos magistrados.

20E, apresentando-os aos magistrados, disseram: Estes homens, sendo judeos, perturbaram a nossa cidade,

21E prégam ritos que nos não é licito receber nem praticar, visto que somos romanos.

22E a multidão se levantou juntamente contra elles, e os magistrados, rasgando-lhes os vestidos, mandaram açoital-os com varas,

23E, havendo-lhes dado muitos açoites, os lançaram na prisão, mandando ao carcereiro que os guardasse com segurança.

24O qual, tendo recebido tal ordem, os lançou no carcere mais interior, e lhes segurou os pés no tronco.

25E, perto da meia noite, Paulo e Silas oravam e cantavam hymnos a Deus, e os outros presos os escutavam.

26E de repente sobreveiu um tão grande terremoto, que os alicerces do carcere se moveram, e logo se abriram todas as portas e se soltaram as prisões de todos.

27E, acordando o carcereiro, e vendo abertas as portas da prisão, tirando da espada, quiz matar-se, cuidando que os presos já tinham fugido.

28Porém Paulo clamou com grande voz, dizendo: Não te faças nenhum mal, que todos aqui estamos.

29E, pedindo luz, saltou dentro, e, todo tremendo, se prostrou aos pés de Paulo e Silas.

30E, tirando-os para fóra, disse: Senhores, que me é necessario fazer para me salvar?

31E elles disseram: Crê no Senhor Jesus Christo, e serás salvo, tu e a tua casa.

32E lhe fallavam a palavra do Senhor, e a todos os que estavam em sua casa.

33E, tomando-os elle comsigo n'aquella mesma hora da noite, lavou-lhes os açoites; e logo foi baptizado, elle e todos os seus.

34E, levando-os a sua casa, lhes poz a mesa; e, crendo em Deus, alegrou-se com toda a sua casa.

35E, sendo já dia, os magistrados mandaram quadrilheiros, dizendo: Soltae aquelles homens.

36E o carcereiro annunciou a Paulo estas palavras, dizendo: Os magistrados mandaram que vos soltasse; agora pois sahi, e ide em paz.

37Porém Paulo disse-lhes: Açoitaram-nos publicamente e, sem ser sentenciados, sendo homens romanos, nos lançaram na prisão, e agora encobertamente nos lançam fóra? Não será assim; mas venham elles mesmos e tirem-nos para fóra.

38E os quadrilheiros foram dizer aos magistrados estas palavras; e elles temeram, ouvindo que eram romanos.

39E, vindo, lhes rogaram; e, tirando-os para fóra, lhes pediram que saissem da cidade.

40E, saindo da prisão, entraram em casa de Lydia, e, vendo os irmãos, os confortaram, e depois partiram.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul calls Timothy to the team and, guided by a vision, travels to Macedonia. In Philippi, Lydia is converted, a spirit is cast out of a slave girl who was a fortune-teller, and Paul and Silas are imprisoned but freed by an earthquake — leading the jailer to faith.

Explanation

This chapter marks the gospel's entry into Europe, through the vision of the 'man of Macedonia' asking for help. Lydia's conversion, an independent businesswoman, shows women playing an active role in the church from the very beginning. The imprisonment of Paul and Silas for freeing the slave girl (hurting her owners' profit) exposes how economic interests can oppose the gospel. The scene of the jailer, about to kill himself in fear of having lost his prisoners, and then converting along with his whole household, shows how personal crises can open the door to spiritual transformation.

Fun facts

  • Philippi was a Roman colony with special citizenship status, which explains why Paul, a Roman citizen, protests firmly at having been beaten without a formal trial — a legal right he uses strategically.
  • Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth, an extremely expensive dye extracted from a Mediterranean mollusk, used by royalty and the elite — indicating she was likely a woman of means and influence.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Atos 16:1Timothy appears for the first time in Acts here, in Derbe or Lystra, described as the son of a believing Jewish mother and a Greek father, a mixed-marriage family common among diaspora Jews.
  2. Atos 16:2Before inviting him on the journey, Paul checks that Timothy already had a good reputation among the Christians of Lystra and Iconium, a practical measure of trustworthiness.
  3. Atos 16:3Paul circumcises Timothy, whose father was Greek and mother Jewish, to make it easier for him to be accepted among the Jews of the cities they would visit. It is a practical, context-driven decision, different from Paul’s refusal to require this of Gentiles in his letters.
  4. Atos 16:4As they pass through the cities already visited before, the group delivers the decisions of the Jerusalem council (from chapter 15) for the local churches to follow, officially spreading the agreement about the Gentiles.
  5. Atos 16:5The direct result of these visits is positive: the churches are strengthened in the faith and continue growing in number.
  6. Atos 16:6The text does not explain how this prohibition against preaching in Asia occurred, it only records that Paul understood it as a sign to change course, which eventually leads the group to Macedonia.
  7. Atos 16:7Nearing Mysia, they try to go on into Bithynia, another Roman province, but again the Holy Spirit stops them, guiding the route of the journey in a way they did not fully control.
  8. Atos 16:8Unable to enter several regions they had planned to, they end up passing straight through Mysia until reaching the port of Troas, on the west coast of Asia Minor.
  9. Atos 16:9The night vision of a man asking for help is interpreted by Paul as a direct call from God to cross from Asia Minor into Europe. This is the point where Christian preaching begins to spread across the European continent.
  10. Atos 16:10It is from here that the narrative shifts to the first-person plural (“we”), a sign that the author of the book himself, Luke, joins the group at this point in the journey.
  11. Atos 16:11From Troas the group sails straight to the island of Samothrace and then on to Neapolis, crossing the Aegean Sea toward Europe for the first time.
  12. Atos 16:12Philippi was an official Roman city, founded as a military colony for army veterans, with Roman citizenship extended to its residents. This explains why their status as Romans carries so much weight later in the story.
  13. Atos 16:13With no formal synagogue in the city, they look for a place of prayer by a riverside outside the walls of Philippi, and find a group of women gathered there.
  14. Atos 16:14Purple was an extremely expensive dye extracted from mollusks, used in elite clothing. Lydia was a successful, independent businesswoman, and her house becomes the first known Christian base in Europe.
  15. Atos 16:15After being converted and baptized along with her whole household, Lydia insists that the group stay lodged at her house, making it the first known Christian base in Europe.
  16. Atos 16:16The girl worked for owners who profited from her predictions, a common practice at the time tied to divination cults. The text does not detail the exact nature of the phenomenon, only its effect, and Paul puts a stop to it in the name of Jesus.
  17. Atos 16:17A slave girl with a spirit of divination begins following the group, crying out that they were servants of the Most High God proclaiming salvation, a true statement coming from a disturbing source.
  18. Atos 16:18After days of being followed by her, Paul becomes troubled and drives out the spirit directly in the name of Jesus, and the effect is immediate.
  19. Atos 16:19With the girl’s gift of divination gone, her owners lose their source of profit and, furious, drag Paul and Silas into the public marketplace, before the authorities.
  20. Atos 16:20The owners accuse Paul and Silas of troubling the city merely for being Jews, hiding the real motive, which was their own financial loss.
  21. Atos 16:21The formal accusation is that they were teaching customs unlawful for Roman citizens to observe, since Philippi was a Roman colony with special legal status.
  22. Atos 16:22The crowd turns against the two of them along with the magistrates, who publicly tear off their clothes and order them beaten with rods, a severe and humiliating physical punishment.
  23. Atos 16:23After many blows, the two are thrown into prison, and the jailer receives explicit orders to keep them under maximum security.
  24. Atos 16:24The jailer goes overboard on security, putting them in the innermost cell and fastening their feet in the stocks, an especially painful kind of restraint.
  25. Atos 16:25Around midnight, instead of complaining, Paul and Silas pray and sing hymns, and the other prisoners hear them — an unexpected scene inside a prison.
  26. Atos 16:26A sudden earthquake shakes the foundations of the prison, opening all the doors and loosening the chains of every prisoner at once.
  27. Atos 16:27The jailer wakes up, sees the doors open, and assumes all the prisoners had escaped; he is about to kill himself out of despair and fear of the punishment he would receive.
  28. Atos 16:28Paul calls out in time to stop the suicide, assuring him that no one had fled, even with the obvious chance to escape.
  29. Atos 16:29Relieved and still trembling, the jailer calls for a light, rushes in, and falls down before Paul and Silas, a gesture of gratitude and respect.
  30. Atos 16:30He brings them out and asks the central question of the episode: what he needed to do to be saved, in both a physical and a spiritual sense.
  31. Atos 16:31Paul and Silas’s answer is direct and simple: believing in the Lord Jesus would bring salvation to him and to his whole household.
  32. Atos 16:32They take the opportunity to explain the full message not only to the jailer, but to everyone living with him.
  33. Atos 16:33Still in the middle of the night, the jailer tends to the wounds the beating had caused the two of them, and right afterward he and his family are baptized.
  34. Atos 16:34He takes them into his own house, sets food before them, and the scene ends with the whole family rejoicing at having believed in God together.
  35. Atos 16:35At daybreak, the magistrates send officers simply saying to release Paul and Silas, with no further explanation.
  36. Atos 16:36The jailer passes along the order, saying they could leave and go in peace, expecting them to accept the release quietly.
  37. Atos 16:37Paul reveals, only after being beaten, that he was a Roman citizen, a serious legal right: Roman citizens could not be beaten or imprisoned without a formal trial. The local magistrates grow afraid of the consequences on discovering their mistake.
  38. Atos 16:38The officers carry the answer back to the magistrates, who grow afraid on discovering they had beaten Roman citizens without trial, a serious violation of Roman law.
  39. Atos 16:39Afraid of the consequences, the magistrates themselves come in person to apologize, and ask Paul and Silas to leave the city.
  40. Atos 16:40Before actually departing, the two go back to Lydia’s house to say goodbye and encourage the Christians who remained there, closing out the Philippi episode.

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