Acts 16:40

Acts 16:40 . And they went out, &c. — The servants of Christ, being honourably cleared from every crime by this public release, left the prison quietly, and went to the house of Lydia — With whom they had lodged before; and when they had seen the brethren — The disciples whom they had made; they comforted them — By rehearsing what God had done both for them and by them, in prison; and exhorted them (as the word also signifies) to steadfastness in the faith, and such exemplary conduct as Christianity always requires, and was peculiarly suitable to their present circumstances; and then they departed — Though many circumstances now invited their stay at Philippi; yet they showed great wisdom in complying with the request of the magistrates, that they might not seem to express any degree of obstinacy or revenge, or give any suspicion of a design to stir up the people. We may observe here, that of all the churches planted by Paul, this at Philippi seems to have loved and respected him the most. The sufferings he had undergone in their city, for the sake of giving them the knowledge of the gospel, more precious than gold, greatly endeared him to them. Accordingly, while he was at Thessalonica, they sent him money twice, that, by making the gospel without expense to the Thessalonians, they might give the more heed to the things which Paul spake, when they found him a teacher of a different character from the Greek philosophers, who taught only for hire.

They likewise sent him money during his first imprisonment at Rome, that he might want nothing necessary for him. In short, the injurious treatment which Paul and Silas met with in this first city of Europe, where they had preached, was abundantly compensated by the readiness of mind with which many of its inhabitants received the gospel; and by the excellent disposition which they showed after their conversion, in the great love which they all along expressed toward their spiritual father.

Entered into the house of Lydia; of whom, Acts 16:14 . They do not shun dangers, so as to neglect their duty. They comforted them, in respect of the tribulation they had endured, and were still to endure; or exhorted them to prepare for suffering, and to submit unto God in it, and to make a holy use of it.

Acts 16:40 . Ἐκ τῆς φυλακῆς , out of the prison ) out of the place or state of imprisonment whither they had betaken themselves ( Acts 16:34 ), in order not to cause danger to the gaoler (by staying in his house): or else from the higher part of the house.— ἴδοντες , having seen ) They show thereby that they were not forced to be in a hurry.— τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς , the brethren ) the companions of their journey, or those recently converted.— παρεκάλεσαν , they comforted them) that they should not be offended (caused to stumble) at adversities.

40. And they went out of the prison—Having attained their object—to vindicate their civil rights, by the infraction of which in this case the Gospel in their persons had been illegally affronted—they had no mind to carry the matter farther. Their citizenship was valuable to them only as a shield against unnecessary injuries to their Master's cause. What a beautiful mixture of dignity and meekness is this!

Nothing secular, which may be turned to the account of the Gospel, is morbidly disregarded; in any other view, nothing of this nature is set store by:—an example this for all ages. and entered into the house of Lydia—as if to show by this leisurely proceeding that they had not been made to leave, but were at full liberty to consult their own convenience. and when they had seen the brethren—not only her family and the jailer's, but probably others now gained to the Gospel. they comforted them—rather, perhaps, "exhorted" them, which would include comfort. "This assembly of believers in the house of Lydia was the first church that had been founded in Europe" [Baumgarten]. and departed—but not all; for two of the company remained behind (see on [2038]Ac 17:14): Timotheus, of whom the Philippians "learned the proof" that he honestly cared for their state, and was truly like-minded with Paul, "serving with him in the Gospel as a son with his father" (Php 2:19-23); and Luke, "whose praise is in the Gospel," though he never praises himself or relates his own labors, and though we only trace his movements in connection with Paul, by the change of a pronoun, or the unconscious variation of his style. In the seventeenth chapter the narrative is again in the third person, and the pronoun is not changed to the second till we come to Ac 20:5. The modesty with which Luke leaves out all mention of his own labors need hardly be pointed out.

Verse 40. - Departed ; i.e. from Philippi, according to the magistrates' request in ver. 39. This is much clearer in the T.R. and A.V. than in the Revised Text and Version, because the same word, ἐξελθεῖν , is used in both places. The R.T. in ver. 39 - ἀπελθεῖν ἀπὸ destroys the reference, and rather suggests that they merely" went out "of Lydia's house, which they had "entered into." It appears from the first verse of Acts 17 . (" they had passed," etc.) that St. Luke stopped at Philippi, and probably made it his head-quarters till St. Paul's last journey from Macedonia to Jerusalem, some six or seven years later ( Acts 20:6 ). What became of Timothy we are not expressly told, only we find him at Beroea in Acts 17:14 and 1 Thessalonians 3:5 ; and at Corinth ( 1 Thessalonians 1:1 ; 2 Thessalonians 1:1 ; 1 Thessalonians 3:6 ). Probably he accompanied St. Paul, but is not named, being still only a subordinate person in the mission. Acts 16:40

40 . into the house of Lydia ] Waiting there probably till they were fit to travel farther. But in the midst of the suffering they still exhort and comfort the Christians whom in their stay they had gathered into a church. How deep the mutual affection which existed between St Paul and these Philippians, his first European converts, is manifest in every line of the Epistle which he wrote to them from Rome in his first imprisonment. They are his greatest joy, they have given him no cause for sorrow, and from first to last have ministered to his afflictions, and made manifest how they prized their “Father in Christ.” The jubilant language of the letter is marked by the oft-repeated “Rejoice in the Lord.”

Acts 16:40 . Before they comply with the ἐξελθεῖν τῆς πόλεως ( Acts 16:39 ), the apostolic heartfelt longing constrains them first to repair to the house of Lydia, to exhort ( παρεκάλεσαν ) the new converts assembled there that they should not become wavering in their Christian confession. And from this house grew the church, to which, of all that Paul founded, he has erected the most eulogistic monument in his Epistle—in this sense also the first church which he established in Europe. ἐξῆλθον ] Only Paul and Silas, as they alone were affected by the inquiry, appear now to have departed from Philippi. Luke at least, as the use of the third person teaches us, did not go with them. Paul left him behind to build up the youthful church. Whether, however, Timothy ( Acts 16:1 ff.) also remained behind, cannot be determined. He is not again named until Acts 17:14 , but he may nevertheless have already departed from Philippi, and need not necessarily have rejoined them till in Beroea or Thessalonica. REMARK. In the rejection of the entire history as history Baur and Zeller (comp. Hausrath) essentially agree; it is alleged to be formed in accordance with Acts 12:7 ff., as an apologetic parallelism of Paul with Peter. But as Philippian persecutions are mentioned also in 1 Thessalonians 2:2 , the opinions formed by them concerning the relation of the two passages are opposite.