Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
(From ACTS #27 - 16:16-40)
3. 16:16-40 PERSECUTION RESULTS IN CONVERSIONS
a. 16:16 THE MAID WITH THE SPIRIT OF DIVINATION
E-GEne-to de, po-reu-oMEnon heMON eis ten pro-seuCHEN,
And it came to pass, as we were going to the prayer-place,
paiDIsken [3814]ti-na Echou-san PNEUma PUtho-na [4436]hu-panTEsai heMIN,
thata certain maid having a spirit of divination met us,
HEtis er-gaSIan [2039]polLEN paREIchen tois kuRIois auTES man-teu-oMEne[3132].
who brought her :masters much gain by soothsaying.
b. 16:17 THE DEMON RECOGNIZED PAUL'S TEAM
HAUteka-ta-ko-louTHOUsa toPAUlo kai heMIN Ekra-zen, LEgou-sa,
The same following after :Paul and us cried out, saying,
HOUtoi hoi ANthro-poi DOUloi tou TheOU tou huPSIStou [5310]eiSIN,
These :men are bondmen of the Most High :God,
HOIti-nes ka-tagGElou-sin [2605] huMIN hoDON so-teRIas.
who proclaim to you a way of salvation.
c. 16:18a And this she did for many days. TOUto de ePOIei ePI polLAS heMEras.
d. 16:18b PAUL DELIVERS HER
di-a-po-neTHEIS [1278]de PAUlos, kai e-piSTREpsas toPNEUma-ti EIpen,
But Paul, being sore troubled, turned and said to the spirit,
Pa-ragGELlo[3853]soi en oNOma-ti IeSOU ChrisTOU e-xelTHEIN [1831]ap' auTES.
I charge you in Jesus Christ's name to come out of her.
e. 16:18c And it came out that very hour. kai eXELthen auTEteHOra.
f. 16:19-21 THE REACTION OF HER OWNERS
I-DONtes de hoi KUri-oi auTES HOti eXELthen he elPIS tes er-gaSIas [2039] auTON,
But her :masters seeing that the hope of their :gain was gone,
e-pi-laBOme-noi [1949] ton PAUlon kai ton SIlan, HEILku-san [1670] eis ten a-goRAN ePI tous ARchon-tas,
they laid hold on :Paul and :Silas, anddragged them into the market before the rulers,
kai pro-sa-gaGONtes [4317]auTOUS tois stra-teGOIS [4755], EIpan,
20and when they had brought them to the praetors, they said,
HOUtoi hoi ANthro-poi, ek-taRASsou-sin [1613]heMON ten POlin, IouDAIoi huPARchon-tes,
These :men, being Jews, do trouble our :city greatly,
kai ka-tagGELlou-sin Ethe ha ouk Exe-stin [1832] huMIN pa-raDEches-thai, ouDE poiEIN, 'RoMAIois OUsin.
21and set forth customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, or to observe, being Romans.
g. 16:22 VIOLENT PERSECTUION ENJOINED
kai su-nePEste [4911] ho OCHlos kat' auTON:
And the crowd rose up together against them:
kai hoi stra-teGOI pe-riRExan-tes [4058] auTON ta hiMAti-a, eKEleu-on 'rabDIzein [4463].
and the praetors rent their :garments off them, andcommanded to beat themwith rods.
h. 16:23-24 HARSH IMPRISONMENT
polLAS de e-piTHENtes auTOIS pleGAS [4127], Eba-lon eis phu-laKEN [5438],
And when they had laid many stripes on them, they cast theminto prison,
pa-ragGEIlan-tes [3853] to des-moPHUla-ki [1200] as-phaLOS [806] teREIN auTOUS:
charging the jailer to keep them safely:
hos, pa-rag-geLIan toiAUten laBON, Eba-len auTOUS eis ten e-soTEran phu-laKEN,
24who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison,
kai tous POdos es-phaLIsa-to [805] auTON eis to XUlon [3586].
and secured their :feet in the stocks.
i. 16:25-26 WORSHIP TRIGGERS AN EARTHQUAKE
kaTA de to me-soNUKti-on [3317] PAUlos kai SIlas pro-seuCHOme-noi HUMnoun [5214] ton TheON,
But about :midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto :God,
e-pe-kroONto [1874] de auTON hoi DESmi-oi [1198]; APHno [869] de seisMOS [4578] eGEne-to MEgas,
and the prisoners were listening to them; 26and suddenly therewas a great earthquake,
HOste sa-leuTHEnai [4531] ta theMEli-a [2310] tou des-mo-teRIou [1201]:
so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken:
e-neOCHthe-san [455]de pa-raCHREma [3916]hai THUrai PAsai; kai PANton ta desMA [1199]aNEthe [447].
and immediately all the doors were opened; and every one's bands were loosed.
j. 16:27 DRASTIC REACTION OF THE JAILER
Exup-nos [1853] de geNOme-nos ho des-moPHUlax [1200] kai iDON a-ne-ogMEnas tas THUras tes phu-laKES,
And the jailer being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison :doors open,
spaSAme-nos ten MAchai-ran Emel-len he-auTON a-naiREIN, noMIzon ek-pe-pheuGEnai tous desMIous.
drew his :sword andwas about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
k. 16:28 PAUL RESTRAINS HIM
ePHOne-sen de PAUlos meGAle phoNE, LEgon,
But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying,
MeDEN PRAxes [4238] se-auTO kaKON: HApan-tes GAR es-men enTHAde.
Do yourself no harm: for we are all here.
l. 16:29-30 THE JAILER SEEKS SALVATION
aiTEsas de PHOta ei-sePEde-sen [1530], kai,
And he called for lights andsprang in, and,
ENtro-mos [1790] geNOme-nos, proSEpe-sen [4363] to PAUlo kai to SIla,
trembling for fear, fell down before :Paul and :Silas,
kai pro-a-gaGON [4254] auTOUS Exo Ephe, KUri-oi, TI me dei poiEIN HIna soTHO [4982]?
30and brought them out andsaid, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
m. 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus, and YOU shall be saved and your :household.
hoi de EIpan, PIsteu-son [4100]ePI ton KUri-on IeSOUN, kai soTHEse[4982]su kai ho OI-KOS [3624]sou.
n. 16:32 And they spoke the word of :God to him, with all those in his :house.
kai eLAle-san auTO ton LOgon tou TheOU, sun PAsi tois en te oiKIa auTOU.
o. 16:33 HE AND HOUSEHOLD BAPTIZED
kai pa-ra-laBON auTOUS en eKEIne te HOra tes nukTOS, Elou-sen [3068] aPO ton pleGON [4127];
And he took them in that hour of the night, andwashed theirstripes;
kai e-bapTISthe [907], auTOS kai hoi auTOU HApan-tes, pa-raCHREma [3916].
and was baptized, he and all :his, immediately.
p. 16:34 BREAKFAST FOLLOWS SALVATION AND BAPTISM
a-na-gaGON te auTOUS eis ton OIkon, paREthe-ken TRApe-zan [5132], kai e-gal-liAsa-to [21]
And he brought them up into the house, andset a table before them, and rejoiced greatly
pa-noiKEI [3832], pe-pi-steuKOS [4100] to TheO.
with all hishouse, having believed in:God.
q. 16:35 RULERS SEND TO RELEASE PAUL AND SILAS
HeME-ras de ge-noMEnes, aPEstei-lan hoi stra-teGOI tous 'rabDOUchous [4465],
But when it was day, the praetors sent the rod-bearers,
LEgon-tes, A-POlu-son [630] tous anTHROpous eKEInous.
saying, Let those :men go.
r. 16:36 JAILER CONVEYS THEIR MESSAGE
aPEGgei-len de ho des-moPHUlax tous LOgous pros ton PAUlon,
And the jailer reported the words to :Paul,
HOti A-PEstal-kan [649] hoi stra-teGOI HIna a-po-luTHEte: nun oun e-xelTHONtes, poREUes-the en eiREne.
that The praetors have sent to let you go: Now therefore come forth, andgo in peace.
s. 16:37 PAUL REFUSED THE INITIAL REQUEST
ho de PAUlos Ephe pros auTOUS, DEIran-tes [1194] heMAS de-moSIa [1219], a-ka-taKRItous [178],
But :Paul said unto them, They have beaten us publicly, uncondemned,
anTHROpous 'RoMAIous huPARchon-tas, Eba-lan eis phu-laKEN [5438];
men that are Romans, andhave cast usinto prison;
kai nun LAthra [2977] heMAS ekBALlou-sin? ou gar; alLA elTHONtes auTOI heMAS e-xa-gaGEto-san.
and now cast us out privately? nay verily; but let them come themselves andbring us out.
t. 16:38-39 FEAR TO THE RULERS
aPEGgei-lan [312] de tois stra-teGOIS hoi 'rabDOUchoi [4465] ta 'REma-ta TAUta:
And the rod-bearers reported these :words to the praetors:
e-phoBEthe-san [5399] de aKOUsan-tes HOti 'RoMAI-OI ei-sin;
and they feared when they heard that they were Romans;
kai elTHONtes pa-reKAle-san [3870] auTOUS; kai e-xa-gaGONtes [1806],
39 and they came andbesought them; and when they had brought themout,
eROton a-pelTHEIN aPO tes POle-os.
they asked themto go away from the city.
u. 16:40 PAUL'S TEAM REPAIRS TO LYDIA'S HOME
e-xelTHONtes de ek tes phu-laKES, eiSELthan pros ten LuDIan:
And they went out of the prison, andwent in unto :Lydia's:
kai iDONtes pa-reKAle-san [3870] tous a-delPHOUS, kai eXELthan.
and seeing the brethren, they comforted them, and went forth.
NOTE: - 16:16 - Spirit of Divination- Python- There is an excellent note giving the background for this in Strong's Concordance #4436. You will be well informed and instructed by reading it. Further information can be found in Strong's under #3132, man-teu-oMEne, - soothsaying.
Notice how God used this demonized girl to trigger the salvation of the Philippian jailer and his household! Household Salvation has been seen by many, especially because of Acts 16:31. Dr. J. A. MacMillan, Missionary Overseer to the Philippines under the Christian and Missionary Alliance, saw this truth, and wrote an article entitled “Household Salvation”, which initially came out in the “Herald of His Coming”. I read it in 1944 as a new convert, and my wife Marie and I have seen thousands saved as we have shared this challenge, both individually and together.
Recently I put out a mailing on “Clan and Household Salvation” which outlines the main points from Mr. MacMillan's article, plus the insights on “Clan Salvation” as revealed to Jack Hayford's father in Oakland, California, who went home to be with the Lord in 1979.
See too how Paul made use of his Roman citizenship to rectify the abuse he and Silas suffered in Philippi by local rulers there. Paul was willing to suffer for the Gospel's sake - but he was also open to teaching careless rulers a lesson when needed.
Early in my Christian life this word 16:34, e-gal-liAsa-to, came to my attention. It is found in Strong's Concordance under #21. It first appears in the Beatitudes in Matthew 5:12. It is almost a “leaping with joy” - joy so great it can scarcely be bodily contained! It is quite a different joy from chaRA, Strong's #5479, which is the second of the 9-fold fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23. It is interesting to note that thiswas the “leaping joy” that came to the Philippian jailer and his household! J.A.W.