Acts 16:13-15

The Conversion of Lydia

It customarily took ten Jewish heads of households to form a synagogue within a community. In Philippi, there was just a group of Jewish women who met by the riverside for prayer. Paul's company joined the women on the Sabbath day and spoke to them. One of the women, Lydia, was a seller of purple. "An expensive purple dye, made of the murex shell, was one of the most valuable commodities of antiquity; and Lydia's engaging in trade of such a product surely indicates some considerable capital" (Coffman, p. 314). Lydia's home city was Thyatira, in the province of Asia. So, though Paul had been forbidden to go to Asia personally (verse 6), he got to teach one of its citizens.

This worshipper of God had her heart opened by hearing the words spoken by Paul. Lydia and other members of her household obeyed the spoken word by being baptized. She then pleaded with Paul and the others to come stay as guests in her house. Paul may have hesitated because she was a single woman, which seems to be indicated by reference to her house. However, when she prefaced her request by saying, "If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord," Paul yielded (Acts 16:13-15).