SEV Biblia, Chapter 16:14
Entonces una mujer llamada Lidia, que vendía prpura en la ciudad de Tiatira, temerosa de Dios, estaba oyendo; el corazn de la cual abri el Seor para que estuviese atenta a lo que Pablo decía.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 16:14
Verse 14. Lydia, a seller of purple] She probably had her name from the province of Lydia, in which the city of Thyatira was situated. The Lydian women have been celebrated for their beautiful purple manufactures. Which worshipped God] That is, she was a proselyte to the Jewish religion; as were probably all the women that resorted hither.
Whose heart the Lord opened] As she was a sincere worshipper of God, she was prepared to receive the heavenly truths spoken by Paul and his companions; and, as she was faithful to the grace she had received, so God gave her more grace, and gave her now a Divine conviction that what was spoken by Paul was true; and therefore she attended unto the things-she believed them and received them as the doctrines of God; and in this faith she was joined by her whole family, and in it they were all baptized.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 14. And a certain woman, named Lydia , etc.] Whether this woman was a Jewess or a Gentile, is not certain, her name will not determine; she might be called so from the country of Lydia, which was in Asia minor, and where was Thyatira, her native place; Horace makes frequent mention of one of this name and it might be a Jewish name; we read of R. Simeon ben Lydia f801 ; and as these seem to be Jewish women that met at this oratory, she might be one: a seller of purple ; either of purple silks, much wore in the eastern countries; or of the purple dye, which in, Then Judas returned to spoil the tents, where they got much gold, and silver, and blue silk, and purple of the sea, and great riches. (1 Maccabees 4:23) is called purple of the sea, or sea purple; it being the blood or juice of a turbinated shell fish, which the Jews call wzlj , Chalson: this they speak of as a shellfish; hence those words f802 , go and learn of the Chalson, for all the while it grows, its shell grows with it: and that purple was dyed with the blood of it, appears from the following instances; the best fruits in the land, ( Genesis 43:11) are interpreted f803 , the things that are the most famous in the world, as the Chalson, etc. with whose blood, as the gloss on the passage says, they dye purple: and the purple dyed with this was very valuable, and fetched a good price; the tribe of Zebulun is represented f804 , as complaining to God, that he had given to their brethren fields and vineyards, to them mountains and hills, to their brethren lands, and to them seas and rivers; to which it is replied, all will stand in need of thee, because of Chalson; as it is said, ( Deuteronomy 33:19) They shall suck of the abundance of the seas; the gloss upon it, interpreting the word Chalson, is, it comes out of the sea to the mountains, and with its blood they dye purple, which is sold at a very dear price. The text in ( Deuteronomy 33:19) is thus paraphrased by Jonathan the Targumist; at the shore of the sea they dwell (i.e. they of the tribe of Zebulun), and they delight themselves with (the fish) Tuny, and take Chalson, and with its blood dye purple the threads of their garments.
And so Maimonides says f805 , that they use this in dying the fringes on the borders of their garments; after they have scoured the wool, and the like, that it may take the dye, he says, they take of the blood of Chalson, which is a fish whose colour is like the colour of purple, and its blood is black like ink, and it is found in the salt sea, particularly about Tyre; so the husbandmen in ( Jeremiah 52:16) are interpreted f806 , they that catch Chalson from the ladder of Tyre to Chippah, or the shore; the gloss explains it, those that squeeze and press the Chalson, to fetch out its blood: and with all this agree the modern accounts given of purple, as follow; purple was much esteemed among the ancients, especially the Tyrian purple; which underwent more dyes than the rest, and which was almost peculiar to emperors and kings, yet this purple did not exceed that now in use. The ancient purple was tinged, or given with the blood or juice of a precious turbinated testaceous sea fish, called by the Greeks porfura , and by the Latins purpura. In the seas of the Spanish West Indies, about Nicoya, is found a shell fish, which perfectly resembles the ancient purpura, and in all probability is the very same these are gathered very plentifully in the spring, and by rubbing one against another, yield a kind of saliva, or thick glair, resembling soft wax; but the purple dye is in the throat of the fish, and the finest part in a little white vein the chief riches of Nicoya consist in this fish; cloth of Segovia dyed with it, is sold for twenty crowns the ell. In the Philosoph.
Transact., we have an account of a purple fish discovered in 1686, by Mr. W. Cole, on the coasts of Somersetshire, South Wales, &c, where it is found in great abundance. The fish is a kind of buccinum, a name given by the ancients to all fishes, whose shell bears any resemblance to a hunting horn; and it appears from Pliny, that part of the ancient purple was taken from this kind of shell fish.
The Caribbee Islands have likewise their purple fish; it is called burgan, being of the size of the end of the finger, and resembling our periwinkles; its shell is of a brownish azure, its flesh white, its intestines of a very bright red, the colour whereof appears through the body; and it is this that dyes that froth, which it casts when taken, and which is at first of a violet hue, bordering on blue; to oblige them to yield the greater quantity of froth, they lay them on a plate, and shake and beat them against one another, upon which the plate is immediately covered with the froth, which is received on a linen cloth, and becomes purple, in proportion as it dries f807 .
It may be further observed, that the fringes which the Jews wore upon their garments, had on them a ribband of blue or purple, ( Numbers 15:38), for the word there used, is by the Septuagint rendered purple, in ( Numbers 4:7) and sometimes hyacinth; and the whole fringe was by the Jews called tlkt , purple :hence it is said f808 , does not everyone that puts on the purple (i.e. the fringes on his garments) in Jerusalem, make men to wonder? and a little after, the former saints, or religious men, when they had wove in it (the garment) three parts, they put on it tlkt , the purple.
And there were persons who traded in these things, and were called tlkt yrkwm , sellers of purple f809 , as here; that is, for the Tzitzith, or fringes for the borders of the garments, on which the ribband of blue or purple was put, as the gloss explains it: the Jews were very curious about the colour, and the dying of it; that it should be a colour that would hold and not change; and that the ribband be dyed on purpose for that use. Maimonides gives rules for the dying of it f810 , and they were no less careful of whom they bought it; for they say, that the purple was not to be bought, but of an approved person, or one that was authorized for that purpose f811 ; and a scruple is raised by one, whether he had done right or no, in buying it of the family of a doctor deceased f812 : now since Lydia might be a Jewess, or at least, as appears by what follows, was a proselytess of the Jewish religion, this might be her business to sell the purple for their fringes, and it may be the fringes themselves; and if this was her employment, she was thoroughly a religious person in their way, since we find, that tlkt yrkwm , sellers of purple, were free from reading hear O Israel, etc. ( Deuteronomy 6:4) and from prayer, and from the phylacteries, etc. for this reason, because he that is employed in the commandment (in any work for it) was free from the commandment f813 ; and yet she attended at the place and time of prayer: of the city of Thyatira ; which was in Lydia, or as others say in Mysia, which was in Asia Minor; Pliny seems to place it in Ionia, by the river Lycus, and says it was formerly called Pelopia and Euhippa, and it was also called Semiramis; it had its name of Thyatira from Seleucus Nicanor, who being at war with Lysimachus near this place, and hearing he had a daughter born, called it Thygateira; though others say it was so called, because that when the Mysians were about to build a city, inquiring of the gods where they should build it, were told, that they should build it where a hart was struck, and appeared running; and dia to yuein , because of the sacrificing of the hart, they called it Thyateira. The Turks now call it Ak hissar, the white camp. This was Lydias native place, from which she was now at a great distance, being either wholly removed hither, or was here upon business; for Thyatira was in Asia, and Philippi, where she now was, was in Europe: which worshipped God ; the true God, the God of Israel, and not the gods of the Gentiles, among whom she was; which shows, that she was either a Jewish woman, who had knowledge of the one true and living God, or at least a proselytess of the Jewish religion: heard us ; not alone, but with other women; and at first only externally, and not so as to understand and receive what she heard, until the efficacious grace of God was exerted upon her, signified in the following clause: whose heart the Lord opened ; which was before shut and barred, with the bars of ignorance, hardness, and unbelief. The heart of a sinner before conversion, is like a house shut up, and wholly in darkness; whatever degree of natural or moral light is in it, there is none in spiritual things; it is empty of the grace of God, of the fear of him, and love to him; it is without proper inhabitants, without God, Christ, and the Spirit; and is the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, who delight in dark and desolate places; it is bolted and barred with unbelief, and walled up, and even petrified and hardened with sin, and is guarded and garrisoned by Satan, and its goods are kept in peace by him: and this had been the case of Lydia; but now the Lord opened her understanding, and put light into it, which was before darkness itself; as to spiritual things; by which she saw her wretched, sinful, and miserable state by nature, the insufficiency of all ways and means, and works, to justify and save her, and the necessity, suitableness, and fulness of grace and salvation by Christ; which was done by the same divine power, that at first created light in darkness: moreover, the Lord wrought upon her affections, and engaged them to divine and spiritual things; creating love in her soul to Christ, to his people, truths and ordinances; which was done by his almighty hand, taking away the stony heart, and giving an heart of flesh: he also removed the bar of unbelief, entered in himself, dispossessed Satan, and worked faith in her, to look to him, lay hold on him, and receive him, as her Saviour and Redeemer; making her willing in the day of his power, to be saved by him, and to serve him: it is a petition the Jews frequently make f815 , in their prayers to God, yabl jtptd , that thou wouldst open my heart, in thy law; or as sometimes, open our hearts in the doctrine of thy law: not Lydia herself, nor the Apostle Paul, but the Lord opened her heart; Jehovah the Father, who commanded light out of darkness; Jehovah the Son, who has the key of the house of David; Jehovah the Spirit, who convinces of sin, righteousness, and judgment: that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul ; concerning the person and offices of Christ, concerning his truths and ordinances, concerning free justification by his righteousness, pardon by his blood, and everlasting salvation by him; these things she hearkened unto in another manner than she had done; before she heard, but did not attend to what she heard; but faith coming by hearing, now she hears with the hearing of faith, and understands what she hears, and cordially receives and embraces it, and put into practice what she heard, submitting to the ordinance of Christ, as follows.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 6-15 - The removals of ministers, and the dispensing the means of grace by them, are in particular under Divine conduct and direction. We mus follow Providence: and whatever we seek to do, if that suffer us not we ought to submit and believe to be for the best. People greatly nee help for their souls, it is their duty to look out for it, and to invite those among them who can help them. And God's calls must be complied with readily. A solemn assembly the worshippers of God mus have, if possible, upon the sabbath day. If we have not synagogues, we must be thankful for more private places, and resort to them; no forsaking the assembling together, as our opportunities are. Among the hearers of Paul was a woman, named Lydia. She had an honest calling which the historian notices to her praise. Yet though she had a callin to mind, she found time to improve advantages for her soul. It will no excuse us from religious duties, to say, We have a trade to mind; for have not we also a God to serve, and souls to look after? Religion doe not call us from our business in the world, but directs us in it Pride, prejudice, and sin shut out the truths of God, till his grac makes way for them into the understanding and affections; and the Lor alone can open the heart to receive and believe his word. We mus believe in Jesus Christ; there is no coming to God as a Father, but by the Son as Mediator.
Greek Textus Receptus
και 2532 CONJ τις 5100 X-NSF γυνη 1135 N-NSF ονοματι 3686 N-DSN λυδια 3070 N-NSF πορφυροπωλις 4211 N-NSF πολεως 4172 N-GSF θυατειρων 2363 N-GPN σεβομενη 4576 5740 V-PNP-NSF τον 3588 T-ASM θεον 2316 N-ASM ηκουεν 191 5707 V-IAI-3S ης 3739 R-GSF ο 3588 T-NSM κυριος 2962 N-NSM διηνοιξεν 1272 5656 V-AAI-3S την 3588 T-ASF καρδιαν 2588 N-ASF προσεχειν 4337 5721 V-PAN τοις 3588 T-DPN λαλουμενοις 2980 5746 V-PPP-DPN υπο 5259 PREP του 3588 T-GSM παυλου 3972 N-GSM
Vincent's NT Word Studies
14. Lydia. An adjective: the Lydian; but as Lydia was a common name among the Greeks and Romans, it does not follow that she was named from her native country.A seller of purple. On purple, see note on Luke xvi. 19.
Thyatira. The district of Lydia, and the city of Thyatira in particular, were famous for purple dyes. So Homer:
"As when some Carian or Maeonian 22 dame Tinges with purple the white ivory, To form a trapping for the cheeks of steeds" Iliad, iv., 141.
An inscription found in the ruins of Thyatira relates to the guild of dyers. Heard (hkouen). Imperfect, was hearing while we preached.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
16:14 {Lydia} (ludia). Her birthplace was Thyatira in Lydia. She may have been named after the land, though Lydia is a common female name (see Horace). Lydia was itself a Macedonian colony (Strabo, XIII. 4). Thyatira (note plural form like Philippi and one of the seven churches of Asia here #Re 2:18) was famous for its purple dyes as old as Homer (Iliad, IV. 141) and had a guild of dyers (hoi bafeis) as inscriptions show. {A seller of purple} (porfuropwlis). A female seller of purple fabrics (porfura, pwlis). Late word, masculine form in an inscription. There was a great demand for this fabric as it was used on the official toga at Rome and in Roman colonies. We still use the term "royal purple." See on Lu 16:19. Evidently Lydia was a woman of some means to carry on such an important enterprise from her native city. She may have been a freed-woman, since racial names were often borne by slaves. {One that worshipped God} (sebomene ton qeon). A God-fearer or proselyte of the gate. There was a Jewish settlement in Thyatira which was especially interested in the dyeing industry. She probably became a proselyte there. Whether this was true of the other women we do not know. They may have been Jewesses or convert like Lydia, probably all of them employees of hers in her business. When Paul writes to the Philippians he does not mention Lydia who may have died meanwhile and who certainly was not Paul's wife. She was wealthy and probably a widow. {Heard us} (ekouen). Imperfect active of akouw, was listening, really listening and she kept it up, listening to each of these new and strange preachers. {Opened} (dienoixen). First aorist active indicative of dianoigw, old word, double compound (dia, ana, oigw) to open up wide or completely like a folding door (both sides, dia, two). Only the Lord could do that. Jesus had opened (the same verb) the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures (#Lu 24:45). {To give heed} (prosecein). To hold the mind (ton noun understood), present active infinitive. She kept her mind centered on the things spoken by Paul whose words gripped her attention. She rightly perceived that Paul was the foremost one of the group. He had personal magnetism and power of intellect that the Spirit of God used to win the heart of this remarkable woman to Christ. It was worth coming to Philippi to win this fine personality to the Kingdom of God. She will be the chief spirit in this church that will give Paul more joy and co-operation than any of his churches. It is not stated that she was converted on the first Sabbath, though this may have been the case. "One solitary convert, a woman, and she already a seeker after God, and a native of that very Asia where they had been forbidden to preach" (Furneaux). But a new era had dawned for Europe and for women in the conversion of Lydia.
