
Acts 16:16-40
16:16 | In the Greek, the spirit of divination is literally “a spirit of Python,” the snake that guarded the famous oracle at Delphi in Greek mythology. Python was killed by Apollo, the god of prophecy, so “python” came to be associated with anyone who told the future (equivalent to a modern-day medium or fortune-teller). The slave girl was a source of great income for her masters, which explains their rage in 16:19.
16:20-21 |Roman colonies like Philippi were intended to be models of peace – disruptions were not tolerated. A charge of troubling a city was sure to gain the attention of public officials.
16:22-23 | This is one of three times when Paul was beaten with rods (2 Cor. 11:25). The beating appears to have been an impulsive act on the part of the magistrates – the real punishment was yet to come. The irony was that, by beating Paul and Silas, who were Roman citizens, the city officials were themselves breaking the law.
16:24 | Stocks were not just for security purposes, they were an additional form of punishment: a square log split in two with holes drilled for the prisoner’s ankles. The prisoner might be left with his ankles fastened in this position for days, seated and unable to move his legs at all or even sleep. This was beyond restraint – it was torture.
16:25 | Notice: hymns to God, not hymns about God. Paul and Silas were not angry with God over what had happened. Indeed, they were praising Him in the midst of their circumstances (Ps. 42:8-11; Phil. 2:14-16).
16:26-28 | Paul and Silas saved the guard’s life by remaining in the jail after the earthquake freed them.