Acts 16:13
New International Version
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there.

New Living Translation
On the Sabbath we went a little way outside the city to a riverbank, where we thought people would be meeting for prayer, and we sat down to speak with some women who had gathered there.

English Standard Version
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to the riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

Berean Standard Bible
On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there.

Berean Literal Bible
And on the day of the Sabbaths, we went forth outside the city gate, by a river, where there was customary to be a place of prayer. And having sat down, we began speaking to the women having gathered.

King James Bible
And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which resorted thither.

New King James Version
And on the Sabbath day we went out of the city to the riverside, where prayer was customarily made; and we sat down and spoke to the women who met there.

New American Standard Bible
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were thinking that there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

NASB 1995
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

NASB 1977
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had assembled.

Legacy Standard Bible
And on the Sabbath day we went outside the gate to a riverside, where we were supposing that there would be a place of prayer; and sitting down, we began speaking to the women who had assembled.

Amplified Bible
and on the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the bank of the [Gangites] river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began speaking to the women who had come there.

Christian Standard Bible
On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate by the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and spoke to the women gathered there.

American Standard Version
And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that were come together.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And we departed on the Sabbath day outside the gate of the city on the riverside, because there was seen there a house of prayer, and when we sat, we were speaking with the women who had gathered there.

Contemporary English Version
Then on the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to a place by the river, where we thought there would be a Jewish meeting place for prayer. We sat down and talked with the women who came.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And upon the sabbath day, we went forth without the gate by a river side, where it seemed that there was prayer; and sitting down, we spoke to the women that were assembled.

English Revised Version
And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women which were come together.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
On the day of worship we went out of the city to a place along the river where we thought Jewish people gathered for prayer. We sat down and began talking to the women who had gathered there.

Good News Translation
On the Sabbath we went out of the city to the riverside, where we thought there would be a place where Jews gathered for prayer. We sat down and talked to the women who gathered there.

International Standard Version
On the Sabbath day, we went out the city gate and walked along the river, where we thought there was a place of prayer. We sat down and began talking to the women who had gathered there.

Literal Standard Version
on the day of the Sabbaths we also went forth outside of the city, by a river, where there used to be prayer, and having sat down, we were speaking to the women who came together,

Majority Standard Bible
On the Sabbath we went outside the city along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there.

New American Bible
On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer. We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.

NET Bible
On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to speak to the women who had assembled there.

New Revised Standard Version
On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there.

New Heart English Bible
On the Sabbath day we went forth outside of the gate by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down, and spoke to the women who had come together.

Webster's Bible Translation
And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spoke to the women who resorted thither.

Weymouth New Testament
On the Sabbath we went beyond the city gate to the riverside, where we had reason to believe that there was a place for prayer; and sitting down we talked with the women who had come together.

World English Bible
On the Sabbath day we went outside of the city by a riverside, where we supposed there was a place of prayer, and we sat down and spoke to the women who had come together.

Young's Literal Translation
on the sabbath-day also we went forth outside of the city, by a river, where there used to be prayer, and having sat down, we were speaking to the women who came together,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Lydia's Conversion in Philippi
12From there we went to the Roman colony of Philippi, the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river, where it was customary to find a place of prayer. After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there. 14Among those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message.…

Cross References
Acts 9:20
Saul promptly began to proclaim Jesus in the synagogues, declaring, "He is the Son of God."

Acts 13:14
And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down.

Acts 16:16
One day as we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl with a spirit of divination, who earned a large income for her masters by fortune-telling.


Treasury of Scripture

And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made; and we sat down, and spoke to the women which resorted thither.

on.

Acts 13:14,42
But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down…

Acts 17:2
And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,

Acts 18:4
And he reasoned in the synagogue every sabbath, and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks.

sabbath.

Luke 13:10
And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath.

and we.

Acts 16:6
Now when they had gone throughout Phrygia and the region of Galatia, and were forbidden of the Holy Ghost to preach the word in Asia,

Acts 21:5
And when we had accomplished those days, we departed and went our way; and they all brought us on our way, with wives and children, till we were out of the city: and we kneeled down on the shore, and prayed.

Matthew 5:1,2
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: …

spake.

Mark 16:15
And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

Galatians 3:28
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 1:23
If ye continue in the faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel, which ye have heard, and which was preached to every creature which is under heaven; whereof I Paul am made a minister;

Jump to Previous
Believe City Custom Expected Find Forth Gate Gathered Idea Outside Prayer Reason Resorted River Riverside Sabbath Sat Seated Side Sitting Speaking Supposed Thither Together Women Wont
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Believe City Custom Expected Find Forth Gate Gathered Idea Outside Prayer Reason Resorted River Riverside Sabbath Sat Seated Side Sitting Speaking Supposed Thither Together Women Wont
Acts 16
1. Paul and Silas are Joined by Timothy,
7. and being called by the Spirit from one country to another,
14. convert Lydia,
16. and cast out a spirit of divination;
19. for which cause they are whipped and imprisoned.
25. The prison doors are opened.
31. The jailor is converted,
35. and they are delivered.














(13) By a river side, where prayer was wont to be made.--Better, where an oratory (i.e., a place of prayer) was established. The word, which was the Greek equivalent for the Hebrew "house of prayer" (Matthew 21:13), is used in this sense by Josephus (Vit. p. 54), (see Note on Luke 6:12), and was current among the Jews at Rome. Where they had no synagogue, and in a military station like Philippi there was not likely to be one, the Jews frequented the river-banks, which made ablutions easy, and often succeeded in getting a piece of ground assigned for that purpose outside the walls of the city. Juvenal (Sat. iii. 11-13) notes this as one of the instances of the decay of the old faith of Rome:

"The groves and streams which once were sacred ground

Are now let out td Jews."

The local meaning is seen in another line from the same writer (Sat. iii. 296):

"Ede, ubi consistas, in qua te quaero, proseucha?"

["Say where thou dwell'st, and in what place of prayer

I am to seek thee?"]

The oratories, or proseuchae, thus formed, were commonly circular, and without a roof. The practice continued in the time of Tertullian, who speaks of the "orationes litorales" of the Jews (ad Nat. i. 13). The river, in this instance, was the Gangites. Finding no synagogue in the city, and hearing of the oratory, the company of preachers went out to it to take their part in the Sabbath services, and to preach Christ to any Jews they might find there. . . .

Verse 13. - Sabbath day for sabbath, A.V.; we went forth without the gate for we went out of the city, A.V. and T.R. (πύλης for πολέως); we supposed there Was a place of prayer for prayer was wont to be made, A.V.; were come together for resorted thither, A.V. By a river side. By the river side is the natural way of expressing it in English. The river is not the Strymon, which is a day's journey distant from Philippi, but probably a small stream called the Gangas or Gangites, which is crossed by the Via Eguatia, about a mile out of Philippi. The neighborhood of water, either near a stream or on the seashore, was usually preferred by the Jews as a place for prayer, as affording facility for ablutions (see Josephus, 'Ant. Jud.,' 14:10, 23; and other passages quoted by Alford). The phrase, οϋ ἐνομίζετο προσευχὴ εῖναι, should be rendered, not as in the R.V., but more nearly as the A.V., where a prayer-meeting(of the Jews) was accustomed to be held; i.e. this particular spot was the usual place where such Jews or proselytes as happened to be at Philippi met for prayer. It also appears from Epiphanius (' Hear.,' 80, § 1, quoted by Alford) that the Jews usually had their προσευχαί, whether buildings, or open spaces, ἔξω πολέως, outside the city. The wayside crosses are of the nature of προσευχαί.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
On the
Τῇ (Tē)
Article - Dative Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

Sabbath
σαββάτων (sabbatōn)
Noun - Genitive Neuter Plural
Strong's 4521: The Sabbath, a week.

we went
ἐξήλθομεν (exēlthomen)
Verb - Aorist Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 1831: To go out, come out. From ek and erchomai; to issue.

outside
ἔξω (exō)
Preposition
Strong's 1854: Without, outside. Adverb from ek; out(-side, of doors), literally or figuratively.

the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

city gate
πύλης (pylēs)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 4439: A gate. Apparently a primary word; a gate, i.e. The leaf or wing of a folding entrance.

along
παρὰ (para)
Preposition
Strong's 3844: Gen: from; dat: beside, in the presence of; acc: alongside of.

[the] river,
ποταμὸν (potamon)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Singular
Strong's 4215: A river, torrent, stream. Probably from a derivative of the alternate of pino; a current, brook or freshet, i.e. Running water.

where [it]
οὗ (hou)
Adverb
Strong's 3757: Where, whither, when, in what place. Genitive case of hos as adverb; at which place, i.e. Where.

was customary
ἐνομίζομεν (enomizomen)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 3543: From nomos; properly, to do by law, i.e. To accustom; by extension, to deem or regard.

to find
εἶναι (einai)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 1510: I am, exist. The first person singular present indicative; a prolonged form of a primary and defective verb; I exist.

[a place of] prayer.
προσευχὴν (proseuchēn)
Noun - Accusative Feminine Singular
Strong's 4335: From proseuchomai; prayer; by implication, an oratory.

[After]
καὶ (kai)
Conjunction
Strong's 2532: And, even, also, namely.

sitting down,
καθίσαντες (kathisantes)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Plural
Strong's 2523: Another form for kathezomai; to seat down, i.e. Set; intransitively, to sit; figuratively, to settle.

we spoke
ἐλαλοῦμεν (elaloumen)
Verb - Imperfect Indicative Active - 1st Person Plural
Strong's 2980: A prolonged form of an otherwise obsolete verb; to talk, i.e. Utter words.

to the
ταῖς (tais)
Article - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

women
γυναιξίν (gynaixin)
Noun - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 1135: A woman, wife, my lady. Probably from the base of ginomai; a woman; specially, a wife.

who had gathered [there].
συνελθούσαις (synelthousais)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Dative Feminine Plural
Strong's 4905: From sun and erchomai; to convene, depart in company with, associate with, or, cohabit.


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NT Apostles: Acts 16:13 On the Sabbath day we went forth (Acts of the Apostles Ac)
Acts 16:12
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