KJV: And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul.
YLT: and a certain woman, by name Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, worshipping God, was hearing, whose heart the Lord did open to attend to the things spoken by Paul;
Darby: And a certain woman, by name Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, who worshipped God, heard; whose heart the Lord opened to attend to the things spoken by Paul.
ASV: And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple of the city of Thyatira, one that worshipped God, heard us: whose heart the Lord opened to give heed unto the things which were spoken by Paul.
τις | a certain |
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: τὶς Sense: a certain, a certain one. |
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γυνὴ | woman |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: γυνή Sense: a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow. |
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ὀνόματι | named |
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular Root: ὄνομα Sense: name: univ. |
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Λυδία | Lydia |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: Λυδία Sense: a woman of Thyatira, a seller of purple, the first European convert of Paul, and afterward his hostess during his first stay at Philippi. |
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πορφυρόπωλις | a seller of purple |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: πορφυρόπωλις Sense: a female seller of purple or of fabric dyed in purple. |
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πόλεως | of [the] city |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: πόλις Sense: a city. |
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Θυατείρων | of Thyatira |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Neuter Plural Root: Θυάτειρα Sense: a colony of Macedonia Greeks, situated between Sardis and Pergamos on the river Lycus; its inhabitants gained their living by traffic and the art of dyeing in purple. |
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σεβομένη | worshiping |
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Nominative Feminine Singular Root: σέβω Sense: to revere, to worship. |
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τὸν | - |
Parse: Article, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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Θεόν | God |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Masculine Singular Root: θεός Sense: a god or goddess, a general name of deities or divinities. |
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ἤκουεν | was listening |
Parse: Verb, Imperfect Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: ἀκουστός Sense: to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf. |
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ἧς | of whom |
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Genitive Feminine Singular Root: ὅς Sense: who, which, what, that. |
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Κύριος | Lord |
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular Root: κύριος Sense: he to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, lord. |
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διήνοιξεν | opened |
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular Root: διανοίγω Sense: to open by dividing or drawing asunder, to open thoroughly (what had been closed). |
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καρδίαν | heart |
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Singular Root: καρδία Sense: the heart. |
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προσέχειν | to attend |
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active Root: προσέχω Sense: to bring to, bring near. |
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τοῖς | to the things |
Parse: Article, Dative Neuter Plural Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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λαλουμένοις | being spoken |
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Middle or Passive, Dative Neuter Plural Root: ἀπολαλέω Sense: to utter a voice or emit a sound. |
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‹τοῦ› | - |
Parse: Article, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: ὁ Sense: this, that, these, etc. |
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Παύλου | Paul |
Parse: Noun, Genitive Masculine Singular Root: Παῦλος Sense: Paul was the most famous of the apostles and wrote a good part of the NT, the 4 Pauline epistles. |
Greek Commentary for Acts 16:14
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 Revelation 2:18) was famous for its purple dyes as old as Homer (Iliad, IV. 141) and had a guild of dyers (οι βαπεις hoi bapheis) as inscriptions show. [source]
A female seller of purple fabrics 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 note on Luke 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 (sebomenē ton theon). 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 proselytes 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 Imperfect active of ηκουεν akouō was listening, really listening and she kept it up, listening to each of these new and strange preachers. Opened (ακουω diēnoixen). First aorist active indicative of διηνοιχεν dianoigō old word, double compound (διανοιγω diaδια ανα οιγω anaδια oigō) to open up wide or completely like a folding door (both sides, προσεχειν dia two). Only the Lord could do that. Jesus had opened (the same verb) the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). To give heed To hold the mind But a new era had dawned for Europe and for women in the conversion of Lydia. [source]
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 proselytes 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. [source]
Imperfect active of ηκουεν akouō was listening, really listening and she kept it up, listening to each of these new and strange preachers. Opened (ακουω diēnoixen). First aorist active indicative of διηνοιχεν dianoigō old word, double compound (διανοιγω diaδια ανα οιγω anaδια oigō) to open up wide or completely like a folding door (both sides, προσεχειν dia two). Only the Lord could do that. Jesus had opened (the same verb) the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). To give heed To hold the mind But a new era had dawned for Europe and for women in the conversion of Lydia. [source]
First aorist active indicative of διηνοιχεν dianoigō old word, double compound Only the Lord could do that. Jesus had opened (the same verb) the mind of the disciples to understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). [source]
To hold the mind But a new era had dawned for Europe and for women in the conversion of Lydia. [source]
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. [source]
On purple, see note on Luke 16:19. [source]
The district of Lydia, and the city of Thyatira in particular, were famous for purple dyes. So Homer:“As when some Carian or Maeonian dameTinges 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. [source]
Imperfect, was hearing while we preached. [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 16:14
Lit., worshipping. Compare Acts 13:50and Acts 16:14. [source]
Of the worshipping proselytes described in Acts 13:16, Acts 13:25 as “those who fear God” (cf. Acts 16:14) employed usually of the uncircumcised Gentiles who yet attended the synagogue worship, but the word προσηλυτοι prosēlutoi Yet the rabbis used it also of proselytes of the gate who had not yet become circumcised, probably the idea here. In the N.T. the word occurs only in Matthew 23:15; Acts 2:10; Acts 6:5; Acts 13:43. Many (both Jews and proselytes) followed Imperfect active of peithō either descriptive (were persuading) or conative (were trying to persuade). Paul had great powers of persuasion (Acts 18:4; Acts 19:8, Acts 19:26; Acts 26:28; Acts 28:23; 2 Corinthians 5:11; Galatians 1:10). These Jews “were beginning to understand for the first time the true meaning of their national history” (Furneaux), “the grace of God” to them. [source]
Second aorist middle indicative of συνβαλλω sunballō used in Acts 17:18 for “dispute,” old verb to throw together, in the N.T. always in the active save here in the middle (common in Greek writers) to put together, to help. Through grace (δια της χαριτος dia tēs charitos). This makes sense if taken with “believed,” as Hackett does (cf. Acts 13:48; Acts 16:14) or with “helped” (1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 1:12). Both are true as the references show. [source]
This makes sense if taken with “believed,” as Hackett does (cf. Acts 13:48; Acts 16:14) or with “helped” (1 Corinthians 3:10; 1 Corinthians 15:10; 2 Corinthians 1:12). Both are true as the references show. [source]
oP. Frequent in lxx and Class. Lit. To hold to. Often with τὸν νοῦν themind, which must be supplied here. It means here not merely to give attention to, but to give assent to. So Acts 8:6; Acts 16:14; Hebrews 2:1; 2 Peter 1:19. [source]
Some forty miles south-east of Pergamum, a Lydian city on the edge of Mysia, under Rome since b.c. 190, a centre of trade, especially for the royal purple, home of Lydia of Philippi (Acts 16:14.), shown by inscriptions to be full of trade guilds, Apollo the chief deity with no emperor-worship, centre of activity by the Nicolaitans with their idolatry and licentiousness under a “prophetess” who defied the church there. Ramsay calls it “Weakness Made Strong” (op. cit., p. 316). [source]