Philippi
Summary
Philippi was a Roman colony in Macedonia where Paul established the first Christian church in Europe, converting Lydia and the Philippian jailer, and to whose believers he later wrote an epistle marked by joy despite his imprisonment.
☩Location and History
Philippi was situated in a fertile plain in eastern Macedonia, about nine miles from the sea and connected by a mountain road to its port Neapolis. Originally called Crenides ('springs') for the water sources feeding the nearby river and marsh, it was refounded by Philip II of Macedon (358 BC), who recognized the strategic importance of the site and its valuable gold mines. In 42 BC, the famous battle between Brutus and Cassius against Octavian and Antony took place here, ending the Roman Republic. Augustus afterward made Philippi a Roman colony with the privileges of the Jus Italicum, including immunity from taxation. The Via Egnatia, the main road from Rome to Asia, passed through the city.
☩Paul's First Visit
Paul arrived at Philippi in autumn AD 50, responding to the vision of the Macedonian man calling for help (Acts 16:9-10). As a military colony with few Jews, there was no synagogue but only a place of prayer by the river where women gathered on the Sabbath. There Paul met Lydia, a seller of purple goods from Thyatira, who became the first European convert and opened her home to the missionaries (Acts 16:14-15). A slave girl with a spirit of divination repeatedly proclaimed Paul and Silas as 'servants of the Most High God'; when Paul exorcised the spirit, her owners' anger led to the apostles' beating and imprisonment.
☩The Philippian Jailer
At midnight, while Paul and Silas prayed and sang hymns, an earthquake opened the prison doors and loosed all chains. The jailer, about to kill himself thinking the prisoners had escaped, was stopped by Paul's cry. Trembling, he asked, 'What must I do to be saved?' and received the answer, 'Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household.' That very night he was baptized with all his family. When morning came, the magistrates sent word to release them, but Paul revealed they were Roman citizens who had been beaten uncondemned—forcing the officials to come personally and apologize.
☩The Philippian Church
Paul visited Philippi at least twice more (Acts 20:1-6), and the church there maintained an exceptionally close relationship with him. They alone among his churches sent support to him repeatedly—twice while he was in Thessalonica and again during his Roman imprisonment (Philippians 4:15-16). Though poor themselves, they gave generously (2 Corinthians 8:1-5). Paul's letter to them, written from prison, breathes warmth and joy despite his circumstances, thanking them for their partnership in the gospel 'from the first day until now' (Philippians 1:5). The prominence of women noted in Acts continued in the church, with Euodia and Syntyche mentioned as co-laborers who needed to reconcile (Philippians 4:2-3).
Related Verses8 mentions
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Philippi," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. VIII (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Philippi," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. IV (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.James Hastings (ed.), "Philippi," in Dictionary of the Apostolic Church, vol. II (T. & T. Clark, 1915–1918).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Philippi," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).