Lydia #97

Lydia was a businesswoman who lived in the Roman colony of Philippi in Macedonia and became the first person in Europe recorded as converting to Christianity under Paul’s preaching. Her story is told briefly in Acts 16:11-15 and again at the end of the chapter (Acts 16:40). She shows that the church in Philippi began with a woman of independent means and of good reputation.

Biblical Significance

Acts says that Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke (the narrator’s “we” begins in this section) sailed from Troas to Macedonia after Paul had a vision of a man pleading for help. On the Sabbath they went outside the gate of Philippi to the riverside, “where prayer was wont to be made,” and spoke to the women who had gathered (Acts 16:9-13). Among them was “a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which worshipped God.” Luke says, “Whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended unto the things which were spoken of Paul” (Acts 16:14).

Purple dye was costly, and the trade suggests that Lydia was prosperous. Thyatira lay near the region of Lydia in western Asia Minor, known for dyeing and textiles, which has led some to suggest that “Lydia” is an ethnic label (“the Lydian woman”) rather than a personal name, though it was also a common name. She is called a “worshiper of God,” a term used of Gentiles who attended the synagogue and followed Jewish worship without fully converting.

Lydia and her household were baptized. She then urged the missionaries, “If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there,” and Luke adds, “And she constrained us” (Acts 16:15). After Paul and Silas were beaten and imprisoned and then released, they returned to Lydia’s home to meet the believers and encourage them before leaving the city (Acts 16:40).

Legacy

Lydia’s home probably became the meeting place for the first Christian community in Philippi. Paul’s letter to the Philippians, written years later, thanks that church for its partnership “from the first day until now” (Philippians 1:3-5) and for supporting him financially more than once (Philippians 4:15-16). Lydia is not named in the letter, so how much of that support traces to her is not stated.

Lydia is honored as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Catholic traditions and is often mentioned as a model of hospitality and of women’s leadership in the early church. The account is short, but it has become an enduring picture of a heart opened by God, a household baptized together, and a home given to the work of the gospel.