Acts 16:14. Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira. The city of Thyatira, on the confines of Lydia and Mysia, and one of the seven churches of Asia addressed in the Apocalypse, was celebrated in very early days for its purple dyes and purple fabrics. Among the ruins of the city has been found an inscription relating to the guild of dyers, curiously testifying to the accuracy of even the unimportant details of the narrative (see Homer, Iliad, iv. 141). The business which brought this Lydia to Philippi was connected either with the sale of the colouring matter or more likely with the fabric already dyed. The purple colour so esteemed in the ancient world included many tints. Thyatira was originally a Macedonian colony founded by Alexander the Great. This would account for the residence of Lydia of Philippi in Macedonia in the inland Asian city of Thyatira. This city was famous in the old world for its dyes.

Which worshipped God, heard (us). This Lydia was a proselyte to Judaism from heathendom, and, with the other Jews of Philippi, was in the habit of attending the Jewish services of prayer, and praise, and instruction; and it was at one of these meetings for the worship of the God of Israel that this devout woman met Paul.

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Old Testament