Paragraph 16:13–15
16:13a
Sabbath: The word Sabbath is the name of the seventh and last day of the week for the Jews. The Sabbath was the special day in the week when the Jews rested and worshiped God. See how you translated this word in 15:21.
It was probably the first Sabbath after Paul and his companions arrived in Philippi.
we went outside the city gate along the river: The city was surrounded by a wall. There were openings in the wall for people to enter and exit the city. They had strong doors on them. These doorways were called “the city gates.” Paul and his companions went through one of the gates to go to the river.
16:13b
where it was customary to find: There is a textual issue here regarding the Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as it was customary:
(1) It means “we expected.” For example:
we thought there would be (Good News Translation)
(Revised Standard Version, New International Version, Good News Translation, New American Standard Bible, New American Bible, Revised Edition, New Living Translation (2004), God’s Word, Contemporary English Version, NET Bible, Revised English Bible, English Standard Version, New Century Version)
(2) It means “it was customary.” For example:
this was a customary place for (New Jerusalem Bible)
(Berean Standard Bible, New Jerusalem Bible, King James Version)
It is recommended that you follow option (1), because the UBS Handbook Greek NT chose it.
a place of prayer: This may have been a building big enough for 10 to 20 people to meet. If so, it was not a proper synagogue, because Luke did not use that word here. But it may only be a location on the river bank where the Jews usually met. Many English versions use the general word place here.
This was a place for Jews to pray and worship God. Some non-Jews, such as Lydia (16:14), worshiped God there as well. The Romans had temples to their gods in the city. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly refer to or imply Romans praying to their gods there. If that is true in your language, include the implied information. For example:
a place of prayer/praying ⌊to God⌋
16:13c
After sitting down, we spoke to the women who had gathered there: 16:14d indicates that Paul told them the good news about Jesus. In some languages a literal translation would wrongly imply Paul did not speak about Jesus. If that is true in your language, add that information here. For example:
We sat down and began to speak ⌊about Jesus⌋ to the women who had gathered there
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