Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LYDIA

(Gk. Lydía)

(PERSON)

A Gentile woman from Thyatira in the province of Asia who was a god-fearer living in Philippi (Acts 16:14-15). It is not clear whether Lydia’s name is a personal name or designates her as the Lydian woman (“as a person from the country called Lydia”). Lydia worshipped the God of Judaism, perhaps originally as part of the Jewish settlement in Thyatira. She was part of a gathering of women who met for worship and prayer outside Philippi on the sabbath. Meeting in this location indicates that there were not the 10 Jewish men needed to establish a proper synagogue.

Lydia was converted by Paul, and he baptized both her and her household. She was a business woman trading in purple-dyed cloth, a trade for which Thyatira was well-known. She was apparently successful, because she had a house large enough to use as the lodging for Paul and his companions and serve as the initial meeting place of the church of Philippi (Acts 16:40). She epitomizes the role of wealthy women converts in the Pauline mission in supplying their homes as meeting places and perhaps themselves as leaders of these churches.

JoAnn Ford Watson

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LYDIA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)