Lydia was financially independent and led her household, which would have included her family as well as domestic slaves/servants that were a part of her business. Lydia’s clients would have been the wealthy elite of the area, the only ones who would have been able to afford this expensive textile for their clothing and upholstery. She may have been the middle woman between the dyers of the cloth and the sellers. The text only mentions Lydia as a purple dealer, not a purple dyer. This meant she sold garments dyed with tyrian purple, a dye that is created by boiling marine snails that would create the dark reddish-purple hue. She was a business woman and a dealer of purple cloth. As the city had expanded, the growth of the city spilled out past its walls. When Paul first arrived in Philippi, he sought out the city’s synagogue first to meet the local Jewish people, however there were few jews in Philippi and therefore there was no recognized formal synagogue inside the town. 15 Once she and her household were baptized, she urged, “Now that you have decided that I am a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded us.Īcts 16: 11-15, (CEB) Lydia the Businesswoman As she listened, the Lord enabled her to embrace Paul’s message. 14 One of those women was Lydia, a Gentile God-worshipper from the city of Thyatira, a dealer in purple cloth. We sat down and began to talk with the women who had gathered.
13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the riverbank, where we thought there might be a place for prayer. 12 From there we went to Philippi, a city of Macedonia’s first district and a Roman colony. 11 We sailed from Troas straight for Samothrace and came to Neapolis the following day.
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