found him sojourning at Troas, we may suppose him to have been previously converted at Antioch by Barnabas or Paul on some of those occasions, A. xi. 22...30., xii. 25., xiii. 1...3., xiv. 26...28., which he himself has so particularly related.

And may not the WE (which follows here in v. 10.) coming in so naturally, be taken for an oblique intimation that Paul and Luke had been acquainted with one another some time before; and if so, much more likely at Antioch than at any other place?

ACTs xvi. 9. And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us, -on whom your labour in the Lord will not be lost.

On the subject of divine visions, vide H. P. 217, 8. and consult the following passages, A. xviii. 9, 10., xxii. 17,, xxiii. 11., xxvii. 23. For the early promise of future revelation also to be in that way conveyed, vide xxvi. 16. At xviii. 9, 10. occasion will arise for some particular remarks in the Appendix C.

10. And after Paul had seen the vision, immediately We endeavoured (for Luke joined his company at Troas) to go into Macedonia forthwith, assuredly gathering, that the Lord had called us for to preach the gospel unto them in that country.

Yes: Luke also was now called to preach that gospel, of which he was afterwards by Divine Providence ordained to become the historian.

ACTS xvi. 11. Therefore loosing from Troas, we came with a straight course to Samothracia, and the next day to Neapolis;

12. And from thence to Philippi, which is the chief city of that part of Macedonia, and a colony: and WE were in that city abiding a few days.

13. And on the sabbath we went out of the city by a river side where prayer was wont to be made, (there being no synagogue in that city;) and we sat down and spake unto the devout women which resorted thither.

14. And one of them in particular, a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, of the city of Thyatira, which (as a proselyte) worshipped the true God, listened to us; whose heart the Lord opened, that she attended to the things which were spoken by Paul.

15. And after she was baptized, and her household, she besought us, saying, If ye have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house, and abide there. And she constrained us to do so.

16. And it came to pass, as we went to the place of prayer, a certain damsel possessed with the spirit of divination met us, which brought her masters much gain by soothsaying:

17. The same followed Paul and us, and cried, saying, These men are the servants of the most High God, which shew unto us the way of salvation.

18. And this she did many days. But Paul, being grieved, turned and said to the spirit, I command thee in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of her. And he came out the same hour.

19. And when her masters saw that the hope of their gains was gone, they caught Paul and Silas, as the leaders of our party, and drew them into the marketplace unto the rulers,

ACTS xvi. 20. And brought them to the magistrates, saying, These men, being Jews, do exceedingly trouble our city,

21. And teach customs, which are not lawful for us to receive, neither to observe, being Romans, i. e. originally colonists from Italy. (More of this, on the Epistle to the Philippians.)

22. And the multitude rose up together against them and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them with rods.

23. And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely :

24. Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

25. And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God; and the prisoners (in the other wards) listened to them.

26. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

27. And the keeper of the prison awaking out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, he drew out his sword, and would have killed himself, supposing that the prisoners had been fled.

28. But Paul cried with a loud voice, saying, Do thyself no harm: for we are all here.

29. Then the jailor called for a light, and sprang in, and came trembling, and fell down before Paul and Silas,

30. And brought them out and said, Sirs, what must I do to be saved?

ACTs xvi. 31. And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy household.

32. And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in his house.

33. And he took them the same hour of the night, and washed their stripes; and was baptized, he and all his, straightway.

34. And when he had brought them into his house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing in God with all his household,

35. And when it was day, the magistrates

either from a misgiving that they had acted with unjust severity, or being already informed of the amazing events which had taken place in the prison sent the serjeants, saying, Let those men go.

36. And the keeper of the prison told this saying to Paul, The magistrates have sent to let you go now therefore depart, and go in peace.

37. But Paul said unto them, They have beaten us openly uncondemned, being Romans (i. e. Roman citizens), and have cast us into prison: and now would they thrust us out privily? Nay verily; but let them come themselves, and fetch us out.

38. And the serjeants told these words unto the magistrates; and they feared when they heard that they (Silas as well as Paul) were Roman citizens.

39. And the magistrates came and besought them, and brought them out, and desired them to depart out of the city, -to prevent farther tumult.

40. And they went out of the prison, and entered into the house of Lydia: and when they had seen the brethren (who could not then be very numerous), they comforted them, and departed from Philippi.

And here it may deserve remark, as the narrative after this proceeds in the third person, THEY, and not WE, that Luke must now have remained at Philippi : accordingly, A. xx. 5., he is found there again, then and not before re-appearing in his own person. This will not seem extraordinary, if we consider, that as Luke had already taken some part in the work of teaching there, A. xvi. 13., he might very properly be left behind, on purpose to give farther instruction to the Philippians in the truths of the gospel. Then, too, Luke the Gentile (H. P. 148, 9.) would of course be the more acceptable to the brethren there, who were all Gentile converts while, on the other hand, if he was a Gentile, as we suppose, then not being qualified for admission into the Jewish synagogues, he could not on this account have gone with Paul as his privileged attendant. That, we have seen, was hereafter to be the proper office of Timothy.

That from his residence at Troas where Paul found him, (A. xvi. 10.) a place commercially connected with Philippi, he who is elsewhere called "the beloved physician," (COLOSS. iv. 14.) might have become previously known to the Philippians in that character; may be forgiven at least as an innocent conjecture.

ACTS xvii. 1, Now when they (Paul, Silas, and Timothy) had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia without stopping in either place, they came to Thessalonica, where was the synagogue of the Jews:

the synagogue which they expected to find, there being none in the other two cities.

2. And Paul, in the first instance, as his manner was, (A. xiii. 46., H. P. 158.) went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,