Acts 16:15

And when she and her household had been baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from Thyatira, speaks to Paul and his companions immediately after her and her household's baptism in Philippi. The "we" narrator is present; this is a first-person account of an invitation to stay.

The words — παρεκάλει (parekalei, G3870) is the iterative/intensive form of παρακαλέω, carrying the sense of "she kept pressing, urging" rather than a single polite request. The BSB's "urged" understates the Greek; the form implies repeated, insistent urging.

The thread — The household-baptism pattern recurs at Acts 16:33 (the Philippian jailer) and is anticipated in Acts 11:14 ("you and all your household will be saved"). Hebrews 13:2 frames the hospitality dynamic from the host's side.

Why it lands — The convert, not the missionary, initiates the invitation and must persuade the other party to accept. The reader is asked to notice that the door opens from the inside of the new believer's life, not from the outside of the preacher's need.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

And when 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.

Cross-references

Acts 11:14 He will convey to you a message by which you and all your household will be saved.’
Hebrews 13:2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have entertained angels without knowing it.
Acts 16:33 At that hour of the night, the jailer took them and washed their wounds. And without delay, he and all his household were baptized.
Genesis 19:3 But Lot insisted so strongly that they followed him into his house. He prepared a feast for them and baked unleavened bread, and they ate.
Luke 24:29 But they pleaded with Him, “Stay with us, for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.” So He went in to stay with them.
1 Corinthians 1:13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
Philemon 1:17 So if you consider me a partner, receive him as you would receive me.
1 Peter 5:12 Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.
3 John 1:5 Beloved, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers, and especially since they are strangers to you.
3 John 1:8 Therefore we ought to support such men, so that we may be fellow workers for the truth.