Texts in Conversation
Acts 16 describes God opening Lydia’s heart, using language similar to 2 Maccabees, where a prayer asks that God open hearts to obey the Torah. Both follow Jewish traditions that describe the divine role in shaping obedience.
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2 Maccabees 1:4
Deuterocanon
2 May God do good to you, and may he remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants. 3 May he give you all a heart to worship him and to do his will with a strong heart and a willing spirit. 4 May he open your heart to his law and his commandments, and may he bring peace. 5 May he hear your prayers and be reconciled to you, and may he not forsake you in time of evil. 6 We are now praying for you here.
Date: 100-90 B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Acts 16:14
New Testament
11 We put out to sea from Troas and sailed a straight course to Samothrace, the next day to Neapolis, 12 and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of that district of Macedonia, a Roman colony. We stayed in this city for some days. 13 On the Sabbath day we went outside the city gate to the side of the river, where we thought there would be a place of prayer, and we sat down and began to speak to the women who had assembled there. 14 A woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, a God-fearing woman, listened to us. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me to be a believer in the Lord, come and stay in my house.” And she persuaded us.
Date: 75-85 C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Whereas Paul’s first named convert on the first missionary journey Luke narrates is a Roman governor, the first named on this journey is, as noted above, Lydia. Luke claims that the Lord “opened Lydia’s heart,” as he elsewhere credits God with giving the ability to believe (13:48); “opening” was also used to express the idea of enabling understanding by explanation or supernatural intervention (Luke 24:31–32, 45; Acts 17:3; compare the cognate in Acts 14:27; 26:18). Jewish people could use the phrase for God’s opening hearts to his law. (1QS XI, 15–16; compare 4Q434 1 II, 3–4; most commonly in prayer, e.g., Psalm 119:18; 2 Maccabees 1:4; 1QHa IX, 23; XV, 41; XXII, 31) Paul himself affirmed that encountering the Spirit (1 Corinthians 2:4–5; Gal 3:2; 1 Thess 1:6; 2 Thess 2:13) and the gospel (1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Thessalonians 2:14) was part of saving faith ..."
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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