Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 16:13

"And on the sabbath day we went forth without the gate by a river side, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down, and spake unto the women that were come together." — Acts 16:13 (ASV)

In Jewish law, a synagogue congregation could be formed only if there were at least ten male heads of households. Failing this, a place of prayer under the open sky and near a river or the sea was to be arranged for. Philippi apparently did not have the quorum and so was without a synagogue. On the Sabbath, therefore, Paul and his companions walked outside the city in search of a Jewish place of prayer, probably heading toward the Gangites River about a mile and a half west of the city. There they found some women gathered for informal worship (see comment on 13:14b–15). The most they could hope for was to hear from a traveling Jewish teacher an exposition or exhortation from Scripture and receive a blessing. Paul and his companions sat down with these women and began to speak to them.