Women of the Bible – The Women of Philippi

Lydia, Euodia and Syntyche all lived in Philippi during the first century and contributed significantly to the spreading of the gospel there.

Lydia

Lydia was a merchant from Thyatira in Asia. Thyatira was part of the ancient kingdom of Lydia before it was added to the Roman Province of Asia. Locals likely still referred to it as Lydia and that may be why she is called Lydia, or perhaps “the Lydian lady.” Some commentators suggest that this Lydian lady may have actually been Euodia or Syntyche (Philippians 4.3). Lydia was actually a very common name at the time, so there is no issue with the simplest explanation: that Lydia was simply Lydia.

She came to Philippi as a seller of purple, generally considered a lucrative trade since purple was expensive and a sign of wealth and station. (The purple dye was made from the secretion of a species of mollusk, just FYI.) Philippi was a Roman colony and one of the largest cities in eastern Macedonia along the great east-west Egnation Highway between Rome and Asia.

Lydia was a Gentile, but worshiped God. There was a synagogue in her native Thyatira, so she may have been a long-time seeker of God.

Paul, Silas, Timothy and Luke came to Troas (#9) where the Holy Spirit redirected their route so that they went into Macedonia. When they came to Philippi (#12) they looked for the Synagogue and found Lydia and many women at “the place of prayer.” Lydia received their message about Jesus and she and her household believed and were baptized. (Even though Lydia was an Asian, she was the first convert in Europe to Christianity.) She then invited Paul and company to come stay with her, but they declined. She insisted so they accepted her invitation.

While staying with Lydia and continuing to meet at the “place of prayer,” Paul and Silas were arrested after they freed a slave woman from a demon that possessed her. The woman’s owners used her to make money as she predicted the future. They were upset that their source of income had been destroyed.

When the officials found out that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens (and that they had flogged and chained them illegally) they asked them politely to leave. Paul and Silas demanded they escort them to Lydia’s house before leaving town (Acts 16.40). This was likely to protect Lydia and the Christians that met in her home, giving them validity and recognition in the city. Paul shared what had happened with the gathered Christians at Lydia’s house before leaving town. Lydia’s house had become the home base for the Christians in Philippi.

Why did God choose Lydia to establish and lead his church in Philippi? Let us list a few of her characteristics:

1. she was a woman of prayer
2. she listened and was eager to learn
3. she was a worshipper
4. she opened her heart
5. she was obedient to baptism
6. she confessed that she was a believer
7. she influenced those around her to follow Christ
8. she wanted to serve
9. she opened her home
10. she was hospitable

It was Paul’s habit to seek out and speak in the synagogue when he entered a town. Here we see that he looked for the synagogue then found a “place of prayer.” Did he find what he was looking for or are the synagogue and the place of prayer different things?

W. Derek Thomas (in “The Place of Women in the Church at Philippi”) says:

There does not seem to have been a synagogue a Philippi which was a Roman colony and there were probably few Jews in the place… The absence of a synagogue is suggested by a careful reading of the account of Paul’s first visit to the town. … Generally, upon entering a new town Paul would find the synagogue and use his privilege to address the Jewish congregation. This he did not do at Philippi, presumably because there was no synagogue in the town. Had there been ten male Jews permanently resident there, the quorum required by Jewish law, it would have been enough to constitute a synagogue. It was left to a number of women, probably Jewesses and proselytes, to maintain a limited form of worship and prayer.

This argument hinges on two main points:
1. The use of προσευχή (place of prayer) instead of συναγωγή (synagogue)
2. That no men are present.

For the first point, we must consider what both history and archeology have to say about these Greek words. These inscriptions were found in Alexandria (Horsley, New Documents Illustrating Early Christianity) and date to 246-221 BC and 37 BC, respectively:

“In honour of King Ptolemy and Queen Berenike his sister and wife and their children, the Jews built the προσευχή.”

“For the queen and the king, to the great God who hears (prayers) Alypos made the προσευχή.”

Likewise, Josephus used προσευχή and συναγωγή interchangeably (Josephus, Against Apion 2.10; Antiquities 14.258; Philo, Life of Moses 2.216.). W. Bauer (A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament: 713) says, “[Among Jews προσευχή is] nearly always equivalent to συναγωγή.” Therefore, at least some scholars agree that the archeological and historical evidence suggests that these two terms are equivalent.

Now let us look to the issue of no men being present in Philippi. Women were not required to attend the synagogue, yet clearly many did attend.

1When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. (Acts 17.1-4)

He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately. (Acts 18.26)

B. J. Brooten (“Inscriptional Evidence for Women as Leaders in the Ancient Synagogue”, Scholars Press, 1981) argues that women served as leaders in many synagogues during the Roman and Byzantine periods. He cites Greek and Latin inscriptions describing women as “leader,” “elder,” and “mother of the synagogue.” The popular idea that women sat in a side-room or gallery separated from the men in synagogue has no literary or archaeological evidence to support it.

We must remember that we are talking about a Greek city where some Jews live, not the other way around. The Jewish leadership in Palestine likely had little if any influence on these synagogues. For this reason, the lack of 10 men (or a minyan – a quorum of ten males, age thirteen or older, necessary for official synagogue services) was likely not an issue in Philippi. Furthermore, this “minyan” rule was found in the Mishna (part of the Talmud) that was not approved in its finalized form until well after the first century. Even if there was rabbinic influence from Jerusalem in Greek cities, it is very unlikely that they had any strong standardization or homogonous participation so far from Judea.

Lydia served the church and Paul specifically as a Patron. The Patron-Client relationship was fundamental to the spread of the Gospel. Even Jesus benefited from this type of relationship. He was the client of the women who supported his needs as patrons (Luke 8.3). The Patron-Client relationship was not a peer relationship. The Patron provided for the client something the client did not have. This could be a variety of things but often included protection, material support, legal aid, hospitality, opportunities for employment or places for assembly. Her wealth as a dealer of purple allowed her to house the first house church in Philippi and play host to Paul and his companions (at least 3 other men). It seems likely that Lydia would have much to do with the generous gifts given by the Philippian church.

Paul also serves as a patron to the church and to Lydia by returning to her house after his imprisonment. By having the authorities escort him and Silas to Lydia’s house they gave validation to the Christians that met there, protecting them from further attacks from the community. While the word patron is not used to describe Paul and Lydia’s interactions, it is clearly applied sometime in one direction and sometimes in the other. This is an excellent example of Christians taking care of one another’s needs. Given this meaningful relationship, it is odd that Lydia is not mentioned in Philippians. Perhaps this gives more credit to the argument that she was either Euodia or Syntyche.

Euodia and Syntyche

Euodia and Syntyche were also important women in Philippi and their relationship with each other had a large, and sometime negative, influence on the church there. Paul says in Philippians 4.3 that these two women “fought as my side in (spreading) the gospel.” What a mouthful that is. Some say that since they were women they were not ministers of the word in the same way Paul and other males were. This simply cannot be supported by the text and demonstrates forcing ones theology on the Bible rather than letting the Bible form one’s theology. Working “side by side” with someone implies doing the same job. This is not to imply that these two women were equivalent to Paul in every way. They simply engaged in the same ministry work as Paul did in Philippi and were respected, as much as the men, for their service.

Paul also refers to these women as “fellow workers.” Paul uses this phrase to describe several people in various letters. In Romans 16.3, he uses this term to describe Priscilla and Aquila who both served as teachers of the gospel (Acts 18.26). Euodia and Syntyche probably functioned in the same way as Priscilla and Aquila, teaching the gospel to men and women. 1 Corinthians 3:8-10 describes fellow workers as those who spread the message of Jesus (evangelism). In Colossians 4.10-15 Aristarchus, Mark, and Jesus called Justus are all fellow workers and probably Epaphras (who is from Philippi), Luke and Demas as well by the context. No one would assume for an instant that these fellow workers would be limited to secondary, non-teaching roles. Note we also have mention here of another female house church leader, Nympha, and the church that meets in her house in Laodicea. Finally, Philemon 1.24 again mentions Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke as fellow workers.

C. E. Cerling (“Women Ministers in the New Testament Church?”) argues that “fellow worker” does not equate with “preacher.” I agree. The idea we have of preachers who standup before their congregations and preach each week is a concept that does not map to first century Christianity. There was no separation of clergy and laity. To the contrary, in the first century every Christian had a ministry of some sort. Therefore, we simply have to say that these women served in the same way Paul did, which is probably an even stronger statement of the leadership of these women.

Another argument is that the culture they lived in would not allow such female leadership. We have already discussed that women in Macedonia had many freedoms and this leadership would not have stepped on too many cultural toes.

The conflict between Euodia and Syntyche is of great importance to Paul. In fact, it seems likely that Paul wrote this letter primarily to address their conflict. Throughout the letter, Paul pleads for unity. Philippians is filled with phrases such as “stand firm in one spirit,” “contending as one man,” and make [Paul’s] joy complete by being ‘like-minded, having the same love,’ and being one in spirit and purpose.” Garland (NT 1985: 171) writes:

“Perhaps because Euodia and Syntyche were women, it has been tacitly assumed by many interpreters that they could be only minor players in the plot of Philippians. It is my contention that Paul carefully and covertly wove his argument to lead up to the impassioned summons in 4.2. He wrote primarily to defuse the dispute between these two women that was having disastrous repercussions for the unity of the church (173).”

These two women were of such high standing in the church that their conflict seems to have gathered followers, splitting the church about whatever issue is was. It is also possible that the church had outgrown a single home and perhaps there were house churches at each of these women’s homes; house-churches that were moving toward complete separation rather than cooperation.

Conclusion

As in the ministry of Jesus, women provided material assets to the church in Philippi (and elsewhere). Lydia was part of the merchant class and had the wealth and status that came along with that position. Her house became the center of Christian activity in this community. She was a patron to Paul (and he to her).

Euodia and Syntyche were important members of the church in Philippi. They were “fellow workers” with Paul. Their dispute was causing a major problem in the church in Philippi and Paul wrote this letter specifically to address these women and their conflict. Women in Philippi shared equal status with the men in spreading the gospel. Nothing prevented them from sharing the gospel with both men and women.