Acts 16 verses 16 - 24

Acts 16 verses 16 - 24

16   And it happened, as we went into a place of prayer, a certain slavegirl having a Pythonic spirit met us, whose divining brought much gain to her lords.

17   Following after Paul and us, she cried out, saying, These men are slaves of the Most High God, who are announcing to us a way of salvation!

18   And she did this over many days. But becoming distressed, and turning to the demonic spirit, Paul said, In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out from her! And it came out in that same hour.

19   And seeing that the hope of their gain went out, having seized Paul and Silas, her lords dragged them to the market before the rulers.

20   And bringing them near to the magistrates, they said, These men are very much troubling our city, being Jews,

21   and announce customs which it is not lawful for us to receive, not to do, being Romans.

22   And the crowd rose up together against them. And tearing off their clothes, the magistrates commanded to flog them.

23   And laying on them many stripes, they threw them into prison, charging the jailer to keep them securely;

24   who, receiving such a charge, threw them into the inner prison, and locked their feet in the stocks.

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Retranslation (16): It followed that as we died to mortal sense, as we killed all belief in a reality not of God,----- as we went into prayer, -----worshipping only God, and thus reaching the sacred place of God’s communion, we encountered the servant of Python, having the appearance of a maid.

“Her divining brought much to her lords”:  She craves and she raves. She is irrational,---without logic; she lacks the divine rationality, the divine logic, built on the premise of Spirit as the only reality. She is insensate: destitute of true sense which is spiritual. She craves satisfaction in matter as do her lords, mortal minds. She demands gratification of material hypotheses, and their senses, which perceive only matter. She is foolishly beside herself, not God; her materialistic divining is no more divine than the mortal mind which controls her; both are unreal. 

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happened 1096 ginomai, to cause to be, i.e to become (come into being):----[it followed]

went 4198 poreuomai, to traverse; esp. to remove (fig. to die), live, etc.----take a journey, walk, go one’s way, depart.

into 1519 eis, to or into (indicating the point reached or entered) of place, purpose, result.

prayer 4335 proseuche, worship.

Python 4436 from Pytho (the name of the region where Delphi, the seat of the famous oracle was located); a Python, i.e. inspiration (soothsaying):-----divination.

divining 3132 monteuomai, derived from 3105 (meaning a prophet, as supposed to rave through inspiration); to divine, i.e. utter spells (under pretense of foretelling):----by soothsaying.

3105 mainomai, from mao (to long for; through the idea of insensate craving); to rave as a “maniac”:---be beside self (mad).

rave (1828 Dict.) [L. rabio, to rave, to rage or be furious; Dan.raver, to reel/]

1. To wander in mind or intellect; to be delirious; to talk irrationally; to be wild.
2. To utter furious exclamations; to be furious or raging; as a madman.
3. To dote; to be unreasonably fond; followed by upon; as, to rave upon antiquity.

insensate a. [L. in and sensus, sense.] Destitute of sense; stupid; foolish; wanting sensibility.

craving ppr  [Sax. crafian, to crave, ask, implore. Primary sense is to cry out, or call.]

Calling for with urgency; requiring; demanding gratification; as an appetite craving food.

divination n. (1828 Dict.) [L. divinatio, from divino, to foretell.]

divine v.t. (ibid.) [L. divino.]

1. To foreknow; to foretell; to presage.
2. To deify.

divine v.i. (ibid.)

1. To utter presages or prognostications.
2. To have presages or forebodings.
3. To guess or conjecture.

met 528 apanto, from 575 and derivative of 473 (anti, opposite, rarely in addition to); to meet away, i.e. encounter:----meet.

brought 3930

much 4183

to her lords 2962 kyrios, from kyros (supremacy); supreme in authority, i.e. (as noun) controller; by implication Mister (as a respectful title):-----God, Lord, master, Sir.