LYDIA

LYDIA (1.) Ezekiel 30=>5 (Hebrews Lud), a province in the west of Asia Minor, which derived its name from the fourth son of Shem (Genesis 10=>22). It was bounded on the east by the greater Phrygia, and on the west by Ionia and the AEgean Sea. (2.) A woman of Thyatira, a “seller of purple,” who dwelt in Philippi (Acts 16=>14, 15). She was not a Jewess but a proselyte. The Lord opened her heart as she heard the gospel from the lips of Paul (16=>13). She thus became the first in Europe who embraced Christianity. She was a person apparently of considerable wealth, for she could afford to give a home to Paul and his companions. (See THYATIRA.)