As we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit of divination and brought her owners much gain by fortune-telling.
16. Luke prosecuteth the increase of the Church; for though he do not straightway in a word express that thing, yet is it easily gathered out of the text, that many were brought into the faith, or at least that the Church was somewhat augmented, and Paul did not frequent the assemblies in time of prayer in vain.
This slave girl, possessed by a spirit that mimicked Apollo's oracles, spoke truth about Paul and his companions, but truth from a demon's mouth is no testimony worth having. She enriched her masters by feeding men's hunger to know the future; the devil himself maintains his dominion by pretending to reveal what lies hidden.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 16:16-24
And it came to pass as we went to prayer,.... That is, to the house of prayer, or to the oratory, as they were in the way to it; for this is not to be understood of their just going to the act, or duty of prayer; for the damsel that now met them, is said to follow them, and to do so for many...