Biblical Views: Paul, the Python Girl, and Human Trafficking

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For some Bible readers, passages describing slavery sound like ancient history. The practice of kidnapping, selling, and exploiting human beings echo a bygone era. But, although no longer sanctioned by governments, slavery still exists. Today slaves are not identifiable by their skin color and ethnic origin. In this new era of slavery, the oppressed and exploited are all around us, only more hidden. We may pass them on the street and not even know who they are—much less that they are victims of human trafficking.

With much needed attention being given to human trafficking, I began to wonder how the Bible, although bound by time and culture, might speak to us on this subject. Since modern-day slavery disproportionately affects women and children, I decided to study stories of slave-girls in the Bible, in particular the slave-girl in Philippi (Acts 16:16–24).¹ As I read the story, I sought to learn what might be relevant to the topic of human trafficking. The results are both enlightening and disturbing.

The New Revised Standard Version (NRSV) identifies the woman as a “slave-girl” (paidiske).² This translation is correct, but the term used is somewhat ambiguous, since it can also mean “young woman” or “maiden” without any hint of slavery.³ But this is one of the sinister aspects of slavery language. At times it hides the cruelty and inhumanity of slavery. The same term could also refer to prostitutes, since slaves were sometimes forced to sell their bodies so that the master could profit.⁴ The appearance of the term here suggests she was young, perhaps a teenager. There is no evidence she was working in the sex trade, but in antiquity this was always an option. Furthermore, we often think of slavery as one or more slaves owned by an individual or a family. But this young girl is owned by multiple people with the plural noun (kurioi), suggesting two or more masters. Having multiple masters acerbates her situation and makes her more vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse by any of her owners.

The NRSV attributes the girl’s fortune-telling to a “spirit of divination,” but the Greek says a “spirit of python” (πύθων). Python was the name of the legendry snake killed by Apollo at Delphi. Later at Delphi a priestess named “Pythia” would fall into an intoxicated trance and speak for Apollo.⁵ There seems to be a connection between the Delphi oracle and the slave-girl’s clairvoyance. Whatever the source of her unusual gift, it is clear that her owners exploited her abilities, which is the basis of all slavery: one group exploiting the bodies of others for personal gain without concern or thought for the victims.

We are never told the slave-girl’s name, only that she has a gift for fortune-telling. But this is not unusual, since enslaved human beings often lose the dignity of their name. In antiquity slaves were identified by their servile name and their inability to record their family name or tribe.⁶ Without a name to identify this girl, it’s possible she was better known by her unusual gift. Some may have called her “python-girl,” since what was important to clients was not her name, but the unusual gift attributed to a “spirit of python.” The slave-girl’s situation is not all that different from those trapped in the modern slave trade, exploited by what they have, quite often their bodies. No name, no personal identity, no dignity. Like the python-girl in Philippi, they are viewed as less than people: commodities to be bought, sold, and traded.

There is still more we can learn here, not only about the slave-girl, but about how we might perceive and react to the enslaved.

Although slavery affects women and children disproportionally, it does not do so equally. Prior to the story of the python-girl, we read the story of Lydia, a successful business-woman who sells purple cloth. Women were usually considered the property of husbands or male guardians. But Lydia doesn’t seem to be married or under guardianship, suggesting a substantial degree of personal freedom. Acts 16:15 says, “she and her household were baptized,” indicating she was probably wealthy. Her house was big enough to host Paul, Silas, Timothy, and other unnamed individuals, which probably included spaces for sleeping, food, and other comforts of life. It also suggests she probably owned slaves who helped run her household.

Observe the contrast. Lydia is a named, successful woman in a class altogether different from the python-girl. Slavery creates walls between us and the enslaved to the point that they become less important and less noticeable whether to the author of Acts or to us.

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Notice too how we meet this slave-girl. She follows Paul and his companions to the “place of prayer” over the course of “many days,” declaring, “These men are slaves of the Most High God, who proclaim to you the way of salvation” (Acts 16:16–18). It appears everyone, including Paul, ignored her multiple times, though she made it difficult to do so. But it is when Paul does respond and why he responds that is all the more troubling. In the narrative, there’s no hint that the python-girl was speaking untruthfully and needed to be silenced. Rather, Paul simply got annoyed and cast the spirit out of her (Acts 16:18). Nothing is said about leading her to the Christian faith or rescuing her from slavery, only that Paul had had enough and finally dealt with her.

How many are like Paul in this story, able to see a Lydia who represents one aspect of society that can do much for him, but blind to the less fortunate? We 070see them every day on the way to work, the grocery store, or—as with Paul—on the way to worship. Is the only reason we notice them because they annoy us or get in our way on the sidewalk? Do we question what brought them to this place in their lives? When we see prostitutes, do we assume they have freely chosen that lifestyle? Do we ever think that they, like the slave-girl, may be forced to do this?

This leads to a final thought: What happened to the python-girl? Did she join the church? Did her owners, realizing they could no longer make money one way, exploit her another way, perhaps sexually? Many commentators view Lydia, the python-girl, and the Philippian jailer as a three-part conversion story. But while Acts is clear that Lydia and the jailer became Christians, we are told nothing about the python-girl. What happened to her is a mystery. But perhaps the gaps in her story can invite us to consider what we might do should we encounter someone like her.

For some Bible readers, passages describing slavery sound like ancient history. The practice of kidnapping, selling, and exploiting human beings echo a bygone era. But, although no longer sanctioned by governments, slavery still exists. Today slaves are not identifiable by their skin color and ethnic origin. In this new era of slavery, the oppressed and exploited are all around us, only more hidden. We may pass them on the street and not even know who they are—much less that they are victims of human trafficking. With much needed attention being given to human trafficking, I began to wonder how […]