Acts 16:13. We went out of the city by a river side, where prayer was wont to be made.
Many writers suppose that there is reference here to the Jewish custom of having proseuchae, or places of prayer, distinct from synagogues, and in locations where there were no synagogues. Though some commentators deny the reference to the custom in this passage, yet the existence of the custom itself is undeniable. The proseuchae were places for prayer outside of those towns where the Jews were too poor to have synagogues, or were not permitted to have them. They were generally located near the water for the convenience of ablution. Sometimes a large building was erected: but frequently the proseuchae was simply a retired place in the open air or in a grove.
Rivers seem to have been favorite places of resort for God’s people. In captivity they assembled “by the rivers of Babylon” (Psa. 137:1). Ezekiel speaks of being among them “by the river of Chebar” (Ezek. 1:1). Daniel was “by the river of Ulai” when he beheld one of his visions (Dan. 8:2) and he saw another when he was “by the side of the great river, which is Hiddekel” (Dan. 10:4). Dr. Pusey quotes from a decree of the Halicarnassians, which gave leave “that those of the Jews who willed, men and women. should keep the Sabbaths, and perform their rites according to the Jewish laws, and wake oratories by the sea according to their country’s wont” (Pusey on Daniel, pp. 110-111).