NLT Illustrated Study Bible - Book of Acts - Flipbook - Page 43
A cts 1 4 : 1 2
1999
13:52
1 Pet 1:8
14:1
Acts 13:45
14:2
2 Tim 3:11
14:3
Heb 2:4
14:4
Acts 28:24
14:5
Acts 14:19; 20:3
2 Tim 3:11
14:6
Matt 10:23
14:8
Acts 3:2
14:10
Acts 3:8
14:11
Acts 28:6
of rejection and went to the town of Ico
nium. 52 And the believers* were filled with
joy and with the Holy Spirit.
Paul and Barnabas in Iconium
The same thing happened in Ico
nium.* Paul and Barnabas went to
the Jewish synagogue and preached with
such power that a great number of both Jews
and Greeks became believers. 2 Some of the
Jews, however, spurned God’s message and
poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against
Paul and Barnabas. 3 But the apostles stayed
there a long time, preaching boldly about the
grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their
message was true by giving them power to
do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 But the
people of the town were divided in their
opinion about them. Some sided with the
Jews, and some with the apostles.
5 Then a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along
14
with their leaders, decided to attack and
stone them. 6 When the apostles learned of
it, they fled to the region of Lycaon
ia—to the
towns of Lystra and Derbe and the surround
ing area. 7 And there they preached the Good
News.
Paul and Barnabas in Lystra and Derbe
8 While they were at Lystra, Paul and Barna
bas came upon a man with crippled feet. He
had been that way from birth, so he had never
walked. He was sitting 9 and listening as Paul
preached. Looking straight at him, Paul real
ized he had faith to be healed. 10 So Paul called
to him in a loud voice, “Stand up!” And the
man jumped to his feet and started walking.
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had
done, they shouted in their local dialect,
“These men are gods in human form!”
12 They decided that Barnabas was the Greek
god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since
13:52 Greek the disciples. 14:1 Iconium, as well as Lystra and Derbe (14:6), were towns in what is now Turkey.
persecution, the believers were filled
with joy and with the Holy Spirit (cp.
5:41; 16:2325; Matt 5:1012; 2 Cor 8:2;
1 Thes 1:6).
14:1 The missionaries moved on to the
next town, Iconium (now called Konya),
located east of Pisidian Antioch on a
high plateau in south central Asia Minor.
Iconium enjoyed a favorable location on
several key trade routes. • In their usual
fashion, Paul and Barnabas began their
ministry in the area by speaking power
fully in the Jewish synagogue, which led
to a great response from both Jews and
Greeks.
14:2 Once again Paul and Barnabas
faced hostile Jews who rejected the
Christian message and also poisoned the
minds of the Gentiles.
14:3 The Spirit-inspired apostles were
resilient to withstand the verbal attack
against them, and they persisted in
preaching the Good News that God’s
grace was available to Gentiles as well
as to Jews. • boldly: Spirit-inspired
boldness is evident throughout Acts
(see 2:14; 4:910, 13; 7:253; 8:3035;
9:2728; 18:26; 19:8; 22:321; 23:16;
28:1620, 2331). • In addition, the Holy
Spirit confirmed the Christian message
with miraculous signs and wonders (cp.
5:1216; 15:12; 16:18; 19:11).
14:4 The apostolic message required
a decision about belief in Jesus, and
opinion was clearly split. • Paul and
Barnabas are called apostles for the first
time (also in 14:14), extending the idea
of apostleship beyond the Twelve. Their
message was in continuity with that
of the original apostles, and they were
prepared to suffer hardship and perse
cution for it as the earlier apostles had
done (5:41; 14:19; 20:24; 21:1314; see
also Rom 8:3538; 2 Cor 4:817).
PROPHETS OF ISRAEL
ZEUS AND HERMES (Acts 14:1113)
In Greek mythology, Zeus was the chief god, while Hermes was the messenger of
the gods and the god of eloquent speech. The people in Lystra acclaimed Barn
abas as Zeus, perhaps because of his impressive appearance, and Paul as Hermes
because of his miraculous work and role as chief speaker (see note on 14:1113).
14:6 Lycaonia was a southern region
of the Roman province of Galatia.
Its major cities were Lystra, Derbe,
Laranda, and Iconium. Acts reports two
more visits by Paul to Lycaonia (16:15;
18:23). Paul’s letter to the Galatians was
probably addressed to scattered believ
ers in the churches of Lycaonia (see
Galatians Introduction, “Recipients”).
• Lystra was located roughly twenty-
five miles (40 km) south-southwest of
Iconium. • Derbe, situated about thirty
miles (50 km) southeast of Lystra, was
on the busy major road that stretched
from Iconium and Lystra eastward to
Tarsus, the capital of Cilicia.
14:820 Paul’s healing of a man with
crippled feet recalls a similar incident
in 3:112. In Acts, the work of Paul
GOSPELS & ACTS
parallels the work of Peter, and the
many miraculous signs and wonders
performed among the Jews were also
performed among the Gentiles.
14:9 Paul realized he had faith to be
healed: Paul, full of the Holy Spirit
(9:17), sensed the man’s spiritual open
ness and expectancy for divine help
and intervention.
14:1113 Zeus was the patron god of
Lystra, and the city had a temple in his
honor. They associated Barnabas with
Zeus, perhaps because he was the more
impressive figure, and Hermes was
identified with Paul . . . since he was the
chief speaker. The native people of Lystra
thought that they were being treated
to a divine visitation similar to a past
L E T T E R S O F PAU L
OTHER LET TERS
