Acts 14


Acts 14 is the fourteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records the first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas to Phrygia and Lycaonia. The book containing this chapter is anonymous but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the Gospel of Luke.

Text

The original text was written in Koine Greek. This chapter is divided into 28 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
;In Greek
;In Latin
This chapter mentions the following places :
The first missionary journey of Paul and Barnabas took place about AD 47–48.

Preaching in Iconium (verses 1-7) and Lystra (verses 8–20)

Paul and his companions went out of Antioch in Pisidia to the east, apparently following the Roman road which connects the Roman colonies of Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. Although the initial responses of both Jews and Greeks in the Iconium synagogue is positive, the account focuses less on the church's foundation story, and more on the repeated opposition from "unbelieving Jews" or "Jews who had decided against belief" in these cities.

Verse 8

This man's needs and circumstances match those of the man healed by Peter and John the Apostle|John] in Acts 3:2. Theologians, Christian Baur">Christianity">Christian Baur, and Eduard Zeller considered that this narrative originated "from an imitation of the narrative of the earlier Petrine miracle in chapter 3".

Verse 11

The Roman poet Ovid told of an ancient legend in which Zeus and Hermes came to the Phrygian hill country disguised as mortals seeking lodging. After being turned away from a thousand homes, they found refuge in the humble cottage of an elderly couple. In appreciation for the couple's hospitality, the gods transformed the cottage into a temple with a golden roof and marble columns. All the houses of the inhospitable people were then destroyed. This ancient legend may be the reason that the people treated Paul and Barnabas as gods. After witnessing the healing of the cripple, they did not want to make the same mistake as their ancestors. Ancient inscriptions confirm the existence of the local pre-Greek language in that period, as well as the joint worship of Zeus and Hermes in the area.

Verses 19-20

With verse 19 there is an "abrupt return" to summary mode and to the theme of Christian persecution. Although the stoning of Paul was undertaken by "Jews from Antioch and Iconium", Henry Alford suggests that "they stoned him, not in the Jewish method, but tumultuously and in the streets, dragging him out of the city afterwards". Paul refers to the event in 2 Corinthians 11:25. But when the disciples gathered about Paul, he "rose up". The meaning here does not imply a "miraculous" recovery; rather, it shows "the protection and support" around him, which "gives Paul the strength to rise up and continue his apostolic mission".
Paul and Barnabas departed the next day for Derbe. Many translations of the bible|translations] render this text as 'and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe', implying they traveled within one day, but as it is about 60 miles from Lystra to the likely site of Derbe, Bastian van Elderen has stated that Acts 14:20 must be translated as 'on the next day he set out with Barnabas towards Derbe'.

Returning to Pisidia (verses 21–23)

From Derbe, Paul and Barnabas began the journey back to Antioch, Pisidia, while consolidating the newly planted churches along the way: 'strengthening the soul and encouraging believers to remain in the faith in person as Paul later does with his letters. The term "Elders" is used by Paul as church officials in the Pastoral epistles, along with another term episkopoi.

The journey home from Pisidia to Syria (verses 24–28)

This section records the conclusion of the journey, tracing the traversed region along the land road until reaching Attalia, where they sailed to Seleucia, the sea port of Antioch in Syria. The missionary church received a 'formal report' on the accomplished work, especially the opening of a 'door of faith' for the Gentiles.