Acts 14:1

This chapter concludes the account of the first missionary journey, detailing the experiences of Paul and Barnabas in Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, and also their revisiting all of the Galatian cities of this first tour, strengthening the churches, appointing elders, and their preaching at Perga which had been skipped at the beginning. It concludes with an account of their return journey to Syrian Antioch and the report of their labors to the sponsoring church.

After their experiences on Cyprus, outlined in the previous chapter, all these places Paul visited were in the Roman province of Galatia, as then constituted; hence their designation as "the Galatians." See under Acts 13:16. There were two districts in Roman Galatia, which were Phrygia and Lycaonia.

Lycaonia contained two cities, Lystra and Derbe, along with many villages. Iconium was reckoned by popular native opinion as being in Phrygia; ... but all these cities were included by the Romans in the province they called Galatia.[1]

The length of time Paul and company had spent in Antioch of Pisidia included at least "the whole winter of A.D. 46-47,"[2] due to the severe winters which made traveling nearly impossible for the ancients. Between Antioch and Iconium, a distance of 90 miles, lay rough mountainous terrain, Antioch having an altitude of 3,500 feet and Iconium having an altitude of 3,300 feet. Scholars are uncertain as to the exact duration of Paul's labors at any given place on this first tour, and also as to the time of the whole tour, their educated guesses ranging from one to three years. All that is certainly known is that it took place in the period A.D. 45-50. Certainly Paul stayed long enough in Pisidian Antioch to teach and firmly establish the church there.

[1] Sir William M. Ramsay, Pictures of the Apostolic Church (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1950), pp. 129-130.

[2] Ibid., p. 128.

And it came to pass in Iconium that they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed. (Acts 14:1)

ICONIUM

This old Phrygian city, then a part of Roman Galatia, had a history reaching back into prehistoric times; it was located on the site of the modern city of Konia, a portion of the ancient name being still retained. Greek mythology relates that King Nannakos ruled there, that an oracle warned him of a world-wide flood, which he vainly sought to avert through tears and entreaties to the gods. The flood came; and when the waters receded, Prometheus and Athena made images of mud into which the winds breathed life; so was the earth repopulated. The word "images" in the Greek ([@eikones]) gives us the English "icon"; and similarly Iconium found a name![3] Such a legend of course was grounded in the fact that the flood mentioned in Genesis actually occurred.

It stood on the edge of the plateau, well watered, a wealthy and productive region. Claudius honored it by calling it Claudiconium; Hadrian made it an honorary colony. "In New Testament times, the juridicial powers of the assembly were vested in the two magistrates elected annually."[4]

They entered together into the synagogue ... MacGreggor expressed surprise that "after burning their bridges" (Acts 13:46), they should so soon have appeared in another synagogue; however, Paul's "Lo we turn to the Gentiles" had reference only to the situation in Pisidian Antioch and not to any purpose of henceforth refusing to enter synagogues. This particular synagogue in Iconium had an unusually large number of Gentiles in attendance, many of whom were also proselytes; and it provided a major opportunity for Paul. Walker commented on the fact that it was "easier to interpret prophetic utterances concerning Christ to the Gentiles,"[5] because the Gentiles, unlike the Jews, were not blinded by the malignant carnal nationalism which dominated Jewish thought and was the prime reason for their rejection of Christ.

And so spake ... Not merely preaching, but preaching in such a manner as to reach men's hearts, characterized the work of the apostles. As De Welt said:

We would do well to follow closely the message and method of the apostles that we too might "so speak" as to reach the hearts of those to whom we preach.[6]

A great multitude ... believed ... Wherever such an expression is used in the New Testament, "believed" is a figure of speech standing for all that is involved in becoming a Christian. Such a comment as the following demonstrates the religious error which fails to take this into account:

The Christian missionaries had learned to declare that faith, and faith alone, was the ground of admission to God's kingdom ... Barnabas and Paul found the faith condition quite sufficient ... and required no other of their Gentile converts.[7]

If such a comment is true, why did Paul command the Philippian jailer to be baptized at midnight? (Acts 16:33). There are two uses of "believed" in the New Testament, one as a synecdoche for the primary steps of obedience, and the other as an identification of one of those steps. It is used in the first of these senses here. In such an expression as "faith alone," which is both unscriptural and anti-scriptural, there is a clear and undeniable perversion of the word of God. The only mention of "faith alone" in the entire New Testament affirms that men are not justified "by faith only" (James 2:24 KJV). See the next verse.

[3] E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (Old Tappan, New Jersey: Fleming H. Revell Company, 1965), p. 27.

[4] The New Bible Dictionary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans, Publishers, 1962), p. 551.

[5] W. R. Walker, Studies in Acts (Joplin, Missouri: College Press), II, p. 14.

[6] Don De Welt, Acts Made Actual (Joplin, Missouri: College Press, 1958), p. 185.

[7] R. Tuck, The Pulpit Commentary (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishers, 1950), p. 457.