Acts 13:14-52

Ministry in Antioch of Pisidia 13:14-52

Paul and Barnabas proceeded north from the coast about 100 miles to Antioch of Pisidia. The road took them from sea level to 3,600 feet elevation through bandit-infested country. [Note: Blaiklock, p. 105.] They arrived on a lake-filled plateau. Paul later wrote to the Galatians that he had preached the gospel to them at first because of a weakness of the flesh (Galatians 4:13). This seems to indicate that Paul was not in good health when he ministered in Antioch of Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. Many commentators followed the theory of William Ramsay, who argued that Paul suffered from malaria, which he contracted on the lowlands of Perga. [Note: William M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, p. 93.] Antioch of Pisidia was a Roman colony, as were Lystra, Troas, Philippi, and Corinth. Roman colonies stood at strategic places in the empire along frequently travelled roads. As such, Antioch would have been a good place to plant a church. The Via Sebaste, the Roman road that ran from Ephesus to the Euphrates River, passed through this Antioch.

"Antioch was the most important city of southern Galatia and included within its population a rich amalgam of Greek, Roman, Oriental, and Phrygian traditions. Acts tells us that it also had a sizeable Jewish population." [Note: Longenecker, pp. 422-23.]

"In bringing the gospel to Pisidian Antioch, Paul and Barnabas were planting Christianity in the communication nerve center and heart of Asia Minor." [Note: Merrill F. Unger, "Pisidian Antioch and Gospel Penetration of the Greek World," Bibliotheca Sacra 118:469 (January-March 1961):48.]

People referred to this town as Pisidian Antioch (Antioch of Pisidia) because it was close to the geographical region of Pisidia, though its site was in the geographical region of Phrygia. They called it Antioch of Pisidia to distinguish it from another Antioch in Phrygia.

"It was founded by Seleucus I Nicator about 281 B.C. as one of the sixteen cities he named in honor of either his father or his son, both of whom bore the name Antiochus." [Note: Longenecker, p. 422.]

This town was in the Roman province of Galatia and was the chief military and political center in the southern part of the Galatian province. [Note: See Ramsay, St. Paul . . ., p. 92.] Luke recorded that the missionaries had contact with seven different types of people here: synagogue officials, Jews, proselytes, God-fearers, devout women of high standing, Gentiles, and leading men of the city. They reached all levels of society.