Acts 14

Leggi questo capitolo con intenzione

Acts 14 completes the first missionary journey. At Iconium Paul and Barnabas win many Jews and Greeks, divide the city, and flee a plot to stone them. At Lystra Paul heals a man lame from birth, and the crowd hails the two as Zeus and Hermes and prepares a sacrifice; the apostles tear their clothes and preach the living God who gives rain and fruitful seasons. Jews from Antioch and Iconium arrive, stone Paul, and drag him out of the city for dead; he gets up and leaves for Derbe the next day. On the return they strengthen the disciples, warn that the kingdom is entered through many hardships, and appoint elders. Back in Antioch they report that God has opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.

Apri commento del capitolo

Acts 14 is the chapter where being an apostle nearly gets Paul killed twice, and where he keeps walking. In Iconium the preaching works so well that the city splits down the middle, and the two men leave one step ahead of a mob with stones. In Lystra, a backwoods town with its own dialect, Paul looks at a man who has never walked, sees faith in him, and shouts at him to stand, and the man jumps up. The crowd concludes that the old story has come true again: the gods have come down in human form, Barnabas is Zeus and the talkative Paul is Hermes, and the priest of Zeus is at the gate with bulls and garlands before the apostles understand a word. They tear their clothes and run into the crowd shouting that they are only men, and Paul preaches the only sermon in Acts to people who had never heard of Moses: the living God made heaven and earth, let the nations go their way for a while, and yet never left himself without a witness, because he sends rain and harvests and fills your hearts with food and gladness. They can barely stop the sacrifice. Then Jews arrive from the last two towns, turn the same crowd, and stone Paul, and drag him outside the walls as a corpse. The disciples gather around him. He gets up. He goes back into the city, and the next day walks on to Derbe. On the way home he revisits every town that tried to kill him, tells the new believers that this is what entering the kingdom costs, and appoints elders so that they will not be alone.

Passi chiave

Acts 14:1-7 Acts 14:8-18 Acts 14:19-23 Acts 14:24-28 2 Timothy 3:10-12 Acts 17:22-31

Historical and literary context

The journey took place around AD 47 or 48 in the Roman province of Galatia, in what is now central Turkey. Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe were towns of Lycaonia, and the crowd's cry "in the Lycaonian language" explains why the apostles were slow to grasp what was happening. A local legend, preserved by the poet Ovid, told of Zeus and Hermes visiting the region in disguise and being welcomed only by an old couple, which is why the people were determined not to miss the gods a second time. Paul's speech at Lystra is the first in Acts to a purely pagan audience and appeals to creation and providence rather than Scripture. Timothy, from Lystra, probably witnessed the stoning. Paul later lists it among his sufferings.

How the chapter unfolds

Verses 1 to 7 cover Iconium: success, opposition, division, the plot, and the flight to Lystra and Derbe. Verses 8 to 18 cover Lystra: the healing, the acclamation as gods, the sacrifice prepared, and the apostles' protest and sermon. Verses 19 and 20 record the stoning and Paul's recovery. Verses 21 to 23 describe the return visits, the encouragement, the warning about hardships, and the appointment of elders with prayer and fasting. Verses 24 to 28 trace the route home through Pisidia, Pamphylia, Perga, and Attalia to Antioch, and the report to the sending church.

Why this chapter matters

The chapter established the pattern of Paul's mission: synagogue first, then Gentiles, opposition, flight, and return to organize churches with elders. "We must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God" is the New Testament's frankest statement that suffering is normal for believers. The Lystra sermon, God known through rain and harvest and "not left without testimony," is the seed of the Christian appeal to natural revelation, developed at Athens in chapter 17. The scene of the apostles refusing worship, "We too are only men," has been the church's rebuke to the cult of religious leaders, and Paul getting up after being stoned is one of the most remarkable images of endurance in Acts.

Interpretive tension to watch

Luke says Paul was stoned and "presumed dead," and readers differ on whether his rising was a miracle or a recovery; Paul's own later mention of a man caught up to paradise has been linked to this day without evidence. Verse 4 calls Barnabas an apostle, which complicates the idea that the apostles were only the Twelve plus Paul. The appointing of elders on a return trip within months raises the question of how quickly new churches should have local leadership. And the Lystra sermon's claim that God "let all nations go their own way" sits beside Romans 1's judgment on those nations.

Domande per questo capitolo

The same crowd wanted to sacrifice to Paul and then stoned him. What does that swing say about the applause of crowds?
Paul tells new believers that the kingdom is entered through many hardships. Is that a message churches today would put on their welcome sign?
God "has not left Himself without testimony" in rain and harvests. Where do people outside the church encounter his goodness before they hear his name?

Study with context

Use this as a chapter guide, then press deeper into the text itself. The goal is to slow down observation, notice structure, and ask better questions before jumping to conclusions.

Aggiungi alle note

1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a very great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks did believe. 2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up and incensed the minds of the Gentiles against the brethren. 3 A long time therefore they abode there, dealing confidently in the Lord, who gave testimony to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. 4 And the multitude of the city was divided; and some of them indeed held with the Jews, but some with the apostles. 5 And when there was an assault made by the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to use them contumeliously, and to stone them: 6 They understanding it, fled to Lystra, and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the whole country round about, and were there preaching the gospel. 7 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked. 8 This same heard Paul speaking. Who looking upon him, and seeing that he had faith to be healed, 9 Said with a loud voice: Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped up, and walked. 10 And when the multitudes had seen what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice in the Lycaonian tongue, saying: The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men; 11 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter: but Paul, Mercury; because he was chief speaker. 12 The priest also of Jupiter that was before the city, bringing oxen and garlands before the gate, would have offered sacrifice with the people. 13 Which, when the apostles Barnabas and Paul had heard, rending their clothes, they leaped out among the people, crying, 14 And saying: Ye men, why do ye these things? We also are mortals, men like unto you, preaching to you to be converted from these vain things, to the living God, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all things that are in them: 15 Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 16 Nevertheless he left not himself without testimony, doing good from heaven, giving rains and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. 17 And speaking these things, they scarce restrained the people from sacrificing to them. 18 Now there came thither certain Jews from Antioch, and Iconium: and persuading the multitude, and stoning Paul, drew him out of the city, thinking him to be dead. 19 But as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up and entered into the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. 20 And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch: 21 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith: and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. 22 And when they had ordained to them priests in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, in whom they believed. 23 And passing through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia. 24 And having spoken the word of the Lord in Perge, they went down into Attalia: 25 And thence they sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been delivered to the grace of God, unto the work which they accomplished. 26 And when they were come, and had assembled the church, they related what great things God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles. 27 And they abode no small time with the disciples.

Trasforma la lettura in vero studio

Registrati per salvare versetti, prendere note e studiare con strumenti AI.

Registrati Accedi

Scegli il tuo prossimo passo dopo questo capitolo Continua a leggere, scegli un piano o continua a studiare con l'AI.

Leggi il prossimo capitolo Acts 15 in Douay-Rheims 1899.

Piani di lettura

Scegli un piano se vuoi trasformare questo capitolo in un'abitudine ripetibile.

Chiedi all’IA di questo capitolo

Continua con lo studio AI se il testo solleva domande o va più in profondità di una lettura.

Segui i temi che questo capitolo apre Argomenti correlati per le domande più ampie che questo capitolo potrebbe aver aperto.

Sfoglia tutti gli argomenti