---
title: "Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible -  Acts 14"
description: "CHAPTER 14   :-. MEETING WITH
SIMILAR SUCCESS
AND SIMILAR
OPPOSITION AT ICONIUM,
PAUL AND BARNABAS
FLEE FOR THEIR
LIVES TO LYSTRA
AND DERBE, AND
PREACH TH"
image: "/images/missing.jpg"
url: "https://realbiblebelievers.com/commentaries/commentary-critical-and-explanatory-on-the-whole-bible/acts/14"
---

CHAPTER 14

. MEETING WITH
SIMILAR SUCCESS
AND SIMILAR
OPPOSITION AT ICONIUM,
PAUL AND BARNABAS
FLEE FOR THEIR
LIVES TO LYSTRA
AND DERBE, AND
PREACH THERE.
"After this detailed account
of Paul's labors at Pisidian Antioch, Luke subjoins only brief
notices of his further labors, partly because from the nature of the
case his discourses must have embraced nearly the same topics, and
partly because the consequences that resulted assumed quite a similar
shape" [OLSHAUSEN].

**1. they went both together into the
synagogue**—Though Paul was now the prominent speaker and actor,
yet in everything Barnabas went along with him.
**a . . . multitude . . . of
the Greeks believed**—meaning probably the religious proselytes,
as opposed to "the Gentiles" mentioned .

**3. Long time therefore abode
they**—because in spite of opposition they were meeting with so
much success.
**speaking boldly in the
Lord**—rather, "in dependence on the Lord," that is, on
their glorified Head.
**who gave testimony to the
word of his grace**—a notable definition of the Gospel, whose
whole burden is GRACE.
**and granted**—"granting,"
that is, who confirmed the Gospel by granting miraculous attestation
to it. (The "and" is wanting in the best manuscripts).

**5. an assault made . . . to stone
them**—rather here, "an impetuous movement" with a view
to stoning them: for in [2 Corinthians 11:25](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/11/25),
Paul says, "*Once* I was stoned," and that was at
Lystra, as expressly related in [2 Corinthians 11:25](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/11/25). (PALEY'S
remarks—*Horæ Paulinæ*—on this singular coincidence
between the Epistle and the history are very striking).
**fled**—(See [2 Corinthians 11:25](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/11/25)).

**6. unto Lystra and Derbe**—the
one some twenty miles to the south, the other some sixty miles to the
east of Iconium, somewhere near the bases of what are called the
Black Mountains and the roots of Mount Taurus; but their exact
position has not yet been discovered.
. AT LYSTRA
PAUL HEALING
A CRIPPLE, THE
PEOPLE ARE
SCARCE RESTRAINED
FROM SACRIFICING TO
THEM AS GODS,
BUT AFTERWARDS,
THEIR MINDS
BEING POISONED,
THEY STONE
PAUL, LEAVING
HIM FOR DEAD—WITHDRAWING
TO DERBE, THEY
PREACH AND TEACH
THERE.
There being no mention of the
synagogue at Lystra, it is probable there were too few Jews there to
form one.

**8-10. there sat there a certain man
. . . a cripple from his mother's womb . . . The same heard Paul
speak**—in the open air and () to a crowd of people.

**9. who steadfastly beholding him**—as
he did Elymas the sorcerer when about to work a miracle on him.
**and perceiving that he had
faith to be healed**—Paul may have been led by the sight of this
cripple to dwell on the Saviour's miracles of healing, and His
present power; and perceiving from the eagerness with which the
patient drank in his words, that he was prepared to put his own case
into the Redeemer's hands, the Spirit of the glorified Physician came
all upon Paul, and "with a loud voice" he bade him "stand
upright upon his feet." The effect was instantaneous—he sprang
to his feet "and walked."

**8-10. there sat there a certain man
. . . a cripple from his mother's womb . . . The same heard Paul
speak**—in the open air and () to a crowd of people.

**11-13. in the speech of
Lycaonia**—whether a corruption of the *Greek* tongue, which
was well enough understood in this region, or the remains of some
older tongue, is not known.
**The gods are come down to us
in the likeness of men**—the language of an unsophisticated
people. But "that which was a superstition in Lycaonia, and for
which the whole "creation" groaned, became a reality at
Bethlehem" [WEBSTER
and WILKINSON].

**12. they called Barnabas,
Jupiter**—the father of the gods, from his commanding mien
(CHRYSOSTOM thinks).
**and Paul, Mercurius**—the
god of eloquence and the messenger and attendant of Jupiter, in the
heathen mythology.

**13. the priest of Jupiter, which was
before their city**—that is, whose temple stood
**before their city, brought
oxen and garlands**—to crown the victims and decorate, as on
festive occasions, the porches.

**14-18. when . . . Barnabas and Paul
heard**—Barnabas is put first here, apparently as having been
styled the "Jupiter" of the company.
**they rent their clothes and
ran in**—rather (according to the true reading), "ran
forth."
**among the people, crying out
. . . Sirs, why do ye these things?**—This was something more
than that abhorrence of idolatry which took possession of the Jews as
a nation from the time of the Babylonish captivity: it was that
delicate sensibility to everything which affects the honor of God
which Christianity, giving us in God a reconciled Father, alone can
produce; making the Christian instinctively feel himself to be
wounded in all dishonor done to God, and filling him with mingled
horror and grief when such gross insults as this are offered to him.

**15. We . . . are men of like
passions,** &c.—How unlike either imposture or enthusiasm is
this, and how high above all self-seeking do these men of Christ show
themselves to be!
**unto the living God**—This
is the most glorious and distinctive of all the names of God. It is
the familiar phraseology of the Old Testament. which, in such
contrast with all that is to be found within the literature of
heathenism, is shown to be, with its sequel, the New Testament, the
one Book of the true religion.
**who made heaven, and earth,
and the sea, and all . . . therein**—This idea of *creation,*
utterly unknown alike to rude and to cultivated heathenism, would not
only define what was meant by "the living God," but open up
a new world to the more thoughtful part of the audience.

**16. Who in times past suffered all
nations to walk in their own ways**—that is, without extending to
them the revelation vouchsafed to the seed of Abraham, and the grace
attending it; compare [Acts 17:30](../../../kjv/acts/17/30);
[1 Corinthians 1:21](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/1/21). Yet not without guilt
on their part was this privation ([1 Corinthians 1:21](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/1/21), &c.).

**17. Nevertheless he left not himself
without witness**—Though the heinousness of idolatry is
represented as so much less in the heathen, by how much they were
outside the pale of revealed religion, he takes care to add that the
heathen have divine "witness" enough to leave them "without
excuse."
**he did good**—scattering
His beneficence everywhere and in a thousand forms.
**rain from heaven, and
fruitful seasons**—on which human subsistence and all human
enjoyment depend. In Lycaonia, where, as ancient writers attest, rain
is peculiarly scarce, this allusion would have all the greater
effect.
**filling our hearts with food
and gladness**—a natural colloquialism, the heart being gladdened
by the food supplied to the body.

**18. with these sayings scarce
restrained they the people that they had not done sacrifice to
them**—In spite of this,and Peter's repudiation of all such honor
([Acts 10:26](../../../kjv/acts/10/26)), how soon
idolatrous tendencies began to show themselves in the Christian
Church, at length to be systematized and enjoined in the Church of
Rome!

**19. came thither*****certain*****Jews from Antioch and Iconium**—Furious zeal that would travel so
far to counteract the missionaries of the Cross!
**persuaded the people**—"the
multitudes."
**and having stoned Paul**—(See
on [Acts 14:1](../../../kjv/acts/14/1)). Barnabas they seem
to have let alone; Paul, as the prominent actor and speaker, being
the object of all their rage. The words seem to imply that it was the
Jews who did this; and no doubt they took the lead ([Acts 14:1](../../../kjv/acts/14/1)), but it was the act of the instigated and fickle
multitudes along with them.
**drew*****him*****out of the city**—By comparing this with [Acts 14:1](../../../kjv/acts/14/1) it will be seen that the Jews were the chief actors in this
scene.

**20. as the disciples stood round
about him**—sorrowing. So his labors here had not been in vain:
"Disciples" had been gathered, who now rallied around the
bleeding body. And *one appears to have been gained on this
occasion, of far more importance than all the rest*—TIMOTHEUS.
See on [Acts 14:1](../../../kjv/acts/14/1). (It could
scarcely have been at the *subsequent* visit, [Acts 14:1](../../../kjv/acts/14/1), for the reason given in [2 Timothy 3:10](../../../kjv/2-timothy/3/10);
[2 Timothy 3:11](../../../kjv/2-timothy/3/11); while at the *third*
visit, [Acts 16:1-3](../../../kjv/acts/16/1-3), he
was already a Christian).
**he rose up**—It is
possible that this recovery was natural; the insensibility occasioned
by such treatment as he had received sometimes passing away of
itself, and leaving the patient less hurt than appeared. But
certainly the impression naturally left on the mind by the words is
that the restoration was miraculous; and so the best interpreters
understand the words. This is confirmed by what follows.
**came into the city**—Noble
intrepidity!
**next day he departed with
Barnabas to Derbe**—a journey for which he could hardly be fit if
his recovery had been natural. (As to Derbe, see on [Acts 16:1-44](../../../kjv/acts/16/1-44)).

**21, 22. they returned . . . to
Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls,** &c.—At
Derbe, Paul was not far from the well-known pass which leads down
from the central tableland to Cilicia and Tarsus. But his thoughts
did not center in an earthly home. He revisited the places where he
had been reviled and persecuted, but where he had left as sheep in
the desert the disciples whom his Master had enabled him to gather.
They needed building up and strengthening in the faith, comforting in
the midst of their inevitable suffering, and fencing round by
permanent institutions. Undaunted therefore by the dangers that
awaited them, our missionaries return to them, using words of
encouragement which none but the founders of a true religion would
have ventured to address to their earliest converts, that "we
can only enter into the kingdom of God by passing through much
tribulation" [HOWSON].

**23, 24. when they had ordained them
elders**—literally, "chosen by show of hands." But as
that would imply that this was done by the apostles' own hands, many
render the word, as in our version, "ordained." Still, as
there is no evidence in the New Testament that the word had then lost
its proper meaning, as this is beyond doubt its meaning in , and as there is indisputable evidence that the concurrence
of the people was required in all elections to sacred office in the
earliest ages of the Church, it is perhaps better to understand the
words to mean, "when they had made a choice of elders,"
that is, superintended such choice on the part of the disciples.
**and had prayed with
fasting**—literally, "fastings," thus setting them
solemnly apart. This last clause confirms our interpretation of the
former. For if "ordination" was by prayer and fasting (see
[Acts 13:3](../../../kjv/acts/13/3)), why should it be said
they first "ordained elders," and after that "prayed
with fasting?" Whereas if the first clause refer to the *choice*
and the second to the *ordination,* all is natural.
**they commended**—"committed"
**them**—that is, all these
churches.
**to the Lord**—Jesus.

**25. when they had preached the word
in Perga**—now doing what, for some reason, they had not done on
their former visit, but probably with no visible fruit.
**they went down into Attaila**—a
seaport on the Gulf of Pamphylia, drawing to itself the commerce of
Egypt and Syria.

**26. sailed to Antioch, from whence
they had been recommended**—(See on ).

**27. when they had gathered the
church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them,**
c.—As their call and mission had been solemn and formal, in the
presence of and by the Church as well as the Holy Ghost, they
dutifully, and no doubt with eager joy, convened the church and gave
their report of "all that God had done with them," that is,
by and for them.
**and how**—in particular.
**he had opened the door of
faith to the Gentiles**—to such even as before had not been
proselytes. (See on [Acts 14:1](../../../kjv/acts/14/1)
and on the language, see [1 Corinthians 16:9](../../../kjv/1-corinthians/16/9);
[2 Corinthians 2:12](../../../kjv/2-corinthians/2/12); [Colossians 4:3](../../../kjv/colossians/4/3)).
The ascribing directly to God of such access to the Gentiles is to be
noted.

**28. there they abode long time**—"no
little time." From the commencement of the mission till they
left Antioch to go up to attend the council at Jerusalem, some four
or five years elapsed; and as the missionary journey would probably
occupy less than two years, the rest of the time would be the period
of their stay at Antioch. (But see Chronological Table.)

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