Discovery BoxActs 14:19-23 
Context14:19 But Jews came from Antioch 1 and Iconium, 2 and after winning 3 the crowds over, they stoned 4 Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead. 14:20 But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back 5 into the city. On 6 the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. 7
14:21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, 8 to Iconium, 9 and to Antioch. 10 14:22 They strengthened 11 the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue 12 in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom 13 of God through many persecutions.” 14 14:23 When they had appointed elders 15 for them in the various churches, 16 with prayer and fasting 17 they entrusted them to the protection 18 of the Lord in whom they had believed.
1 sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.
map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2; JP4 E2.
2 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra. Note how Jews from other cities were chasing Paul (2 Cor 11:4-6; Gal 2:4-5; Acts 9:16).
3 tn The participle πείσαντες (peisante") is taken temporally (BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.c).
4 tn Grk “stoning Paul they dragged him.” The participle λιθάσαντες (liqasante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.
5 tn Grk “and entered”; the word “back” is not in the Greek text but is implied.
6 tn Grk “And on.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
7 sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. This was the easternmost point of the journey.
map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2.
8 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) northwest of Derbe.
map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2.
9 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra.
10 sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.
map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2; JP4 E2.
11 tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”
12 sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”
13 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.
14 tn Or “sufferings.”
15 sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.
16 tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.
17 tn Literally with a finite verb (προσευξάμενοι, proseuxamenoi) rather than a noun, “praying with fasting,” but the combination “prayer and fasting” is so familiar in English that it is preferable to use it here.
18 tn BDAG 772 s.v. παρατίθημι 3.b has “entrust someone to the care or protection of someone” for this phrase. The reference to persecution or suffering in the context (v. 22) suggests “protection” is a better translation here. This looks at God’s ultimate care for the church.
