14:21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, 1 to Iconium, 2 and to Antioch. 3 14:22 They strengthened 4 the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue 5 in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom 6 of God through many persecutions.” 7
1 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) northwest of Derbe.
2 sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra.
3 sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.
4 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.”
5 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.”
6 sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.
7 tn Or “sufferings.”