Acts 14:1-9

Paul and Barnabas at Iconium

14:1 The same thing happened in Iconium ¹  when Paul and Barnabas ²  went into the Jewish synagogue ³  and spoke in such a way that a large group ⁴  of both Jews and Greeks believed. 14:2 But the Jews who refused to believe ⁵  stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds ⁶  against the brothers. 14:3 So they stayed there ⁷  for a considerable time, speaking out courageously for the Lord, who testified ⁸  to the message ⁹  of his grace, granting miraculous signs ¹⁰  and wonders to be performed through their hands. 14:4 But the population ¹¹  of the city was divided; some ¹²  sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles. 14:5 When both the Gentiles and the Jews (together with their rulers) made ¹³  an attempt to mistreat ¹⁴  them and stone them, ¹⁵  14:6 Paul and Barnabas ¹⁶  learned about it ¹⁷  and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra ¹⁸  and Derbe ¹⁹  and the surrounding region. 14:7 There ²⁰  they continued to proclaim ²¹  the good news.

Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

14:8 In ²²  Lystra ²³  sat a man who could not use his feet, ²⁴  lame from birth, ²⁵  who had never walked. 14:9 This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul ²⁶  stared ²⁷  intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed,

[14:1]  ¹ sn Iconium. See the note in 13:51.

[14:1]  ² tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:1]  ³ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.

[14:1]  ⁴ tn Or “that a large crowd.”

[14:2]  ⁵ tn Or “who would not believe.”

[14:2]  ⁶ tn Or “embittered their minds” (Grk “their souls”). BDAG 502 s.v. κακόω 2 has “make angry, embitter τὰς ψυχάς τινων κατά τινος poison the minds of some persons against another Ac 14:2.”

[14:3]  ⁷ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[14:3]  ⁸ sn The Lord testified to the message by granting the signs described in the following clause.

[14:3]  ⁹ tn Grk “word.”

[14:3]  ¹⁰ tn Here the context indicates the miraculous nature of the signs mentioned.

[14:4]  ¹¹ tn BDAG 825 s.v. πλῆθος 2.b.γ has this translation for πλῆθος (plhqo").

[14:4]  ¹² tn These clauses are a good example of the contrastive μὲν…δέ (men…de) construction: Some “on the one hand” sided with the Jews, but some “on the other hand” sided with the apostles.

[14:5]  ¹³ tn Grk “So there came about an attempt” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[14:5]  ¹⁴ tn On this verb see BDAG 1022 s.v. ὑβρίζω.

[14:5]  ¹⁵ tn The direct object “them” is repeated after both verbs in the translation for stylistic reasons, although it occurs only after λιθοβολῆσαι (liqobolhsai) in the Greek text.

[14:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Paul and Barnabas) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[14:6]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “learning about it, fled.” The participle συνιδόντες (sunidonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. It could also be taken temporally (“when they learned about it”) as long as opening clause of v. 5 is not translated as a temporal clause too, which results in a redundancy.

[14:6]  ¹⁸ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) south of Iconium, a Roman colony that was not on the main roads of Lycaonia. Because of its relative isolation, its local character was able to be preserved.

[14:6]  ¹⁹ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra.

[14:7]  ²⁰ tn Grk “region, and there.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, καί (kai) has not been translated and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[14:7]  ²¹ tn The periphrastic construction εὐαγγελιζόμενοι ἦσαν (euangelizomenoi hsan) has been translated as a progressive imperfect.

[14:8]  ²² tn Grk “And in.” 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.

[14:8]  ²³ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) south of Iconium.

[14:8]  ²⁴ tn Grk “powerless in his feet,” meaning he was unable to use his feet to walk.

[14:8]  ²⁵ tn Grk “lame from his mother’s womb” (an idiom).

[14:9]  ²⁶ tn Grk “speaking, who.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the noun “Paul,” and a new sentence begun in the translation because an English relative clause would be very awkward here.

[14:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “looked.”