Acts 14:21-22

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria

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 

[14:21]  ¹ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) northwest of Derbe.

[14:21]  ² sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra.

[14:21]  ³ sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.

[14:22]  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.”

[14:22]  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.”

[14:22]  ⁶ sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.

[14:22]  ⁷ tn Or “sufferings.”