Acts 14:21-28

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  14:23 When they had appointed elders ⁸  for them in the various churches, ⁹  with prayer and fasting ¹⁰  they entrusted them to the protection ¹¹  of the Lord in whom they had believed. 14:24 Then they passed through ¹²  Pisidia and came into Pamphylia, ¹³  14:25 and when they had spoken the word ¹⁴  in Perga, ¹⁵  they went down to Attalia. ¹⁶  14:26 From there they sailed back to Antioch, ¹⁷  where they had been commended ¹⁸  to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. ¹⁹  14:27 When they arrived and gathered the church together, they reported ²⁰  all the things God ²¹  had done with them, and that he had opened a door ²²  of faith for the Gentiles. 14:28 So they spent ²³  considerable ²⁴  time with the disciples.

[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.”

[14:23]  ⁸ sn Appointed elders. See Acts 20:17.

[14:23]  ⁹ tn The preposition κατά (kata) is used here in a distributive sense; see BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.1.d.

[14:23]  ¹⁰ 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.

[14:23]  ¹¹ 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.

[14:24]  ¹² tn Grk “Then passing through Pisidia they came.” The participle διελθόντες (dielqonte") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[14:24]  ¹³ sn Pamphylia was a province along the southern coast of Asia Minor.

[14:25]  ¹⁴ tn Or “message.”

[14:25]  ¹⁵ sn Perga was a city in Pamphylia near the southern coast of Asia Minor.

[14:25]  ¹⁶ sn Attalia was a seaport in the province of Pamphylia on the southern coast of Asia Minor, about 12 mi (20 km) southwest of Perga.

[14:26]  ¹⁷ sn Antioch was the city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia) from which Paul’s first missionary journey began (see Acts 13:1-4). That first missionary journey ends here, after covering some 1,400 mi (2,240 km).

[14:26]  ¹⁸ tn Or “committed.” BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 2 gives “commended to the grace of God for the work 14:26” as the meaning for this phrase, although “give over” and “commit” are listed as alternative meanings for this category.

[14:26]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 829 s.v. πληρόω 5 has “to bring to completion an activity in which one has been involved from its beginning, complete, finish” as meanings for this category. The ministry to which they were commissioned ends with a note of success.

[14:27]  ²⁰ tn Or “announced.”

[14:27]  ²¹ sn Note that God is the subject of the activity. The outcome of this mission is seen as a confirmation of the mission to the Gentiles.

[14:27]  ²² sn On the image of opening, or of the door, see 1 Cor 16:9; 2 Cor 2:12; Col 4:3.

[14:28]  ²³ tn BDAG 238 s.v. διατρίβω gives the meaning as “spend” when followed by an accusative τὸν χρόνον (ton cronon) which is the case here.

[14:28]  ²⁴ tn Grk “no little (time)” (an idiom).