Lystra

Biblical Text

Lystra was a city in the region of Lycaonia that Paul and his companions visited several times in Acts.

• First visit (Acts 14:6–20): Paul and Barnabas came to Lystra after fleeing persecution in Iconium. When Paul raised up a man who had been unable to walk from birth, the crowd cried out in the speech of Lycaonia that the gods had come down in the likeness of men. They called Barnabas Zeus, and they called Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker. When the priest of the temple of Zeus, which stood before the city, brought oxen and garlands to offer sacrifice, the two men tore their clothes and restrained the people. They urged them to turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth (14:15–17). Then Jews who had come from Antioch and Iconium stirred up the crowd, and they stoned Paul. Supposing he had been dead, they dragged him out of the city. But as the disciples stood around him, Paul rose up, and the next day he departed for Derbe.
• Return journey (14:21–23): The two men passed through Lystra again, exhorting the believers that "we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." They also appointed elders in every church.
• Second visit (16:1–3): When Paul came again to Derbe and Lystra, a disciple named Timothy was there. Timothy was the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father, and he was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium. Paul took him along and circumcised him.
• Recollection (2 Timothy 3:11): Paul reminds Timothy of the persecutions he endured at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra.

Background

Lystra was a city located southwest of ancient Iconium (modern Konya). It became a Roman colony under Emperor Augustus and is understood to have belonged to the Roman province of Galatia. The discovery in the late nineteenth century of a Latin inscription bearing the city's name reportedly led to its identification with a mound near Hatunsaray. The account in Acts 14:11 indicates that, in addition to Greek, the local Lycaonian language was spoken there.

A story related by the Roman poet Ovid is commonly cited as background for the crowd's taking the apostles for gods. According to this legend, Jupiter (Zeus) and Mercury (Hermes) visited the neighboring region of Phrygia disguised as travelers.

Significance in Scripture as a Whole

• Lystra is an important stop on Paul's first missionary journey.
• Acts 14:15–17 is a sermon Paul addressed to an audience without a Jewish background. Rather than quoting Scripture, it begins with creation and with the gifts of nature, such as rain and fruitful seasons. For this reason it is treated, together with his sermon in Athens (Acts 17), as an example of mission to the Gentiles. It is also frequently cited alongside Romans 1:18–25 in discussions of general revelation and common grace.
• The words "once was I stoned" in 2 Corinthians 11:25 are generally taken to refer to the incident at Lystra.
• Lois and Eunice (2 Timothy 1:5) are also commonly thought to have lived in Lystra, though the text does not state this directly.

Interpretation and Debated Issues

• Did Paul die and come back to life? The text states only that the crowd dragged him out, "supposing he had been dead." Some sermons claim that Paul actually died and was raised, but the text does not affirm this. Some interpretations connect the third-heaven experience of 2 Corinthians 12:2–4 with this event, but this is speculative.
• Timothy's hometown and conversion: Many take "there" in 16:1 to mean Lystra, but it can also be read as Derbe. The view that Timothy came to faith during Paul's first visit is likewise conjecture.
• Timothy's circumcision: In Galatians 2:3, Titus was not circumcised. In contrast, Timothy's circumcision is widely understood as an accommodation for the sake of mission to the Jews.
• The recipients of Galatians: The South Galatian theory holds that the letter was sent to the churches of the southern region, including Lystra, while the opposing North Galatian theory holds that it was addressed to the ethnic Galatians of the north.
• "Ordained" elders: The Greek verb in 14:23 derives from a word originally meaning to choose by raising the hand. Interpretations therefore differ as to whether the congregation elected the elders or the apostles appointed them. Presbyterianism cites this verse as a basis for establishing elders in every church.

In the Korean Church

Acts 14:22 is frequently used as a text for sermons on the suffering of believers, and Acts 14:11–15 for sermons warning against exalting people or deifying leaders.