Pamphylia

Biblical Text

Pamphylia is mentioned five times in the New Testament, all in the Book of Acts.

• Acts 2:10: Pamphylia appears alongside Phrygia in the list of the homelands of those gathered in Jerusalem at the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This indicates that a Jewish community existed in this region as well.
• Acts 13:13: Paul and his companions sailed from Paphos on Cyprus and came to Perga in Pamphylia. There John, that is, Mark, left them and returned to Jerusalem.
• Acts 14:24-25: On the return leg of the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas passed through Pisidia, came to Pamphylia, preached the word in Perga, and went down to Attalia.
• Acts 15:38: Before the second journey, Paul refused to take Mark along, because Mark had "departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work." Over this matter Paul and Barnabas parted company.
• Acts 27:5: When Paul was being taken as a prisoner to Rome, his ship "sailed over the sea of Cilicia and Pamphylia" and came to Myra, a city of Lycia.

Background

Pamphylia is a narrow plain along the Mediterranean coast of southern Asia Minor. It bordered Lycia to the west and Cilicia to the east, while to the north, beyond the Taurus Mountains, lay Pisidia. The region served as a corridor between the coastal plain and the mountainous interior. The cities mentioned in the Bible are Perga, located inland, and the port city of Attalia, which is identified with modern Antalya in Türkiye.

The name derives from the Greek Pamphylia and is commonly interpreted as "land of all tribes." During the Roman period, the region's administrative status is understood to have changed several times, as it was at times joined with and at other times separated from neighboring regions.

Broader Biblical Significance

In Acts, Pamphylia serves as a gateway through which the gospel entered the interior of Asia Minor. Paul and his companions passed through it on their way up to Pisidian Antioch and the region of Galatia. The account of their preaching in Perga on the return journey shows that this region, too, became a field for proclaiming the gospel. The inclusion of Pamphylia in the Pentecost list also fits the broader movement of Acts, in which the gospel reaches the Jews of the Diaspora, that is, Jews dispersed in Gentile lands outside Palestine.

Interpretive Questions

Why Mark left: The text does not say why Mark turned back in Pamphylia. Various conjectures have been proposed, including apprehension about the difficult mountain route, homesickness, or discomfort with the shift in leadership from Barnabas to Paul, but all of these are interpretations that go beyond the text. Interpreters also differ over whether Paul or Barnabas judged rightly.

Paul's illness: Some scholars suggest that Paul fell ill in the humid Pamphylian plain and went up to the highlands of Pisidia, and they link this with the "infirmity of the flesh" in Galatians 4:13-14. This is a hypothesis, not something the text states directly.

In the Korean Church

In Korean preaching, Pamphylia is mentioned mainly in connection with the story of Mark. Because Mark, who had left the group in Pamphylia, was later recognized by Paul as "profitable" for the ministry (2 Timothy 4:11), the passage is frequently used to speak of the restoration of those who have failed and their return to partnership in ministry.