Paul and Barnabas at Iconium 1 Now it came to pass in Iconium, according to the same, they entering into the synagogue of the Jews and speaking so that a great number both of Jews and Greeks to believe.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews." Again they entered into the synagogues. See how far they were from becoming more timid! Having said, "We turn unto the Gentiles," nevertheless by going into the synagogues they superabundantly fortify their own justification with their Jewish brethren.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 They did not become more fearful, but again "went together into the Jewish synagogue." They customarily addressed their speech both to Jews and to Greeks.
2 The disobeying Jews, however, stirred up and they poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the brothers.
Ammonius of Alexandria · AD 300 They caused an uprising against the faithful. The Jews joined forces with the Greeks so that what was said in the psalm might be fulfilled: "Why do the nations clamor and peoples devise plans in vain?" when, all the while, the faithful, throughout all their exhortations, kept calling them brothers when they said, "My brothers." And in the same manner, the psalm, speaking for Ch…
Bede · AD 735 They stirred up the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers. What follows in Greek: "But God made peace," is missing in some Latin manuscripts. And there: "They were preaching," it follows in Greek: "And the whole multitude was moved by their teaching."
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "The unbelieving Jews stirred up and embittered the hearts of the Gentiles against the brethren." They stirred up the Gentiles as well, not being content with rising up themselves. But the apostles did not leave the synagogue, since they were not being driven out, but were only being disputed with.
3 A long time indeed therefore they stayed, speaking boldly about the Lord, who is bearing witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done through their hands.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 And see how on all occasions he refers all to God. "Long time," he says, "abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of His grace." Think not this expression, "Gave testimony," hath aught derogatory to the Lord's Divine Majesty: "Who witnessed," it is said, "before Pontius Pilate." Then the boldness - "and granted signs and wonders to be done by…
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "However, they stayed there for a considerable time, acting boldly." The boldness came from the apostles' devotion to the work of preaching. And the fact that those who heard them believed was a result of the miracles, though the very boldness of the apostles also contributed somewhat to this.
4 Now the multitude of the city was divided, and some indeed were with the Jews, some, however, with the apostles.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "And the multitude of the city," etc. Accordingly they did not wait for it, but saw the intention of attacking them, and fled, on no occasion kindling their wrath.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 What Christ spoke of came to pass: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth; I did not come to bring peace, but a sword" (Matt. 10:34).
5 Then when there was a rush of both the Gentiles and Jews with their rulers to mistreat and to stone them,
John Chrysostom · AD 407 They went away into the country, not into the cities only. Observe both the simplicity of the Gentiles, and the malignity of the Jews. By their actions they showed that they were worthy to hear: they so honored them from the miracles only. The one sort honored them as gods, the other persecuted them as pestilent fellows: and those not only did not take offence at the preaching.
Cassiodorus · AD 585 "And when there was an assault made by the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers," etc. When the people in the uproar that had been stirred up in Iconium tried to kill Paul and Barnabas, they fled to Lystra and Derbe and other regions of Lycaonia, and all the people there were converted to the Christian religion.
6 having become aware, they fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding region;
Ammonius of Alexandria · AD 300 It is not odd that the saints flee from those intending to attack them. Nor, because of this, do they appear to flee from the martyr's battle.
Bede · AD 735 But Paul and Barnabas stayed in Lystra. And these little verses are not found in some of our manuscripts.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "Having learned of this, they departed." There is nothing strange in the fact that the saints flee from people intending to plot against them, and consider it better to avoid a battle which they regarded, according to the testimony cited, as not permitted to them.
7 and there they were continuing evangelising.
Rabanus Maurus · AD 856 The flight of the apostles was tnot more from fear than from their love of the word of God.
The Visit to Lystra and Derbe 8 And a certain man crippled in the feet was sitting in Lystra, lame from his mother’s womb, who never walked.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 And yet in the case of the others, it was the reverse: for first receiving healing in their bodies, they were then taken in hand for cure of their souls, but this man not so. It seems to me, that Paul saw into his soul. "And he leaped," it says, "and walked." It was a proof of his perfect cure, the leaping.
Bede · AD 735 And a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, sat, etc. Just as that lame man whom Peter and John healed at the gate of the temple prefigures the salvation of the Jews, so also this sick man of Lycaonia, a people far removed from the religion of the law and temple, but gathered by the preaching of the apostle Paul.
9 This man heard Paul speaking, who, having looked intently at him and having seen that he has faith to be healed,
Bede · AD 735 And seeing that he had faith to be healed. And that one seeks money in the Jewish manner, but this one seeks salvation from the apostles through faith.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 As for the words "looking at him and seeing that he had faith to be healed," it seems to me that these words express the idea that Paul penetrated into his soul, because to attend to what Paul was saying was possible only for a philosophical soul.
10 said in a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” And he sprang up and was walking.
Tertullian · AD 220 Suppose now we revolve in our minds the superstitions of Numa Pompilius, and consider his priestly offices and badges and privileges, his sacrificial services, too, and the instruments and vessels of the sacrifices themselves, and the curious rites of his expiations and vows: is it not clear to us that the devil imitated the well-known moroseness of the Jewish law?
Bede · AD 735 He said with a loud voice: Stand upright on your feet. In the Greek exemplar it is read: He said with a loud voice: I say to you in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, stand upright on your feet. We have added these from the translation, so that, bewildered by the variety of manuscripts, you might not be ignorant of what is true.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 Why did Paul "say with a loud voice"? So that the people would believe. That the lame man jumped up is proof of a complete healing.
11 And the crowds, having seen what Paul did, lifted up their voice in Lycaonian, saying, “The gods, having become like as men, have come down to us;”
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.
Bede · AD 735 The gods, likened to men, have come down to us. The foolish error of the Gentiles, who think that whatever they see above themselves are gods.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "And the people, having seen what Paul had done." Notice, on the one hand, the simple-heartedness of the pagans, and on the other, the craftiness of the Jews. The former honored the apostles as gods, while the latter persecuted them as destroyers of order.
12 and they were calling Barnabas Zeus, and the other Paul Hermes, because he himself was the leading speaker.
Shepherd of Hermas · AD 160 After he had spoken with me he rose up from the couch, and taking the Shepherd and the virgins, he departed. But he said to me that he would send back the Shepherd and the virgins to my dwelling. Amen.
Bede · AD 735 But Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker; because they believed Mercury to grant eloquence and speech to mortals. Hence, they called Mercury as if running in the middle, that is, between ears and tongues, and the Greeks called him Hermes, which means interpreter.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "And they called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes." You see how it was customary among the Greeks to make gods out of men. Remember the origin of idol-worship, so as to give an answer when they ask whence idol-worship came. In the very same manner the Greeks were making gods out of men, even of the apostles.
13 And the priest of Zeus who is being just outside the city, having brought oxen and wreaths to the gates, he was desiring to sacrifice with the crowds.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people." But when they saw the garlands, then they went out, and rent their garments.
Bede · AD 735 Bringing bulls and garlands before the gates. The bulls for sacrifice, and the garlands, either to decorate the face of the temple according to the custom of the Gentiles or to place them upon those they would sacrifice to as gods.
14 Having heard, however, the apostles Barnabas and Paul, having torn their garments, they rushed out into the crowd, crying out
Ambrosiaster · AD 384 WHY DID JOSEPH, AFTER PREDICTING THE FUTURE, REQUEST THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL TO CARRY HIS ASHES FROM EGYPT WHEN GOD DELIVERED THEM? — It is absolutely certain that Joseph did not give that command to the sons of Israel without purpose. For he who was able to prophesy is not to be thought to have spoken without foresight.
Oecumenius · AD 550 "they tore their clothes." It is a custom among the Jews, when slanders are uttered against God, to tear their clothes. And indeed Caiaphas, when the Christ was called the Son of God, tore his robe, crying out and saying that he had blasphemed. (see Matt.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 Look: everywhere they are pure and free from vainglory; not only do they not seek glory, but they even deflect it from themselves when praise is offered to them. So Peter also said: "Why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk" (Acts 3:12)?
15 and saying, “Men, why do you these things? Also we ourselves are men of like nature with you, evangelising to you to turn from these vanities to God who is living, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all the things in them,
Irenaeus · AD 202 Paul himself also-after that the Lord spoke to him out of heaven, and showed him that, in persecuting His disciples, he persecuted his own Lord, and sent Ananias to him that he might recover his sight, and be baptized-"preached," it is said, "Jesus in the synagogues at Damascus, with all freedom of speech, that this is the Son of God, the Christ." This is the mystery which he s…
Origen of Alexandria · AD 253 For to offer a son or a daughter or cattle or an estate — all this is outside of us; but to offer oneself to God, and to please him not by another's labor but by one's own, this is more perfect and more excellent than all vows; and he who does this is an imitator of Christ.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "Men! Why are you doing this? We too are men of like nature with you." We are men, they say, but we are above the idols, because they are dead. You see what a common occurrence it was among the Greeks to make gods out of men? Indeed, in their books, where their ancient history is recorded, you will find that Zeus, being a man, made himself a god, saying that he was a god.
16 who in the generations having past allowed all the nations to go in their ways;
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "Who in times past," etc. He names as witnesses even the years in their courses.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "Who in past generations allowed all nations to walk in their own ways." "Allowed," it is said, but why He allowed, the apostle does not yet say, since he dwells mainly on what was urgently necessary, and nowhere yet mentions the name of Christ.
17 and yet He has not left Himself without witness, doing good, giving to you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.”
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "Nevertheless, He left not Himself without witness, in that He did good, giving you rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." See how covertly he puts the accusation "in that He did good," etc.
Cosmas Indicopleustes · AD 550 And yet He has not left them without a witness to Himself, that He was working for their good and taking thought for it beforehand, for He manifested to them some tokens of His goodness, some four hundred years or more before the coming of Christ, in the days of Alexander the Macedonian, long after the Trojan war, when the Greeks were still flourishing.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "Although He did not cease to bear witness about Himself." He says this because in every generation He performed such works as led people to the truth. Without forcing free will, the Lord allowed all people to walk according to their own judgment, but He Himself constantly performed such works from which they, as rational beings, could come to know the Creator.
18 And saying these things, they hardly stopped the crowds from sacrificing to them.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "And saying these things, they scarcely stopped the multitudes"-indeed by this very thing they gained most admiration-"from sacrificing to them." Do you observe that this was the point with them to put an end to that madness?
Cassiodorus · AD 585 "And as they stayed there and taught, there came thither certain Jews from Antioch," etc. As Paul and Barnabas were staying in Lystra surrounded by great devotion from the citizens, there came some utterly wicked Jews, who, persuading the multitude, pelted Paul with stones and drew him out of the city, as if he were dead.
19 Jews came, however, from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds and having stoned Paul, they were dragging him outside the city, supposing him to have died.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "But there came," it says, "certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium." Indeed children of the devil, that not in their own cities only, but also beyond them, they did these things, and as much made it their study to make an end of the preaching, as the Apostles were in earnest to establish it!
Bede · AD 735 But some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium. In Greek, the narrative begins thus: While they were staying and teaching, some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 Look at the frenzy of the Jews: they infiltrated the people who had shown such honor to the apostles and "persuaded" them to stone Paul. And they dragged him out of the city because they were afraid. Moreover, they were only trying to undermine the preaching.
20 However, when the disciples were surrounding him, having risen up he entered into the city. And on the next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "Howbeit," etc. "and came into the city." For that the spirits of the disciples might not be downcast because they who were accounted gods suffered such treatment, they came in unto them and discoursed.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 But do you see Paul's fiery zeal? After he was cast out of the city, he came again to that very same city, to show that if anywhere, in such cases, he did withdraw, it was because he had to sow the word of God and that it was not fitting to inflame wrath.
Strengthening the Disciples 21 Having evangelised then that city and having discipled many, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "Then on the morrow," etc. And observe, first he goes forth to Derbe, and then comes back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch, giving way to them while their passions are roused, but when they have ceased, then attacking them again. Do you mark, that it was not by supernatural grace that they managed all that they did, but by their own diligence?
22 strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations it behooves us to enter into the kingdom of God.
Peter of Alexandria · AD 311 For what they set before themselves, first and foremost, was to do the work of an evangelist, and to teach the Word of God, in which, confirming the brethren, that they might continue in the faith, they said this also, "that we must out of much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God." For they sought not what was profitable for them, but that which was profitable for the man…
Philoxenus of Mabbug · AD 523 And the glutton is not pleased to hear the other things which have been written by Paul upon fortitude and asceticism, either when he recounteth his numerous fastings, or when he crieth out to his disciples, saying, "Ye are dead unto the world," or when he writeth, "It is good for a man not to eat flesh, and not to drink wine," or his exhortation, "Through many tribulations it…
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom of God." Look: without labor and sorrows no one is justified. Therefore the gates leading to the Kingdom of Heaven the Lord also called narrow and strait (cf. Matt. 7:13), that is, full of hardships.
23 Now having chosen elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting, they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "And when they had appointed for them," etc. Again the ordinations accompanied with fastings: and again fasting, that purifying of our souls. "And having prayed," it says, "with fastings, they commended them unto the Lord:" they taught them to fast also in their trials. Why did they not make elders in Cyprus nor in Samaria?
Cassiodorus · AD 585 "And passing through Pisidia, they came into Pamphylia," etc. It is related that, preaching in like manner through various cities, they departed for Antioch. There, they told the assembled faithful what great things the Lord had granted the Gentiles; how, opening the door of faith, he had thought fit to show them the truth in its fullest extent.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "Having ordained elders for them, they prayed with fasting." They taught to fast even during times of trial; ordinations were also accompanied by fasting. But in Cyprus they did not appoint elders, nor in Samaria either, as it was near Jerusalem and the apostles, and in Antioch itself the word of God was being strengthened.
24 And having passed through the Pisidia, they came to the Pamphylia,
25 and having spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia;
26 and from there they sailed to Antioch, from where they had committed to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "And thence sailed to Antioch, from whence they had been recommended to the grace of God for the work which they fulfilled." Why do they come back to Antioch? To report what had taken place yonder. And besides, there is a great purpose of Providence concerned: for it was needful that they should thenceforth preach with boldness to the Gentiles.
27 Now having arrived and having gathered together the church, they were declaring how much God did with them, and that He had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles.
Dionysius of Alexandria · AD 264 And in Cephro indeed a considerable church sojourned with us, composed partly of the brethren who followed us from the city, and partly of those who joined us from Egypt. There, too, did God open to us a door for the word. And at first we were persecuted, we were stoned, but after a period some few of the heathen forsook their idols, and turned to God.
John Chrysostom · AD 407 "And when they were come," etc. They came, teaching them that with good reason had they been ordained by the Spirit. They said not what they themselves, but "what God had done with them." It seems to me, that they mean their trials.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "Having arrived there" (in Antioch) "and having gathered the church, they reported all that God had done with them." The apostle did not say: "what they had done," but "what God had done with them." "God opened the door of faith to the Gentiles." He calls the opening of the door the teaching which the Gentiles received through the apostles.
28 They were remaining then no little time with the disciples.
Theophylact of Ohrid · AD 1107 "And they remained there no small time with the disciples." Since the city was great, there was a need for teachers there.