Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 14:21-23

"And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch, confirming the souls of the disciples, exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that through many tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed for them elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they had believed." — Acts 14:21-23 (ASV)

(21a) Derbe was situated in the southeastern part of the Lycaonian region of Galatia, about sixty miles southeast of Lystra. In 25 B. C. Augustus incorporated it into the province of Galatia, making it a provincial border town on the eastern edge of the southern Galatian plateau. Luke’s account of the ministry at Derbe is brief. All he says is that the apostles “preached the good news” there and “won a large number of disciples.” Luke spends more time talking about the larger and more influential churches in Antioch and Iconium, though the congregations in the smaller and more rural towns seem to have contributed more young men as candidates for the missionary endeavor (e.g., Timothy from Lystra [16:1–3; 20:4]; Gaius from Derbe [20:4])—a pattern not altogether different from today, where the larger churches often capture the headlines and the smaller congregations provide much of the personnel.

(21b–23) Having preached at Derbe, Paul and Barnabas returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch. Why they did not push instead further east through the passes of the Taurus range into Cilicia, Luke does not tell us. Perhaps Cilicia was considered already evangelized through Paul’s earlier efforts (cf. comment on 9:30); this would also explain why the apostles began their missionary outreach on Cyprus and not in Cilicia (cf. 13:4). Undoubtedly their concern for the new converts in the Galatian cities led them to return by the same road. In returning to Lystra, Iconium, and Pisidian Antioch, they probably confined their ministries to those already converted, and thus did not stir up any further opposition (cf. 16:6; 18:23; 20:3–6). While returning through the Galatian cities, Paul and Barnabas tried to strengthen their converts personally and corporately. They encouraged them to remain in the faith, telling them that many persecutions must necessarily be the lot of Christians in order to enter into the kingdom of God—that is, that the same pattern of suffering and glory exemplified in Jesus’ life must be theirs as well if they are to know the full measure of the reign of God in their lives (cf. Mark 8:31– 10:52; Romans 8:17; Colossians 1:24). And “they appointed elders for them in each church,” thus leaving them with suitable spiritual guides and an embryonic ecclesiastical administration. In the early Gentile churches (as also undoubtedly at Jerusalem), the terms “elders” (GK 4565) and “bishops” (or “overseers”; GK 2176) were used somewhat interchangeably and functionally rather than as titles (cf. 20:17, 28).