Lystra
Roman colony in Lycaonia, in south-central Asia Minor. Here, according to Acts, Paul and Barnabas were taken for gods and Paul was stoned, and here Timothy joined him.
Lystra was a town of Lycaonia to which Paul and Barnabas fled from Iconium. Acts says that after Paul healed a lame man the crowd, speaking Lycaonian, hailed the two as Zeus and Hermes (Jupiter and Mercury in some English versions) and tried to offer sacrifice to them. Then, Acts says, opponents from Antioch and Iconium turned the crowd, and Paul was stoned and left for dead outside the town (Acts 14:6–20). The two came back to strengthen the disciples there (Acts 14:21–22). On his next journey Paul found at Lystra the disciple Timothy, who became his companion (Acts 16:1–3). See Paul’s First Missionary Journey.
What happened here
- about AD 46 to AD 48, estimated datePaul’s First Missionary Journey
Acts tells how Barnabas and Paul, sent out by the church at Antioch, preach in Cyprus and in the cities of southern Asia Minor, first in the synagogues and then to Gentiles, and found churches there before returning to Antioch.