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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
At Antioch, in Pisidia.
The journey and the arrival:
v. 13. Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John, departing from them, returned to Jerusalem.
v. 14. But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went in to the synagogue on the Sabbath-day, and sat down.
v. 15. And after the reading of the Law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye Men and brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on.
Sometime after the events related by Luke in the first verses of this Chapter, Paul and his companions left Paphos, sailing thence in a northwesterly direction a distance of some 170 miles to the bay of Attalia. They did not land in Attalia, however, but went up the river Cestrus to the city of Perga, the capital of Pamphylia, a little more than seven miles from the sea. It is probable that Paul intended to push on from here immediately into the interior of the country, which was then infested with lawless bands, concerning whose robberies and murders many tales were circulating. John Mark, therefore, did not prove equal to the occasion, but left the two missionaries for some carnal reason and returned to his home at Jerusalem. It often takes not only natural fortitude and strength, but especially the courage and power from on high to brave the difficulties and dangers of bringing the Gospel-message to foreign shores, and the absence of accustomed luxuries and even comforts must be endured cheerfully for the sake of the cause. The defection of Mark, however, did not interfere with the plans of Paul, for he and Barnabas left Perga and pushed on through the wild and lawless country of the Pisidian highlands to the valleys beyond until they reached the city of Antioch, about a hundred miles from the Mediterranean. It was situated in a strategic position, on a low plateau, which at the present time presents a desolate waste. It had been a Roman colony since 25 B. C. , and, although situated in the district of Pisidia, was at that time considered a city of the Roman province of Galatia, the Romans having embodied a part of ancient Phrygia and all of Lycaonia and Pisidia in this larger province for administrative purposes. Thus Pisidian Antioch was geographically and partly also linguistically Phrygian, but politically Galatian. It was in the late summer, probably in August of the year 46, that Paul and Barnabas reached Pisidian Antioch. With characteristic energy they went to work. They went into the one synagogue of the city on the Sabbath and sat down. The usual order of services was followed. A section of the Law was read, then one from the prophets; then came exhortations based upon the passages read. It was the custom of the synagogues to invite a visiting rabbi to address the assembly at this point, and therefore the rulers of the synagogue, who occupied raised seats before the congregation, sent word to Paul and Barnabas by the servant, the invitation: Brethren, if ye have any word of exhortation, of counsel, for the people, say it. Whether Paul and Barnabas had previously introduced themselves to the rulers of the synagogue or not, is of little importance, but the kind request fitted in altogether with their purpose.