Bible Encyclopedia: Lystra

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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

LYSTRA

lis'-tra: The forms Lustran, and Lustrois, occur. Such variation in the gender of Anatolian city-names is common (see Harnack, Apostelgeschichte, 86; Ramsay, Paul the Traveler, 128). Lystra was visited by Paul 4 times (Acts 14:6, 21; Acts 16:1; Acts 18:23 -the last according to the "South Galatian" theory), and is mentioned in 2 Timothy 3:10 as one of the places where Paul suffered persecution. Timothy resided in Lystra (Acts 16:1).

1. Character and Site:

Lystra owed its importance, and the attention which Paul paid to it, to the fact that it had been made a Roman colonia by Augustus (see ANTIOCH), and was therefore, in the time of Paul, a center of education and enlightenment. Nothing is known of its earlier, and little of its later, history. The site of Lystra was placed by Leake (1820) at a hill near Khatyn Serai, 18 miles South-Southwest from Iconium; this identification was proved correct by an inscription found by Sterrett in 1885. The boundary between Phrygia and Lycaonia passed between Iconium and Lystra. (Acts 14:6) (see ICONIUM).

The population of Lystra consisted of the local aristocracy of Roman soldiers who formed the garrison of the colonia, of Greeks and Jews (Acts 16:1, 3), and of native Lycaonians (Acts 14:11).

2. Worship of Paul and Barnabas:

After Paul had healed a life-long cripple at Lystra, the native population (the "multitude" of Acts 14:11) regarded him and Barnabas as pagan gods come down to them in likeness of men, and called Barnabas "Zeus" and Paul "Hermes." Commentators on this incident usually point out that the same pair of divinities appeared to Baucis and Philemon in Ovid's well-known story, which he locates in the neighboring Phrygia. The accuracy in detail of this part of the narrative in Acts has been strikingly confirmed by recent epigraphic discovery. Two inscriptions found in the neighborhood of Lystra in 1909 run as follows:

(1) "Kakkan and Maramoas and Iman Licinius priests of Zeus";

(2) "Toues Macrinus also called Abascantus and Batasis son of Bretasis having made in accordance with a vow at their own expense (a statue of) Hermes Most Great along with a sun-dial dedicated it to Zeus the sun-god."

Now it is evident from the narrative in Acts that the people who were prepared to worship Paul and Barnabas as gods were not Greeks or Romans, but native Lycaonians. This is conclusively brought out by the use of the phrase "in the speech of Lycaonia" (Acts 14:11). The language in ordinary use among the educated classes in Central Anatolian cities under the Roman Empire was Greek; in some of those cities, and especially of course, in Roman colonies, Latin also was understood, and it was used at this period in official documents. But the Anatolian element in the population of those cities continued for a long time to use the native language (e.g. Phrygian was in use at Iconium till the 3rd century of our era; see ICONIUM). In the story in Acts a fast distinction is implied, and in fact existed, between the ideas and practices of the Greeks and the Roman colonists and those of the natives. This distinction would naturally maintain itself most vigorously in so conservative an institution as religious ritual and legend. We should therefore expect to find that the association between Zeus and Hermes indicated in Acts belonged to the religious system of the native population, rather than to that of the educated society of the colony. And this is precisely the character of the cult illustrated in our two inscriptions. It is essentially a native cult, under a thin Greek disguise. The names in those inscriptions can only have been the names of natives; the Zeus and Hermes of Acts and of our inscriptions were a graecized version of the Father-god and Son-god of the native Anatolian system. The college of priests which appears in inscription number 1 (supporting the Bezan variant "priests" for "priest" in Acts 14:13) was a regular Anatolian institution. The miracle performed by Paul, and his companionship with Barnabas would naturally suggest to the natives who used the "speech of Lycaonia" a pair of gods commonly associated by them in a local cult. The two gods whose names rose to their lips are now known to have been associated by the dedication of a statue of one in a temple, of the other in the neighborhood of Lystra.

LITERATURE.

Ramsay, Cities of Paul, 407;. On the new inscriptions, see Calder, The Expositor, 1910, 1;, 148;; id, Classical Review, 1910, 67;. Inscriptions of Lystra are published in Sterrett, Wolfe Expedition, and in Jour. Hell. Stud., 1904 (Cronin).

W. M. Calder

Greek

3082. Lustra -- Lystra, a city of Lycaonia
... Lystra, a city of Lycaonia. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine; Noun, Neuter
Transliteration: Lustra Phonetic Spelling: (loos'-trah) Short Definition: Lystra ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3082.htm - 6k

5095. Timotheos -- Timothy, a Christian
... Noun, Masculine Transliteration: Timotheos Phonetic Spelling: (tee-moth'-eh-os)
Short Definition: Timothy Definition: Timothy, a Christian of Lystra, helper of ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5095.htm - 6k

3071. Lukaonia -- Lycaonia, a region in Asia Minor
... Lycaonia, the country of the Lykaones, a district of Asia Minor, comprised within
the Roman province Galatia and including the cities of Derbe and Lystra. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3071.htm - 6k

4742. stigma -- a bed of leaves or rushes
... 4742 ("brand-mark") refers to the literal scars on Paul from the lictor's
rods at Pisidian Antioch, the stoning at Lystra, etc. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4742.htm - 6k

Library

The Cripple at Lystra
... The Cripple at Lystra. A Sermon (No.559). by the. Rev. ... I HAVE READ in your hearing
the story of the preaching of Paul and Barnabas in the town of Lystra. ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 10 1864/the cripple at lystra.htm

Paul and Barnabas in Lystra.
... LECTURES LECTURE XV. PAUL AND BARNABAS IN LYSTRA. Chap. xiv.8-18. ANTIOCH of
Syria was the first city, in which the gospel was publicly ...
/.../dick/lectures on the acts of the apostles/lecture xv paul and barnabas.htm

The Acts of the Apostles
... From Antioch Barnabas and Saul set out on the first missionary journey, including
visits to Cyprus, Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra and Derbe, from where ...
/.../drummond/introduction to the new testament/the acts of the apostles.htm

Preaching among the Heathen
... glory of His name. Driven by persecution from Iconium, the apostles went
to Lystra and Derbe, in Lycaonia. These towns were inhabited ...
/.../white/the acts of the apostles/lesson 18 preaching among the.htm

Exalting the Cross
... Journeying through Syria and Cilicia, where they strengthened the church, Paul and
Silas at length reached Derbe and Lystra in the province of Lycaonia. ...
/.../white/the acts of the apostles/lesson 20 exalting the cross.htm

Why Paul Went to Macedonia
... He also went to Derbe and Lystra. At Lystra there was a disciple, called
Timothy, the son of a Christian Jewess and a Greek father. ...
/.../sherman/the childrens bible/why paul went to macedonia.htm

Deified and Stoned
... And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they
returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch.22. ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture the acts/deified and stoned.htm

Paul and Barnabas in Foreign Lands
... races and by the Jews, with the help of their rulers, to attack and stone the apostles;
but they learned of it and escaped to the towns of Lystra and Derbe ...
/.../sherman/the childrens bible/paul and barnabas in foreign.htm

His Missionary Travels
... 86-87. Lystra and Derbe. 88. Return. 89-108. ... When the inhabitants of Lystra mistook
them for gods, they called Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercury. ...
/.../stalker/the life of st paul/chapter vi his missionary travels.htm

From Antioch to the Destruction of Jerusalem.
... At Antioch he made a complete break with the Jews and at Lystra they stoned him
until they thought he was dead. ... At Lystra he was joined by Timothy. ...
/.../tidwell/the bible period by period/chapter xx from antioch to.htm

Hitchcock's Bible Names Dictionary

Lystra

that dissolves or disperses

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Lystra

This place has two points of interest in connection respectively with St. Paul's first and second missionary Journeys: (1) as the place where divine honors were offered to him, and where he was presently stoned, (Acts 14:1) ... (2) as the home of his chosen companion and fellow missionary Timotheus. (Acts 16:1) Lystra was in the eastern part of the great plain of Lycaonia, and its site may be identified with the ruins called Bin-bir-Kilisseh , at the base of a conical mountain of volcanic structure, named the Karadagh .

ATS Bible Dictionary

Lystra

A city of Lycaonia, near Derbe and Iconium, and the native place of Timothy. Paul and Barnabas preached the gospel here; and having healed a cripple, were almost worshipped. Soon after, however, Paul was stoned there, Acts 14:6,21 16:1 2Ti 3:11. It is now a small place called Latik.

Easton's Bible Dictionary

A town of Lycaonia, in Asia Minor, in a wild district and among a rude population. Here Paul preached the gospel after he had been driven by persecution from Iconium (Acts 14:2-7). Here also he healed a lame man (8), and thus so impressed the ignorant and superstitious people that they took him for Mercury, because he was the "chief speaker," and his companion Barnabas for Jupiter, probably in consequence of his stately, venerable appearance; and were proceeding to offer sacrifices to them (13), when Paul earnestly addressed them and turned their attention to the true source of all blessings. But soon after, through the influence of the Jews from Antioch in Pisidia and Iconium, they stoned Paul and left him for dead (14:19). On recovering, Paul left for Derbe; but soon returned again, through Lystra, encouraging the disciples there to steadfastness. He in all likelihood visited this city again on his third missionary tour (Acts 18:23). Timothy, who was probably born here (2 Timothy 3:10, 11), was no doubt one of those who were on this occasion witnesses of Paul's persecution and his courage in Lystra.

Thesaurus

Lystra (6 Occurrences)
... On recovering, Paul left for Derbe; but soon returned again, through Lystra,
encouraging the disciples there to steadfastness. ...LYSTRA. ...
/l/lystra.htm - 14k

Lycaonia (2 Occurrences)
... and the south of Galatia. It was a Roman province, and its chief towns were
Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe. The "speech of Lycaonia" (Acts ...
/l/lycaonia.htm - 10k

Iconium (6 Occurrences)
... 13:50, 51). Here they were persecuted by the Jews, and being driven from
the city, they fled to Lystra. They afterwards returned ...
/i/iconium.htm - 12k

Eunice (1 Occurrence)
... was prepared to give a welcome both to Paul and to the gospel proclaimed by him,
when the apostle in his first great missionary journey came to Lystra, one of ...
/e/eunice.htm - 10k

Derbe (4 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary A small town on the eastern part of the upland
plain of Lycaonia, about 20 miles from Lystra. Paul passed ...
/d/derbe.htm - 15k

Ico'nium (6 Occurrences)
... Acts 14:21 Having proclaimed good news also to that city, and having discipled many,
they turned back to Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch, (See RSV). ...
/i/ico'nium.htm - 7k

Timothy (28 Occurrences)
... 1:5). We know nothing of his father but that he was a Greek (Acts 16:1). He is first
brought into notice at the time of Paul's second visit to Lystra (16:2 ...
/t/timothy.htm - 38k

Galatia (6 Occurrences)
... regiones coincided roughly with the old national divisions Pisidia, Phrygia (including
Antioch, Iconium, Apollonia), Lycaonia (including Derbe, Lystra and a ...
/g/galatia.htm - 23k

Pisidia (2 Occurrences)
... Pisidia. A military road, built by Augustus, and called the Royal Road,
led from Antioch to the sister colony of Lystra. According ...
/p/pisidia.htm - 21k

Impotent (5 Occurrences)
... For the same condition of the Lystra lame man the word adunatos is used, which
is synonymous. In these cases it is the weakness of disease. ...
/i/impotent.htm - 9k

Bible Concordance

Lystra (6 Occurrences)

Acts 14:6 they became aware of it, and fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, Derbe, and the surrounding region.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 14:8 At Lystra a certain man sat, impotent in his feet, a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 14:21 When they had preached the Good News to that city, and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 16:1 He came to Derbe and Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess who believed; but his father was a Greek.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Acts 16:2 The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

2 Timothy 3:11 persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. Out of them all the Lord delivered me.
(WEB KJV WEY ASV BBE DBY WBS YLT NAS RSV NIV)

Subtopics

Lystra

Lystra: Congregation of, Elders Ordained For, by Paul and Barnabas

Lystra: One of Two Cities of Lycaonia, to Which Paul and Barnabas Fled from Persecutions in Iconium

Lystra: Timothy a Resident of

Related Terms

Lycaonia (2 Occurrences)

Iconium (6 Occurrences)

Eunice (1 Occurrence)

Derbe (4 Occurrences)

Ico'nium (6 Occurrences)

Timothy (28 Occurrences)