Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LYSTRA

(Gk. Lýstra)

A town in the region of Lycaonia in south-central Anatolia, 40 km. (25 mi.) SSW of Iconium (modern Konya). Augustus founded a Roman colony at Lystra (on the Via Sebaste) in 26 b.c. and settled it with Roman army veterans. The hill on which Lystra stood seems to have had strategic importance as a defensive base against the surrounding mountain tribes of the south and west. Lystra remained an obscure city, and in spite of its Italian origins developed into a local Lycaonian market town.

According to Acts 14:1-23 Paul and Barnabas visited Lystra during the “first missionary journey.” After Paul healed a crippled man, the amazed inhabitants identified Barnabas with Zeus and Paul with Hermes. These two gods are associated in inscriptional remains from the vicinity (3rd century a.d.), and the poet Ovid relates a story of the pair wandering in the region as unwelcomed visitors (Metam. 8.616-724). The Lystrans subsequently brought out sacrificial bulls and garlands, but the two missionaries refused any honors. The people’s veneration turned to violence when adversaries of Paul and Barnabas arrived and incited a public riot. The mob stoned Paul, a persecution alluded to in the independent tradition of 2 Tim. 3:11. Later, during the “second missionary journey,” Paul returned to Lystra and the surrounding cities (Iconium and Derbe) while accompanied by Silas (Acts 15:36–16:6). Many maintain that Paul visited these towns again on the return leg of his “third missionary journey” (Acts 18:23). Timothy was from the vicinity of Lystra, and was well-respected among the Christians of the area (16:1-2). Lystra did not play a major role in subsequent Christian history, though the foundation of a Byzantine church has been discovered at the site.

Paul Anthony Hartog

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

LYSTRA

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)