Acts 14:21
They preached the gospel and made many disciples
- The gospel’s word εὐαγγελίζομαι euangelizomai · to speak good news
Original
Translations
They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,
Having also proclaimed good news to that city, and having discipled many, they turned back to Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch,
복음을 그 성에서 전하여 많은 사람을 제자로 삼고 루스드라와 이고니온과 안디옥으로 돌아가서
그들이 그 도시에 복음을 선포하여 많은 사람을 가르치고 다시 루스드라와 이고니움과 안디옥으로 돌아가
Commentaries
Matthew Henry on Acts 14:19-28 as a whole
See how restless the rage of the Jews was against the gospel of Christ. The people stoned Paul, in a popular tumult. So strong is the bent of the corrupt and carnal heart, that as it is with great difficulty that men are kept back from evil on one side, so it is with great ease…
Read the whole commentary →Wesley
Nothing on this verse itself.
Read the whole commentary →
Note
At Lystra Paul was stoned, dragged out of the city and left for dead. When the disciples gathered round him, he got up and went back into the city, and the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. This verse tells what they did there, and which road they took next.
They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
Acts 14:21The crowd at Lystra that had wanted to worship Paul and Barnabas was won over by Jews from Antioch and Iconium, and they stoned Paul (Acts 14:19). After preaching the gospel in Derbe, the two men retraced their steps through the very cities that had driven them out and stoned them. There they went "strengthening the souls of the disciples and encouraging them to continue in the faith" (Acts 14:22), telling them that we must endure many hardships to enter the kingdom of God, and appointing elders in each church (Acts 14:23).
The verb is in the aorist participle, euangelisamenoi, with "that city" (tēn polin ekeinēn) as its object: they gospelled the city. Straight after it comes another aorist participle, mathēteusantes, from , "to make disciples," the very verb of the risen Lord's command: "go and make disciples of all nations" (Matthew 28:19). The two verbs stand side by side in one sentence. Preaching the gospel and making disciples are not two separate programmes; the news is told so that those who believe it become disciples of Jesus.
The KJV reads, "And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many," rendering the second verb "taught," just as it renders the same verb "teach all nations" in Matthew 28:19. The BSB and most modern versions say "made many disciples," and the LSV, "having discipled many." "Taught" names the means and "made disciples" the goal; the Greek word holds both.
Matthew Henry draws the contrast in Paul's lot: "If Paul would have been Mercury, he might have been worshipped; but if he will be a faithful minister of Christ, he shall be stoned, and thrown out of the city" Matthew Henry. On the return journey he writes, "Ministers' work is to establish saints as well as to awaken sinners" Matthew Henry. Wesley thinks that Paul's rising and walking back into the city, just after he had been left for dead, was "a miracle little less than a resurrection from the dead" Wesley.
In this verse the gospel is not a word thrown at a city once and left there. It is told, disciples are made, and the messengers come back, at their own risk, to strengthen them. Those who began to believe were not left to walk alone.