Acts 13:14
in Acts 13And from Perga, they traveled inland to Pisidian Antioch, where they entered the synagogue on the Sabbath and sat down.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But they, passing through from Perga, came to Antioch of Pisidia; and they went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
KJV
But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down.
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This verse in Acts 13
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThey came to Antioch in Pisidia. There are two cities named Antioch: one in Coele-Syria, founded by King Seleucus, which was formerly called Reblata, which they say has the nearby spring of Daphne, and enjoys its abundant waters, in which the disciples were first named …
This site's exposition
went into the synagogue on the sabbath day
on Acts 13:14-15
They came to Antioch in Pisidia, a different city from the Syrian Antioch that sent them, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day as their settled practice at every stop. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the standard synagogue liturgy of Torah and Haftarah portions, the rulers extend an open invitation any visiting teacher could expect, if ye have any word of exhortation for the people, say on. That invitation is the door Paul's whole sermon walks through, and Luke records it because the synagogue's own custom, not a special dispensation, is what gives Paul his platform.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
"But when they departed from Perga, they came to Antioch in Pisidia, and went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and sat down." And here again they entered the synagogues, in the character of Jews, that they might not be treated as enemies, and be driven away: and in this way they carried the whole matter successfully.
"They sat down in the synagogue," he says, and, "on the sabbath day": that they might prepare the way beforehand for the Word. And they do not speak first, but when invited: since as strangers, they called upon them to do so. Had they not waited, there would have been no discourse. Here for the first time we have Paul preaching. And observe his prudence: where the word was already sown, he passes on: but where there was none (to preach), he makes a stay: as he himself writes: "Yea, so have I strived to preach the Gospel, not where Christ was named." Great courage this also. Truly, from the very outset, a wonderful man! crucified, ready for all encounters, he knew how great grace he had obtained, and he brought to it zeal equivalent.
But it is well done, that "they entered the synagogue on the sabbath day" when all were collected together.
The Medieval Church1 voice
They entered the synagogues in Jewish clothing, so as not to meet resistance and not be driven out, and thus achieved their goal in everything.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But when they departed from Perga,.... Where they seemed not to make any long stay; nor is there any account of what they did there; though it is certain here was a church of Christ in after times, and very likely planted by the apostles; for after this Paul and Barnabas preached the word in this place, Act 14:25 and no doubt with success.
6 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
For, though it was by the death of Christ that the ceremonial law died, yet it was in the ruins of Jerusalem that it was to be buried; and therefore, though the morality of the fourth commandment was entirely transferred to the Christian sabbath, yet it was not incongruous to join with the Jews in their sabbath sanctification.
The preaching of the gospel to the Gentiles at their request, and upon the Jews' refusal of it, wherein the apostles justified themselves against the displeasure which the Jews conceived at it, and God owned them,
But the next place we find them in is another Antioch, said to be in Pisidia, to distinguish it from that Antioch in Syria from which they were sent out. Pisidia was a province of the Lesser Asia, bordering upon Pamphylia; this Antioch, it is likely, was the metropolis of it.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
The whole region was, and to this day is, infested by robbers, as ancient history and modern travels abundantly attest; and there can be but little doubt that to this very journey Paul many years after alludes, when he speaks amidst his "journeyings often," of his "perils of rivers" (as the word is), and his "perils of robbers" (2Co 11:26).
They came to Antioch in Pisidia - This place is mentioned thus to distinguish it from Antioch in Syria, with which it had nothing in common but the name. There were several cities and towns in various districts of these countries called Antioch: some have reckoned up not less than twelve. Pisidia, in which this was situated, was a province of Asia Minor, near to Pamphylia, having Phrygia on the north, and Pamphylia on the south.
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
They came to Antioch in Pisidia - Pisidia was a province of Asia Minor, and was situated north of Pamphylia. Antioch was not in Pisidia, but within the limits of Phrygia; but it belonged to Pisadia, and was called Antioch of Pisidia to distinguish it from Antioch in Syria - Pliny, Nat. Hist., 5, 27; Strabo, 12, p. 577 (Kuinoel; Robinson’s Calmet). The city was built by Seleucus, the founder of the Antioch in Syria, and was called after the name of his father, Antiochus. He is said to have built 16 cities of that name (“Life and Epistles of Paul,” vol. 1, p. 122). Went into the synagogue - Though Paul and Barnabas were on a special mission to the Gentiles, yet they availed themselves of every opportunity to offer the gospel to the Jews first.
The words behind it
21 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| αὐτοὶ | autoi | They themselves | G846 → | 5565 times |
| δὲ | de | now | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| διελθόντες | dielthontes | having passed through | G1330 → | 43 times |
| ἀπὸ | apo | from | G575 → | 640 times |
| τῆς | tes | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Πέργης | perges | Perga | G4011 → | 3 times |
| παρεγένοντο | paregenonto | came | G3854 → | 36 times |
| εἰς | eis | to | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| Ἀντιόχειαν | antiocheian | Antioch | G490 → | 18 times |
| τὴν | ten | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Πισιδίαν, | pisidian | Pisidia, | G4099 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| εἰσελθόντες | eiselthontes | having gone | G1525 → | 194 times |
| εἰς | eis | into | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| τὴν | ten | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| συναγωγὴν | sunagogen | synagogue | G4864 → | 56 times |
| τῇ | tea | on the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἡμέρᾳ | hemera | day | G2250 → | 389 times |
| τῶν | ton | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| σαββάτων | sabbaton | Sabbaths | G4521 → | 68 times |
| ἐκάθισαν.¶ | ekathisan | they sat down. | G2523 → | 44 times |
αὐτοὶThey themselves
autoiG846 →5565 times
δὲnow
deG1161 →2765 times
διελθόντεςhaving passed through
dielthontesG1330 →43 times
ἀπὸfrom
apoG575 →640 times
τῆς<the>
tesG3588 →19766 times
ΠέργηςPerga
pergesG4011 →3 times
παρεγένοντοcame
paregenontoG3854 →36 times
εἰςto
eisG1519 →1755 times
ἈντιόχειανAntioch
antiocheianG490 →18 times
τὴν<the>
tenG3588 →19766 times
Πισιδίαν,Pisidia,
pisidianG4099 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
εἰσελθόντεςhaving gone
eiselthontesG1525 →194 times
εἰςinto
eisG1519 →1755 times
τὴνthe
tenG3588 →19766 times
συναγωγὴνsynagogue
sunagogenG4864 →56 times
τῇon the
teaG3588 →19766 times
ἡμέρᾳday
hemeraG2250 →389 times
τῶνof the
tonG3588 →19766 times
σαββάτωνSabbaths
sabbatonG4521 →68 times
ἐκάθισαν.¶they sat down.
ekathisanG2523 →44 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 17:2As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
it leads to
- Acts 18:4
Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 14:1
At Iconium, Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue, where they spoke so well that a great number of Jews and Greeks believed.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 18:4
Through
Acts 14:19Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.
it leads to
- 2 Timothy 3:11
my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
- 2 Corinthians 11:25
Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
- Acts 13:50–51
The Jews, however, incited the religious women of prominence and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and drove them out of their district.
- Acts 14:5
But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,
- Acts 13:45
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
- 2 Timothy 3:11
Through
Acts 18:4Every Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue, trying to persuade Jews and Greeks alike.
it leads to
- Acts 17:17
So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace with those he met each day.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 17:17
Where this verse is studied
About Acts
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 28; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.