Acts 14:2
in Acts 14But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But the Jews that were disobedient stirred up the souls of the Gentiles, and made them evil affected against the brethren.
KJV
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.
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This verse in Acts 14
Commentary
11 notes on this verseStirred up the Gentiles - Των εθνων, Such as were mere heathens, and thus distinguished from the Jews, and the Greeks who were proselytes. Evil affected - Εκακωσαν, Irritated or exasperated their minds against the brethren, the disciples of Christ; one of their appellations before they were called Christians at Antioch. See on Act 11:26 (note).
This site's exposition
into the Jewish synagogue
on Acts 14:1-2
At Iconium a great number of Jews and Greeks believed, and the split runs through the synagogue. The unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers, the method that follows the apostles to Lystra in verse 19.
This site's exposition
poisoned their minds against the brothers
Codex Bezae adds that the Lord soon gave the brothers peace. The addition eases the step to verse 3, where Paul and Barnabas stay a considerable time and speak boldly. Luke's shorter text sets the hostility and the long stay side by side.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
A commentator
Ammonius of AlexandriaCATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 14.2 · Written before 300.
proposed
They caused an uprising against the faithful. The Jews joined forces with the Greeks so that what was said in the psalm might be fulfilled: "Why do the nations clamor and peoples devise plans in vain?" when, all the while, the faithful, throughout all their …
"But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren." Together with themselves now they took to stirring up the Gentiles too, as not being themselves sufficient. Then why did the Apostles not go forth thence? Why, they were not driven away, only attacked.
"Made their minds evil-affected," it says, "against the brethren": i.e. slandered the Apostles, raised numberless accusations against them: these people, being simple, they "made evil-affected," disposed them to act a malignant part.
The Medieval Church2 voices
They stirred up the souls of the Gentiles against the brothers. What follows in Greek: "But God made peace," is missing in some Latin manuscripts. And there: "They were preaching," it follows in Greek: "And the whole multitude was moved by their teaching."
"The unbelieving Jews stirred up and embittered the hearts of the Gentiles against the brethren." They stirred up the Gentiles as well, not being content with rising up themselves. But the apostles did not leave the synagogue, since they were not being driven out, but …
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
): they stirred up the Gentiles. The influence which the gospel had upon many of the Gentiles, and their embracing it, as it provoked some of the Jews to a holy jealousy and stirred them up to receive the gospel too ( Rom. xi. 14 ), so it provoked others of them to a wicked jealousy, and exasperated them against the gospel.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
But the unbelieving Jews ... - See the notes on Act 13:50. And made their minds evil-affected - Irritated, or exasperated them. Against the brethren - One of the common appellations by which Christians were known.
The words behind it
14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οἱ | hoi | The | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | however | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| ἀπειθήσαντες | apeithesantes | disobeying | G544 → | |
| Ἰουδαῖοι | ioudaioi | Jews | G2453 → | 192 times |
| ἐπήγειραν | epegeiran | stirred up | G1892 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| ἐκάκωσαν | ekakosan | they poisoned | G2559 → | 6 times |
| τὰς | tas | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ψυχὰς | psuchas | minds | G5590 → | 103 times |
| τῶν | ton | of the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἐθνῶν | ethnon | Gentiles | G1484 → | 161 times |
| κατὰ | kata | against | G2596 → | 468 times |
| τῶν | ton | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἀδελφῶν.¶ | adelphon | brothers. | G80 → | 343 times |
οἱThe
hoiG3588 →19766 times
δὲhowever
deG1161 →2765 times
ἀπειθήσαντεςdisobeying
apeithesantesG544 →
ἸουδαῖοιJews
ioudaioiG2453 →192 times
ἐπήγειρανstirred up
epegeiranG1892 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
ἐκάκωσανthey poisoned
ekakosanG2559 →6 times
τὰςthe
tasG3588 →19766 times
ψυχὰςminds
psuchasG5590 →103 times
τῶνof the
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἐθνῶνGentiles
ethnonG1484 →161 times
κατὰagainst
kataG2596 →468 times
τῶνthe
tonG3588 →19766 times
ἀδελφῶν.¶brothers.
adelphonG80 →343 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 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.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 13:45
But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 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,
- 2 Timothy 3:11
Through
Acts 13:50The 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.
it leads to
- Acts 17:13
But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that Paul was also proclaiming the word of God in Berea, they went there themselves to incite and agitate the crowds.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Acts 14:19
Then 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.
- Acts 17:13
Through
Acts 13:45But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
it leads to
- Jude 1:10
These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively.
- Jude 1:10
Where this verse is studied
About Acts

This page draws on 11 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); Ammonius of Alexandria, CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 14.2; Bede, Commentary on Acts; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 30; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; R. J. Knowling, The Acts of the Apostles, Expositor's Greek Testament; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.
