Acts 14:19-28

But Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead. But when the disciples gathered about him, he rose up and entered the city, and on the next day he went on with Barnabas to Derbe. When they had preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, strengthening the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. And when they had appointed elders for them in every church, with prayer and fasting they committed them to the Lord in whom they had believed.  Then they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia, and from there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work that they had fulfilled. And when they arrived and gathered the church together, they declared all that God had done with them, and how he had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles. And they remained no little time with the disciples.


they stoned Paul - "After suffering the crushing blows of the stones, the victim was dragged outside the city and left to the dogs and beasts.  It was a miracle that Paul could get up and leave the next day.  It is possible that he received the marks spoken of in Gal 6:17 during this stoning." (Ryrie)

"That the Jews could thus persuade the Gentiles to change their minds so suddenly and to stone one whom they would but yesterday have worshipped, is an evidence of the depravity of human nature and of the superficial character of religious excitement." (Stam)

"There has been a good deal of debate among commentators as to whether or not Paul was actually killed on this occasion, and then miraculously raised from the dead.  Those who believe that Paul was actually stoned to death and then raised again advance the following arguments among others:

1. The people evidently meant to put Paul to death, since stoning was a form of execution.
2. The word rendered 'supposing,' in Verse 19, comes from the Greek root 'nomizo', which has to do with the intellect, not the imagination.  As used in the New Testament it means to hold or take for granted from custom, or to conclude from evidence, but never to imagine.
3. The suddenness with which Paul arose and came into the city seems to indicate a miracle.
4. In 2 Cor 12:1-5 the apostle relates how he had been caught up to the third heaven in an experience which had taken place approximately 'fourteen years ago'—just about the time he had visited Lystra.  Concerning this experience he says: 'Whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth' (2 Cor 12:3).

"While we do not contend dogmatically that Paul did not die on this occasion, yet we are not convinced that any or all of the above arguments prove conclusively that he did.  It is doubtless true that Paul's persecutors meant to put him to death and thought they had accomplished their purpose, but this does not prove that they had accomplished.  Nor does the suddenness with which he arose and walked about necessarily indicate he had been raised from the dead.  He may merely have been stunned, rendered unconscious, by the stones hurled at him, and then suddenly have regained consciousness again ... Paul's words in 2 Cor 12, in they refer to this experience, as we are inclined to agree they do, should rather keep us from coming to any definite conclusion in the matter, for he says, by the Spirit, 'whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell.'" (Stam)

they passed through Pisidia and came to Pamphylia. And when they had spoken the word in Perga, they went down to Attalia - "Having won men to Christ he bore them daily upon his heart, praying for them, writing to them or, if possible, visiting them again that they might be established in the faith.  Thus it was that Paul and Barnabas began retracing their steps..." (Stam)

saying that through many tribulations we must... - "This 'must' does not indicate a fatal necessity, as though no one could be saved without having suffered, but rather indicates that it is natural, the world being what it is, that believers should suffer as they enter, more and more fully, into the kingdom of God, that they should not expect it to be otherwise (See 2 Tim 3:12; Rom 8:17).  Indeed God permits these things in order to keep His children separate from the world and close to Himself." (Stam)

enter the kingdom of God - "Paul's use of this term is no indication that he offered the kingdom, i.e., its earthly establishment, until the close of Acts, for even after that he speaks of entering, or failing to enter the kingdom of God (Eph 5:5).  The kingdom is now in heaven, vested in the exiled Christ." (Stam)

Attalia - "This town was founded, near the mouth of the river Catarrhactes, by Attalus II Philadelphus, king of Pergamos, in the middle of the second century B.C., and called after him.  It had a good harbour.  The apostles had formerly sailed up the river Cestrus direct to Perga; now they go by land, about sixteen miles, from Perga to the seaport Attalia, to find a ship there bound for Syria." (Walker)

from there they sailed to Antioch - "Mark well that Antioch, not Jerusalem, was their base of operations.  The return of Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, and their second prolonged stay there give added evidence that here was a work separate and distinct from that which our Lord had committed to the eleven after His resurrection, which had its headquarters at Jerusalem; that Paul's commission to go to the nations had already begun to supersede the so-called 'great commission'; that God was now opening the door of faith to the Gentiles despite the fact that Israel would have kept it closed to them—indeed, would not enter it herself." (Stam)