The Bible does not say much about what happened to Paul and Barnabas in Iconium except that their work was effective enough that they antagonized the people there and had to flee. But In the apochryphal Acts of Paul and Thecla there is a legend which may have a grain of truth to it. In summary, the passage tells about Thecla’s having heard Paul preach at Iconium and embarrassing him in her determination to be baptised.
There must have been a row because they were brought before the judge who condemned Paul to be whipped and expelled and Thecla to be burned. She was saved by a timely heavy rain and escaped to follow Paul to Antioch. She put on boys’ clothes hoping to be allowed to stay with him in that disguise. That was unsuccessful, and she was next thrown to the wild beasts, but she managed to get away again and live to a ripe old age. Much of the story is implausible, and some of it might lead one to wonder If Paul’s attitude toward women was influenced by her.
Along with her romantic adventures, however, there is a description of Paul that may reflect what he actually looked like: A man “of a low stature, bald on the head, crooked thighs, handsome legs, hollow-eyed; had a crooked nose; full of grace; for sometimes he appeared as a man, sometimes he had the countenance of an angel.” One wonders also if he was swarthy in complexion because of the Roman commandant in Jerusalem who confused him with an Egyptian who had instigated a riot.
As in Antioch, Paul and Barnabas used the synagogue in Iconium as their forum from which they could address those who would be interested in what they had to say. At each place they spoke first to the Jewish people and only when they had been rejected by them did they turn more of their attention to the Gentiles. In Iconium they caused a split among the people, both Gentiles and Jews being on each side. Those against them were more influential and got the authorities on their side, but Paul and Barnabas were warned in time enough to escape being stoned there.
Iconium is on the western edge of a great plain where clouds of dust in summer and blizzards of snow in winter sometimes sweep across the city. It is an extremely old city, its origins going back at least to Hittite times in the third millennium B.C. Besides the Hittites, some of the people who have occupied it are Phrygians, Lydians, Persians, Byzantines, Mongols, Selcuks, and Ottomans. Seleucids, Pergamenes, and Crusaders also held it for various periods. Directions for seeing the area are available at the Ministry of Tourism and Information Bureau near the Mevlana Museum in the center of the city.
Today the most interesting monuments in the city are the beautiful Selçuk mosques and schools and the monastery of the great poet Celâl-ed-din Rumî, mystic and head of the Whirling Dervishes (Mevlevi Dervişler). His mystic order has had a profound influence on Turkish Islam ever since the thirteenth century. An inscription on one of the walls of the tomb-museum in the monastery gives a typical saying of this Muslim Master: “Come in whoever you are, infidel, fire-worshipper, idolater. Ours is not a house of despair. Come in however often you may have broken your vows.”
Iconium,
Iconium, from the Greek Ikonion, was the capital city of Lycaonia, in Asia Minor (today Turkey), situated about 120 miles / 195 kilometers inland from The Mediterranean Sea. In New Testament times, it was one of the major cities of the Roman province of Galatia (see Ancient Empires – Rome). Iconium’s location, on a major road that led to Ephesus and Rome to the west, made it a natural part of the stepping-stone spread of the Gospel (literally, the Gospel spread by word of mouth, by people generally traveling on foot, day by day, mile by mile – no printing press, no radio, no TV, no Internet). It was visited by Paul and his associates during all three of his missionary travels (see Paul’s First Missionary Journey, Paul’s Second Missionary Journey and Paul’s Third Missionary Journey).
Paul In Iconium
Although generally successful, Paul’s efforts in Iconium, as with nearly everywhere else, did not come without opposition from his fellow Jews. Very often, the Jewish community split right down the middle, for and against, him.
“Now at Iconium they entered together into the Jewish Synagogue, and so spoke that a great company believed, both of Jews and of Greeks. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of His grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands.” (Acts 14:1-3 RSV)
“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, exhorting 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 believed.” (Acts 14:20-23 RSV)
“And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra. A disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman who was a believer; but his father was a Greek. He was well spoken of by the brethren at Lystra and Iconium.” (Acts 16:1-2 RSV)
“Now you have observed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, my persecutions, my sufferings, what befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, what persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me. Indeed all who desire to live a Godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:10-12 RSV)
Fact Finder: Was the apostle Paul ever stoned and left for dead for preaching the Gospel?
Acts 14:19
Iconium
Iconium was at the center of a very large territory. The plain that stretches away from the city to the north, east, and west contained very fertile soil made productive by streams from the Pisidian mountains. The area was especially known for grains, including wheat, and for orchards of plum and apricots. To the south, the territory of Iconium bordered on Lystra.
The character of the city was Hellenic from about the 3rd century B.C., when it was ruled and Hellenized by the Seleucid kings of Syria. According to Ramsay, the Hellenic city was an association of free citizens, taking action voluntarily for the common good by choosing individuals out of their number to whom they should entrust for a limited time certain powers to be exercised for the benefit of the whole city, leaving the individual citizen free and uncontrolled except in so far as all by common consent curtailed their own rights in order to make the city safer and strong. The free inhabitants were not villagers, but citizens of the city, and they shared in the political rights of the State.
In 25 B.C., Iconium was incorporated into the Roman Empire as a city belonging to the province of Galatia. Rome’s usual policy was not to introduce Latin language and customs in such cities, but to accept Hellenism as a friendly power. Thus, Luke calls the citizens of Iconium “Hellenes.” It is therefore one of the many slight and almost accidental examples of accuracy in details, which abound in the book of the Acts, that Luke gives the name Hellenes to the population of Iconium, alone among the Galatian cities.
The unbelieving Jews did not approach the leading citizens of Iconium. Instead, they created a public argument aimed at disaffecting the masses. Paul was expelled from Pisidian Antioch by the city’s leading men and women (expected behavior from Roman aristocracy). He was expelled from Iconium by a mob. There was no ruling oligarchy in Iconium, like the Roman colonists in Antioch. Iconium was a Hellenic city, where the power lay in the hands of the whole body of citizens. In Antioch Paul’s Jewish enemies accomplished their object by appealing privately to the oligarchy through the ladies of high rank who were within the influence of the Synagogue. In Iconium they gained the same end by gradually working on the feelings of the masses.
Thus, according to Luke, there was an initial objection toPaul’s message by “unbelieving Jews [who] stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren” (Acts 14:2). Then followed a long period of successful work:
So they remained for a long time, speaking boldly for the Lord, who bore witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. (Acts 14:3)
Following this period of successful preaching, a second riot broke out that caused Paul and Barnabas to flee to Lystra, Derbe, and other cities of the region where they continued to preach the gospel.
The disaffection of part of the citizens of Iconium (Gentiles and Jews) came about gradually. Where an agency of authority existed to hinder the missionary work, the seeds of opposition grew quickly and moved decisively as they did at Antioch, and as they did in Jerusalem in the last days of Jesus’ life. Otherwise, the seeds of opposition grew and matured gradually until they garnered enough strength in themselves to perpetrate such an ignoble work–the case at Iconium.
Paul’s long residence in Iconium made it an influential center from which the gospel spread to other areas of the central Asian plateau. This also resulted from the city’s location
on or near the main lines of communication between Rome and Syria.
Bible Study (Iconium)
Acts 14:1-7, 21; 16:1-4; 18:23. Paul visited Iconium on his first and second missionary journeys, and possibly on his third missionary journey.
Acts 14:19. Unbelieving Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium followed Paul to Lystra, persuaded the people against Paul, saw him stoned, and left him for dead outside the city.
2 Tim. 3:11. Paul tells Timothy about being persecuted in Galatia.
Galatians. The letter to the Galatians was probably directed to the Christian churches in Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, and Pisidian Antioch.
1 Pet. 1:1. Peter’s first epistle was probably sent to the churches in Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, and Pisidian Antioch.
Acts 14:1-6
1: And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
2: But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.
3: Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.
4: But the multitude of the city was divided: and part held with the Jews, and part with the apostles.
5: And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,
6: They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
Acts 16:1-4
1: Then came he to Derbe and Lystra: and, behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timotheus, the son of a certain woman, which was a Jewess, and believed; but his father was a Greek:
2: Which was well reported of by the brethren that were at Lystra and Iconium.
3: Him would Paul have to go forth with him; and took and circumcised him because of the Jews which were in those quarters: for they knew all that his father was a Greek.
4: And as they went through the cities, they delivered them the decrees for to keep, that were ordained of the apostles and elders which were at Jerusalem.
Acts 18:22-23
22: And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up, and saluted the church, he went down to Antioch.
23: And after he had spent some time there, he departed, and went over all the country of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.