Acts 14:6
What does Acts 14:6 mean?
A plain-English look at Acts 14:6 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What Acts 14:6 means
Learning of the plot, the missionaries prudently flee to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and the surrounding region. Flight here is not fearfulness but faithfulness; they are stewards of their calling and lives. Jesus taught His followers to flee persecution in one city and preach in another. Paul and Barnabas embody that wisdom. The mission’s scope widens as hostility in one center becomes the means of gospel advance in new towns. God uses both open doors and closed ones to direct His servants. Geography matters: by moving deeper into Gentile territory, they prepare for encounters shaped by pagan, not Jewish, assumptions.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000they became aware of it, and fled unto the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the region round about:
KJV
King James Version · 1611They were ware of it, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901they became aware of it, and fled unto the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the region round about:
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949Having got news of it, they went in flight to the towns of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and the country round about:
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862they having become aware, did flee to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra, and Derbe, and to the region round about,
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752They, understanding it, fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and to the whole country round about: and were there preaching the gospel.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890they, being aware of it, fled to the cities of Lycaonia, Lystra and Derbe, and the surrounding country,
Context
After the planned assault (verse 5), verse 6 records a strategic withdrawal. This move resets the scene for a different kind of ministry context, less synagogue-centered and more purely Gentile. The next verse will succinctly affirm that the mission does not pause—it continues with preaching in the new region (verse 7). This change of venue also paves the way for the dramatic events at Lystra, including a miraculous healing and a cultural misunderstanding that erupts into attempted worship (verses 8–18). Thus, verse 6 turns danger into redirection for further gospel work.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- 2 Timothy 3:11
persecutions, sufferings; what things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: and out of them all the Lord delivered me.
- Acts 16:1
And he came also to Derbe and to Lystra: and behold, a certain disciple was there, named Timothy, the son of a Jewess that believed; but his father was a Greek.
- Acts 17:13
But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was proclaimed of Paul at Beroea also, they came thither likewise, stirring up and troubling the multitudes.
- 2 Kings 6:8
Now the king of Syria was warring against Israel; and he took counsel with his servants, saying, In such and such a place shall be my camp.
- Acts 23:12
And when it was day, the Jews banded together, and bound themselves under a curse, saying that they would neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul.
- Matthew 10:23
But when they persecute you in this city, flee into the next: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall not have gone through the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come.
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