Bible Strands
Acts 14:2
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul and Barnabas are ministering in Iconium immediately after a large mixed group of Jews and Greeks believed in the synagogue. The text reports that certain Jews actively turn a Gentile audience against the missionary brothers.
The words — ἀπειθὴσαντες (apeithēsantes) translates literally as "disobeying" or "refusing to obey," identifying the posture of the opposition. ἐκακώσαν (ekakōsan) means "they poisoned" or "they did evil," describing the deliberate corruption of the Gentiles' perception.
The thread — This sequence follows the pattern in Acts 13:45 and Acts 13:50, where jealousy and civic influence provoke Jewish resistance to the gospel. The hostility escalates in Acts 14:19, where agents from Antioch and Iconium successfully turn crowds against Paul, resulting in his stoning.
Why it lands — The text states that organized opposition actively works to poison perception and isolate believers from their community. It requires the reader to acknowledge that gospel expansion routinely encounters coordinated efforts to corrupt how outsiders view the faithful.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.
Cross-references
- Acts 13:50 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 13:45 But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and they blasphemously contradicted what Paul was saying.
- 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 17:5 The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.
- Acts 21:27 When the seven days were almost over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,
- 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.
- 1 Thessalonians 2:15 who killed both the Lord Jesus and their own prophets and drove us out as well. They are displeasing to God and hostile to all men,
- Mark 15:10 For he knew it was out of envy that the chief priests had handed Jesus over.
- Acts 18:12 While Gallio was proconsul of Achaia, the Jews coordinated an attack on Paul and brought him before the judgment seat.
- John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever rejects the Son will not see life. Instead, the wrath of God remains on him.”