Greek word · G3082

Λύστρα

lystra

Lystra

A town in the region of Lycaonia, in the Roman province of Galatia, in south-central Asia Minor (modern Turkey, near Hatunsaray). Augustus made it a Roman colony, Colonia Iulia Felix Gemina Lustra, around 25 BC.

Appears 6 times in 6 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

λύστρα, -ας, ἡ

and (in Acts 14:8 16:2, 2Ti, l.with) -ων, τά (cf. Λύδδα),

Lystra, a city of Lycaonia: Acts 14:6, 8 14:21 16:1-2, 2 Timothy 3:11.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Acts 16:2

Range of meaning

A town in the region of Lycaonia, in the Roman province of Galatia, in south-central Asia Minor (modern Turkey, near Hatunsaray). Augustus made it a Roman colony, Colonia Iulia Felix Gemina Lustra, around 25 BC.

Against the English

No translation issue. The Greek alternates between a feminine singular form (16:1, 'to Lystra') and a neuter plural form (16:2, 'in Lystra'), a variation that English cannot show and that makes no difference to the meaning.

Used elsewhere in the period

Latin inscriptions found at the site confirm its colony status. Acts 14:6–20 records Paul healing a lame man there, the crowd hailing Paul and Barnabas as Zeus and Hermes, and then Paul being stoned and left for dead. 2 Tim 3:11 recalls that Timothy knew of Paul's sufferings 'at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra.'

Where it appears

Acts · 5

  1. Acts 14:6 Λύστραν Lystra

    they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding region,

    Here: A small Roman colony about 30 km (18 miles) south-southwest of Iconium. Later the hometown of Timothy (16:1).

  2. Acts 14:8 Λύστροις Lystra

    In Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked.

    Here: Lystra, a small Roman colony in Lycaonia, in south-central Asia Minor (modern Turkey). Luke treats the name as feminine singular in some places (14:6, 21) and as neuter plural here and in 16:2. Greek place-names often varied like this.

  3. Acts 14:21 Λύστραν Lystra

    They preached the gospel to that city and made many disciples. Then they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,

    Here: A Roman colony in Lycaonia. This is where Paul had just been stoned and left for dead (v. 19), and the first town they go back to.

  4. Acts 16:1 Λύστραν. Lystra.

    Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where he found a disciple named Timothy, the son of a believing Jewish woman and a Greek father.

    Here: A Roman colony in Lycaonia. On the earlier visit Paul healed a lame man here, the crowd hailed him as a god, and then he was stoned (14:8–20). Most readers take it as Timothy's home town.

  5. Acts 16:2 Λύστροις Lystra

    The brothers in Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him.

    Here: Timothy's home town (16:1). The name appears here in a plural form ('Lystra' is grammatically neuter plural), while 16:1 uses a feminine singular form. Luke uses both forms, as he did in Acts 14:6–8.

2 Timothy · 1

  1. 2 Timothy 3:11 Λύστροις· Lystra;

    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.

    Here: Grammatically plural here, as the town's name sometimes is (Acts 14:8 uses the singular). This was Timothy's home town (Acts 16:1), where Paul was stoned, dragged out and left for dead (Acts 14:19).

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.