Act 13:51; 14:6
Iconium (Gr. Ikónion, “small image”). Important city in the interior of Asia Minor; almost an oasis on the high, arid plain of Lycaonia. Xenophon called it “the border city of Phrygia”, but it was generally considered the capital of Lycaonia, until it was incorporated into the Roman province of Galatia in 25 BC The city was continuously inhabited and is now called Konya. Paul and Barnabas preached at Iconium and established a Christian church there during their 1st missionary journey, but had to flee when persecution broke out (Acts 13:51; 14:1-6). The Jews of that city aroused hatred against them at Lystra (14:19). However, later on the same trip Paul returned to Iconium (v 21), and visited it again on his 2nd missionary journey (16:2), and possibly on his 3rd as well (18:23). Map XX, B-5.
Source: Evangelical Bible Dictionary
capital city of Lycaonia in Asia Minor, in the south of the Roman province of Galatia. It was a large, rich and commercially important city. In I. Paul was opposed by both Jews and Gentiles; however, he founded a Christian community in it, Acts 13, 51; 14, 1-6 and 21; 16, 2. In 2 Tm 3, 11, the apostle Paul refers to the persecutions and sufferings he went through in this city.
Digital Bible Dictionary, Grupo C Service & Design Ltda., Colombia, 2003
Source: Digital Bible Dictionary
A city in Asia Minor that Paul and Barnabas visited on their first missionary journey and visited again on their return journey to Antioch (Acts 13:51ff.). Paul and Silas passed through Iconium to read the letter that the Jerusalem council had sent regarding the question concerning the Judaizers (Acts 16:1-5). Paul alludes to persecutions he suffered at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra (2Ti 3:11).
In the first century it was one of the main cities in the southern part of the Roman province of Galatia.
Source: Hispanic World Bible Dictionary
City of Asia, Acts 13:51, Acts 14:1-22.
Christian Bible Dictionary
Dr. J. Dominguez
http://bible.com/dictionary/
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
Principal city of the region of Lycaonia, in Anatolia (Turkey) or central Asia Minor. In turn, Lycaonia was part of the larger region called Galatia. I. was 32 km N of Lystra. Today it is known as Konya. After being expelled from †¢Antioch in Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas visited I., where †œthey stayed a long time speaking boldly† , but from there they also had to flee towards Lystra and †¢Derbe (Acts 13:51; Acts 14 :1-6). While they were preaching there came “some Jews from Antioch and I., who persuaded the crowd” and stoned Paul. Despite this, the apostle returned to I., “confirming the spirit of the disciples” (Acts 14:19-22). The apostle reminds †¢Timoteo, among others, of the persecution he suffered in I. (2Ti 3:11). It is believed that Paul, on his third missionary journey, returned to I., this is deduced from the expression † œpassing through the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order † of Acts 19:23.
Source: Christian Bible Dictionary
type, CITY
sit, a9, 466, 195
vet, City of Asia Minor. Xenophon describes it as the last Phrygian city encountered by the traveler heading east (Anabassa 1:2, 19). Under the rule of the Greeks and Romans, Iconium was the capital of Lycaonia. He was in a fertile part of the Lycaonian plateau, mostly devoid of water. Barnabas and Paul visited Iconium during their first missionary journey, stopping there on their way there and back (Acts 13:51; 14:1-6, 19-22; cf. Acts 16:2; 2 Tim. 3:11). . The history of Iconium does not present any interruption. Today it is called Konya.
Source: New Illustrated Bible Dictionary
Iconium was located in the western part of a large plain on the central plateau of Asia Minor. It was near the border of Phrygia and Lycaonia and is said by some to be in one province and by others to be in another. The site is close to 29 to
32 km. almost north of Lystra. It has always been the main center for the entire Lycaonian plain. It is now called Konya and has a population of 122,704.
It was visited by Paul on his first and second journeys (Acts 14:1-6), and probably also on his third (Acts 18:23).
His persecutions there are mentioned, 2 Timothy 3:11. Some from Iconium followed Paul to Lystra (Acts 14:19).
Source: Geographic Dictionary of the Bible
Ancient city of Asia Minor located at about 1,025 m. above sea level. Today it corresponds to modern Konya (Konia), which is located about 240 km S. of Ankara, on the southern edge of the central Turkish plateau. In the 1st century CE, Iconium was one of the major cities in the Roman province of Galatia, and was on the main trade route from Ephesus to Syria.
In the city there was a very influential Jewish population. After being forced to leave Antioch in Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas preached in the city of Iconium and in its synagogue, helping many Jews and Greeks to become believers there. Then they tried to stone them, so they fled from Iconium to Lystra. Jews from Antioch and Iconium soon came to Lystra and stirred up the crowds to stone Paul. Paul and Barnabas later went to Derbe and then courageously returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, strengthening the brothers and appointing “elders” to positions of responsibility in the congregations that had been founded in those cities. (Ac 13:50, 51; 14:1-7, 19-23)
Later, after the apostles and elders of the Jerusalem congregation settled the issue of circumcision, Paul may have revisited Iconium. During this second missionary journey, Paul took with him Timothy, a young man who had an excellent reputation among the brothers at Lystra and Iconium. (Ac 16:1-5; 2Ti 3:10, 11)
Iconium was on the border between Phrygia and Lycaonia. This fact may explain why certain ancient writers, including Strabo and Cicero, included it in Lycaonia, while Xenophon called it the last city of Phrygia. Geographically, Iconium belonged to Lycaonia, but, as archaeological discoveries show, it was Phrygian in culture and speech. Inscriptions found at this location in 1910 show that Phrygian was the language still in use in that city two centuries after Paul’s time. Appropriately, therefore, the writer of Acts did not include Iconium as part of Lycaonia, where the “Lycaonic language” was spoken. (Ac 14:6, 11)
Source: Dictionary of the Bible
City of Asia Minor mentioned in Acts. 13.51; 14.1, etc., and 2 Tim. 3.11, as the place of Paul’s trials, and in Acts. 16.2 as the place where Timothy was entrusted. It was located on the edge of the plateau, had good irrigation, and was a productive and prosperous region. It was originally a Phrygian, and was called Kawania; their religion remained Phrygian in Roman times, and a mother goddess was worshiped with eunuch priests. After being for a time the main city of Lycaonia, and going through various political fortunes, it was finally included in the kingdom of Galatia, and a little later in the Roman province of the same name. Its fame and prestige grew markedly under Roman rule: Claudius honored it with the title of Claudiconius, and under Hadrian it became a colony in an honorary sense (since there were no Italian settlers there). At the time of the NT it had the characteristic government of Hellenistic cities, and the legal powers of the assembly were conferred on the two magistrates who were appointed annually.
The passage in Acts. 14, although brief, gives rise to different interpretations. The so-called Western text suggests two attacks on Paul: one overt, and one more subtle, after which the apostles fled. Two classes of Jewish chiefs are mentioned, “chiefs of the synagogue” and “rulers”, an epigraphically defensible distinction. The text of the Vatican codex and those related to it are more difficult; they suggest a single attack of a fairly long duration. Here the rulers of vv. 5 can plausibly be interpreted as the city magistrates, as Ramsay suggests, but whether the old uncial text is a poor synthesis, or whether the Western text is trying to correct a perhaps corrupt text, has not yet been definitively decided.
Iconium is the site of the well-known apocryphal story of Paul and Thecla, which appears in the longer Acts of Paul. Apart from the existence of an early martyr of that name being doubtful, there is no verifiable historical content in the account.
Bibliography. J. Roloff, Acts of the Apostles, 1984, pp. 281ff; A. Wikenhauser, The Acts of the Apostles, 1973; G. Bornkamm, Paul of Tarsus, 1979.
Comments on Hechos in loc., esp. BC, 3, p. 129–132; 4, p. 160–162; WM Ramsay, Cities of St Paul, 1907, part iv.
JNB
Douglas, J. (2000). New Biblical Dictionary: First Edition. Miami: United Bible Societies.
Source: New Bible Dictionary