And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium, and Antioch,

And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, and to Iconium, and to Antioch,

And having announced the glad tidings to that city, and having made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch,

Having proclaimed good news also to that city, and having discipled many, they turned back to Lystra, and Iconium, and Antioch,

and, after proclaiming the Good News to the people there and gaining a large number of converts, they retraced their steps to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch.

And having made a number of disciples through the preaching of the good news in that town, they went back to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch,

And when they had evangelized that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch,

After telling the good news throughout that town, and making a number of converts, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,

Had taught many - Or, rather, had made many disciples (margin).
To Lystra - Acts 14:6.
And to Iconium - Acts 14:1. We have here a remarkable instance of the courage of the apostles. In these very places they had been persecuted and stoned, and yet in the face of danger they ventured to return. The welfare of the infant churches they deemed of more consequence than their own safety; and they threw themselves again into the midst of danger, to comfort and strengthen those just converted to God. There are times when ministers should not count their own lives. dear to them Acts 20:24, but when they should fearlessly throw themselves into the midst of danger, confiding only in the protecting care of their God and Saviour.

Preached the Gospel to that city - Derbe, a city in the same province. See on Acts 14:6 (note).
They returned again to Lystra, and to Iconium - Behold the courage of these Christian men! They counted not their lives dear to them, and returned to do their Masters work in the very places in which they had been so grievously persecuted, and where one of them had been apparently stoned to death! The man who knows he is God's ambassador, and that his life depends on his fidelity to his Master, knows he has nothing but his God to fear.

(7) And when they had preached the gospel to that city, and had taught many, they returned again to Lystra, and [to] Iconium, and Antioch,
(7) We must go forward in our calling through a thousand deaths.

And when they had preached the Gospel to that city,.... To the inhabitants of it, as they did in every place where they came, even the pure Gospel of Christ, the good news, and glad tidings of life and salvation by him:
and had taught many; or made them disciples, their ministry being blessed to bring many to the faith of Christ:
they returned again to Lystra; where Paul had been stoned:
and to Iconium; where both Jews and Gentiles, and the magistrates of the city, had attempted to use them ill, and to stone them:
and Antioch; that is, in Pisidia, as before; where a persecution was raised against them, and from the coasts of which place they were expelled; so fearless were they of danger, and so zealous to promote the interest of Christ, and the good of souls.

and when they had preached . . . to that city and had taught many--rather, "had made many disciples" (Margin); but probably without suffering any persecution, as Derbe is not mentioned along with Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra (2-Timothy 3:11).
PAUL AND BARNABAS RETRACE THEIR STEPS, RETURN TO ANTIOCH IN SYRIA, AND THUS COMPLETE THEIR FIRST MISSIONARY JOURNEY. (Acts 14:21-28)
they returned . . . to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch, confirming the souls, &c.--At Derbe, Paul was not far from the well-known pass which leads down from the central tableland to Cilicia and Tarsus. But his thoughts did not center in an earthly home. He revisited the places where he had been reviled and persecuted, but where he had left as sheep in the desert the disciples whom his Master had enabled him to gather. They needed building up and strengthening in the faith, comforting in the midst of their inevitable suffering, and fencing round by permanent institutions. Undaunted therefore by the dangers that awaited them, our missionaries return to them, using words of encouragement which none but the founders of a true religion would have ventured to address to their earliest converts, that "we can only enter into the kingdom of God by passing through much tribulation" [HOWSON].

They returned again to Lystra. After a season of work at Derbe. The Jews had gone, the excitement had subsided, and it was needful to revisit their fields of labor to organize the churches. It is well to remember that one of the converts was Timothy (Acts 16:1).
Confirming the souls of the disciples. Not an outward rite, but words of cheer that strengthened their souls.
Through much tribulation. They taught them that they must expect trials and persecutions. All have to bear the cross. See Romans 5:3; 2-Corinthians 4:17; Hebrews 12:5-11.
And when they had ordained them elders. Observe (1) that elders were not appointed as soon as the churches were planted; time must be taken so as to know what men were fitted for the office; (2) that elders were not appointed to preside over a district, but in every church; (3) that there was a plurality; (4) that they were set apart with fasting, prayer, and imposition of hands. It is not here stated who selected the men, but from Acts 6:6 we would infer that they were chosen by the church under the advice of the apostles.