They were ware of it - They were in some way informed of the excitement and of their danger.
And fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia - Lycaonia was one of the provinces of Asia Minor. It had Galatia north, Pisidia south, Cappadocia east, and Phrygia west. It was formerly within the limits of Phrygia, but was erected into a separate province by Augustus. "The district of Lycaonia extends from the ridges of Mount Taurus and the borders of Cilicia on the south, to the Cappadocian hills on the north. It is a bare and dreary region, unwatered by streams, though in parts liable to occasional inundations. Strabo mentions one place where water was even sold for money. Across some portion of this plain Paul and Barnabas traveled both before and after their residence in Iconium. After leaving the high land to the northwest, during a journey of several hours before arriving at the city, the eye ranges freely over a vast expanse of level ground to the south and the east, The two most eminent objects in the view are the snowy summits of Mount Argaeus, rising high above all the intervening hills in the direction of Armenia, and the singular mountain mass called the 'Kara-Dagh,' or 'Black Mount,' southeastward in the direction of Cilicia. And still these features continue to be conspicuous after Iconium is left behind, and the traveler moves on over the plain toward Lystra and Derbe. Mount Argaeus still rises far to the northeast, at the distance of 150 miles.
The Black Mountain is gradually approached, and discovered to be an isolated mass, with reaches of the plain extending round it like channels of the sea. The cities of Lystra and Derbe were somewhere about the bases of the Black Mountain." The exact position of Lystra and Derbe is still subject to some uncertainty. In 1824, Colossians. Leake wrote thus: "Nothing can more strongly show the little progress that has hitherto been made in a knowledge of the ancient geography of Asia Minor, than that, of the cities which the journey of Paul has made so interesting to us, the site of one only (Iconium) is yet certainly known. Perga, Antioch of Pisidia, Lystra, and Derbe, remain to be discovered." The situation of the first two of these towns has been since that fully identified, and some ruins have been found which have been supposed to mark the place of Lystra and Derbe, though not with entire certainty.
And unto the region - The adjacent country. Though persecuted, they still preached; and though driven from one city, they fled into another. This was the direction of the Saviour, Matthew 10:23.

They were ware of it - They were informed of the scheme, and of the attempt that was about to be made, and fled unto Lystra and Derbe; they did not leave the province of Lycaonia, but went to other towns and cities. Lystra lay to the south and Derbe to the north of Iconium, according to the general opinion. Strabo, Geogr. lib. xii., tells us expressly, that Iconium was within Lycaonia, Thence are the Lycaonian hills plain, cold, naked, and pastures for wild asses. About these places stands Iconium, a town built in a better soil. Ptolemy also, Tab. Asiae, i. cap. 6, places Iconium in Lycaonia. How comes it, then, that St. Luke does not call Iconium a city of Lycaonia, as well as Derbe and Lystra? Pliny, Hist. Nat. lib. v. cap. 27, solves this difficulty, by stating, that there was granted a tetrarchy out of Lycaonia, on that side which borders upon Galatia, consisting of fourteen cities; the most famous of which is Iconium. See Lightfoot.

They were ware of [it], and (c) fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia, and unto the region that lieth round about:
(c) It is sometimes proper to flee dangers, at the appropriate times.

They were ware of it,.... They understood it, were apprised of it, and well weighed it, and considered it in their minds, and what was best to be done at this juncture:
and fled unto Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lycaonia; according to the orders and command of Christ, Matthew 10:23 not so much to save their lives, as to spread the Gospel in other parts. Lycaonia was a province in the lesser Asia, near Phrygia, separated from it by the mountains; on the east it bordered on Galatia, and had on the west Pamphylia and Pisidia, and on the south Cilicia, unto Mount Taurus. Some say it had its name from Lycaon, the son of Pelasgus; others, seeing it was not a Greek colony, chose to fetch the name of the country from the Syrians, who used to call their neighbour's country Leikonia, or in the Greek pronunciation Lycaonia; that is, the country of Iconium, which city was the metropolis of Lycaonia (i): Lystra is by Ptolomy (k) placed in Isauria, and so Derbe is said by Strabo (l) to be upon the coast of Isauria; wherefore the words may be read thus, as they are in the Syriac and Ethiopic versions, "and they fled to the cities of Lycaonia, and to Lystra, and to Derbe"; by which reading, they are not necessarily made the cities of Lycaoma: according to Jerom (m), they were both cities of Lycaonia. Lystra is the same with "Lehesthera"; which, in the Hebrew and Syriac languages, signifies "a flock of sheep", or "a city of flocks"; it being a place that abounded with sheep, as the country of Lycaonia in general did (n). Derbe was sometimes called "Delbia", which, in the language of the Lycaonians, signifies a "juniper tree"; and Delub, and Dulbe, with the Targumist (o) and Talmudists (p), signify a chesnut tree; and with the Arabians, "Dulb" is a plane tree, or poplar; it seems as if it had its name from one or other of those trees, which might grow in large quantities near it:
and unto the region that lieth round about; the said cities.
(i) Vid. Hiller. Onomasticum Sacrum, p. 870. (k) Geograph. l. 5. c. 4. (l) Ib. l. 12. (m) De locis Hebraicis, fol. 96. A. D. (n) Vid. Hiller. ib. p. 870, 871. (o) Targum Onkelos in Genesis. xxx. 37. (p) T. Hieros. Cetubot, fol. 31. 4. T. Bab. Roshhashana, fol. 23. 1. & Succa, fol. 32. 2.

unto Lystra and Derbe--the one some twenty miles to the south, the other some sixty miles to the east of Iconium, somewhere near the bases of what are called the Black Mountains and the roots of Mount Taurus; but their exact position has not yet been discovered.