LYSTRA lĭs’ trə (ἡ Λύστρα τὰ̀ Λύστρα). A town in the central region of S Asia Minor (Acts 14:6, 8, 21; 16:1, 2; 2 Tim 3:11).

Lystra is an ancient village of the district of Lycaonia which was c. twenty-four m. S of Iconium, a Phrygian village. Lystra was built upon a small hill suddenly rising c. 100-150 ft. above the surrounding plain located on the E of the mountain ranges which form the Pisidian triangle. It was not located on any significant road or trade route; in fact, it was located c. eight to ten m. from the great trade route. It is probable that the territory of Lystra was bounded in the N by Iconium, in the W by the mountains, and in the S by Isauria Vetus. The borders of the territory of Lycaonia are difficult to determine, esp. in the E, because of the absence of towns in the area. It is thought that the territory of Lycaonia was not any larger than 100 square m. The plain surrounding Lystra was fertile, with two small rivers passing by the village’s mound.

The history of Lystra is quite unknown. Lycaonia was under Pers. control and later under Gr. control (first under the Seleucids [c. 280-189 b.c.] and second under the Attalids [c. 189-133 b.c.]), and finally under the Romans. In 36 b.c. Lycaonia was given to Amyntas, king of Pisidia, who was then made king of Galatia. When in 25 b.c. Amyntas was killed in a campaign against the Homonadeis, the greater part of his kingdom which included Lystra was taken over by the Romans and made the province of Galatia. In 6 b.c. the Homanadenses were subdued and Augustus planted five more military colonies around Homonadeis, one of which was Lystra. Some scholars have been puzzled to know the reason why Rome made such an insignificant town as Lystra a Rom. colony, but it is thought that since it was located on the eastern side of the mountains it could be made a strong fortress in order to keep in check the mountain tribes S and W of it. Since it was the most eastern of the fortified cities it would help in the pacification of Pisidia and Isauria as well as serve as a base for another attack from the E. Both Lystra and Derbe were under the direct control of Rome until c. a.d. 37/38, when it was put under the control of the client king Antiochus IV of Commagene. In a.d. 72 Antoninus Pius returned these two cities to the Rom. provincial rule of Cilicia.

In becoming a Rom. colony, Lystra sent (in the 2nd cent.) a statute of concord to its sister colony of Antioch in Pisidia. When Lystra had become a colony she acquired some Rom. settlers, most of whom were veterans. Also, under the Rom. influence roads were built during Augustus’ rule, whereby a road went from Iconium through Lystra and then on to Derbe and Laranda and finally into Cilicia.

Regarding Lystra’s inhabitants, first, the Rom. element was a small group of the local aristocracy of soldiers. They were the ruling class. Second, there were the Gr.-educated residents who were called the Hellenes. The Hellenes were not a racial group but an educated and generally well-to-do segment of the population. Timothy, whose father was a Hellene and his mother a Jewess (Acts 16:1), prob. belonged to the educated and upper income bracket. Finally, the majority of the population was made up of the uneducated Lycaonians who were a small Anatolian tribe.

The Rom. aristocracy spoke Lat., the educated were able to speak Gr., and the Lycaonians spoke in their own vernacular (cf. Acts 14:11) (which was still spoken in the 6th cent. a.d.) and were not well acquainted with Gr.

On the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas arrived at Lystra (c. a.d. 49), having fled the hostility of the Jews at Iconium (Acts 14:6). Upon arrival at Lystra Paul healed a man who had been lame from birth and the crowd concluded that the apostles were the gods Hermes and Zeus (Acts 14:6-18). On an earlier occasion, the same two gods, as the local legend relates, had come to that region to visit an aged and pious couple, Philemon and Bucis (Ovid, Metamorphoses viii. 626-724). Afterward the Jews from Antioch of Pisidia and Iconium came and influenced the people against Paul and consequently stoned Paul dragging him out of the city as dead. Probably it was this visit of Paul during which Timothy was converted and undoubtedly helped to establish the infant church at Lystra (2 Tim 3:10, 11). Paul and Barnabas went on to Derbe but later on their return visited Lystra (Acts 14:19-23).

On his second missionary journey Paul traveled through Syria and Cilicia and revisited the churches and Derbe and Lystra (c. a.d. 50) (Acts 15:41-16:2). A visit to Lystra, on the third journey (c. a.d. 53), is implied in Acts 18:23.

Bibliography W. M. Ramsay, The Historical Geography of Asia Minor (1890), passim; W. M. Ramsay, The Church in the Roman Empire before A.D. 170, 5th ed. (1897), 47-54, passim; W. M. Ramsay, A Historical Commentary on St. Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians (1899), 223-227; W. M. Ramsay, “Lystra,” HDB (1900), 178-180; W. M. Ramsay, The Cities of St. Paul (1907), 407-418; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen, 15th ed., enlarged (1925), passim; W. M. Ramsay, The Social Basis of Roman Power in Asia Minor (1941), 180-199, passim; D. Magie, Roman Rule in Asia Minor (1950) I, 462-464; II, 1324-1327; F. F. Bruce, Commentary on the Book of the Acts (1954), ad loc.; E. Lerle, “Die Predigt in Lystra,” NTS, VII (1960), 46-55; M. J. Mellink, “Lystra,” IDB, III (1962), 194, 195; E. M. Blaiklock, Cities of the New Testament (1965), 31-34; B. Levick, Roman Colonies in Southern Asia Minor (1967), 51-53, 195-197, passim; A. H. M. Jones, The Cities of the Eastern Roman Provinces, 2nd ed. (1971), 134, 135.

M. A symbol used by the NT scholar B. H. Streeter in his Four-Document hypothesis to designate one of the supposed sources of the gospel of Matthew, standing for matter peculiar to this gospel.