Iconium

Iconium was a city of Asia Minor that figures in the New Testament chiefly as a station on the apostle Paul's missionary itinerary. Most of the narrative material concerning the city is preserved in the book of Acts, which is not currently carried in the UPDV; what remains within UPDV scope is a single first-person mention in 2 Timothy, where Paul names Iconium as one of three cities in which he suffered for the gospel and from which the Lord delivered him.

A Named Persecution-Venue

Within the UPDV, Iconium is mentioned only by Paul in his second letter to Timothy, set in the middle of an ordered trio of cities: "persecutions, sufferings; what things befell me at Antioch, at Iconium, at Lystra; what persecutions I endured: and out of them all the Lord delivered me" (2 Timothy 3:11). The city stands as the second station in the list, between Antioch and Lystra, and the events attached to each venue are summarized in the same terms — persecutions and sufferings.

Deliverance Out of Them All

The list does not close on the suffering. Paul attaches to the trio of cities — Antioch, Iconium, Lystra — a summary clause of rescue: "and out of them all the Lord delivered me" (2 Timothy 3:11). Iconium is therefore exhibited not only as a place of persecution endured, but as a place from which the Lord effected deliverance, the city's name standing in the apostle's catalogue alongside the testimony of God's preserving hand.

Material Outside UPDV Scope

Iconium also appears in the book of Acts — Paul preaching in the city (Acts 13:51; Acts 14:21-22; Acts 16:2) and being persecuted by its people (Acts 14:1-6). These passages lie within Acts, which is not currently carried in the UPDV, and so the narrative they preserve cannot be quoted here. The reader is referred to the underlying text of Acts for the fuller account of Paul's ministry in the city.