Once again the subject “they” must be made explicit for the sake of clarity, the apostles.

Learned about translates a verb which means “to become aware of or to realize (certain obscure information).” Fled translates a verb meaning “to flee for safety.” The verse suggests that the sudden trip to Lystra and Derbe was not within the original plans of the apostles but that they had to hasten there in order to escape with their lives.

Lystra was about 18 miles southwest of Iconium and held the rank of a Roman colony. Derbe was a frontier city of the province of Galatia, though its exact location has not been established. According to some it was about 30 miles southeast of Lystra. Lycaonia was a district in the Roman province of Galatia.

In some languages there is a problem involved in translating fled to Lystra and Derbe … and to the surrounding territory. It is all right for people to flee to a particular town, but to flee to towns possibly 30 miles apart, and also to the surrounding territory, may seem strange indeed. In some languages the appropriate equivalent is “fled to a territory which included Lystra and Derbe which were cities in Lycaonia.” This would suggest, therefore, that the apostles were relatively free to move about within this territory rather than fleeing first to Lystra, then to Derbe, and on to the surrounding territory. The difficulty with this type of rendering is that in verse 8 the narrative continues in Lystra.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .