Slowly receding behind them was the city of Lystra, which sat atop a low hill on the valley floor.

Let us go back in time two or three years, and let us assume​—as seems probable—​that Lystra was Timothy’s hometown. It was a small, rustic town in a secluded, well-watered valley. The people may have understood the Greek language, but they still spoke the local tongue, Lycaonian.