Acts 14:19

‘But there came there Jews from Antioch and Iconium, and having persuaded the large crowds, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.'

The impression given is that meanwhile these Jews from Pisidian Antioch and Iconium were already present, presumably having come because they had learned that Paul and Barnabas were still taking their message to the synagogues of the region, and taking advantage of the situation they aroused the crowds to antagonism against Paul and Barnabas, probably claiming that they had been deceiving them. The crowds, having had their favourite gods blatantly denied, were ripe to be persuaded. When we have made fools of ourselves we regularly look around for someone else to blame. And they were frustrated to discover that these men were not gods after all and indeed were men who rejected their gods. It did not therefore take long for them to be persuaded that these men were charlatans (and, as men will under pressure, they conveniently forgot the healing).

Stoning was a Jewish punishment and probably allowed in cases of blasphemy (it certainly was in some cases). So it was probably the Jews who led the way in hurling the stones at Paul, and soon all joined in. It was the equivalent of a mob lynching. And once they were convinced that they had killed him, they dragged his body out of the city and left him for dead, possibly in what constituted the site for town rubbish.

It will be noted that here, as constantly, the Jews actually went to some lengths to ensure the persecution of Christians, and in fact it would be they who were the main instigators of persecution against the Christians throughout most of the first century. They were a Licit Religion, and themselves safe from state persecution, and that protection extended to Christians because they were seen by the authorities as a Jewish cult. While here the Jews merely worked by inciting popular opinion, later they would do all that they could to expose Christians as members of an Illicit Religion. Much persecution of Christians would have been avoided had it not been for the Jews (compare Revelation 2:9; Revelation 3:9). Sadly they were as good at hating as at being hated by many Gentiles.