Major city of Pamphylia in southern Asia Minor (Acts 13:13-14; 14:25), the first mainland Asia Minor stop of Paul and Barnabas after sailing from Paphos in Cyprus. Now when Paul and his company loosed from Paphos, they came to Perga in Pamphylia: and John departing from them returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). John Mark's departure from the missionary party at Perga becomes a significant later issue: when Paul and Barnabas are preparing for the second journey, Barnabas wants to take John Mark again; Paul thought it not good to take him, who had departed from them from Pamphylia; the contention was so sharp that Paul and Barnabas separated, Barnabas taking John Mark to Cyprus, Paul taking Silas through Syria and Cilicia (Acts 15:36-41). On the return leg of the first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas preached the word in Perga (Acts 14:25), suggesting they had not preached publicly there on the outbound leg (perhaps because of the disruption of John Mark's departure or other unrecorded factors). The patriarchal-Reformed reader notes the substance: Perga is the mainland-Asia-Minor entry-point of the first Pauline missionary journey, the location of John Mark's departure with its consequential later effects on the apostolic mission's organization, and one of the cities where Paul preached the gospel on the return leg.