Acts 14:12

So they called Barnabas ‘Zeus,’ and Paul ‘Hermes,’ because he took the lead in speaking;

Open English Bible (US)

In The King James Version

And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.

In Context

11and the crowd, seeing what Paul had done, called out in the Lycaonian language, “The Gods have come down to us in human form.”

13and the priest of Zeus-beyond-the-Walls, accompanied by the crowd, brought bullocks and garlands to the gates, with the intention of offering sacrifices.

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Cross References

Acts 19:35When the Recorder had succeeded in quieting the crowd, he said, “People of Ephesus, who is there, I ask you, who needs to be told that this city of Ephesus is the Warden of the Temple of the great Artemis, and of the statue which fell down from Zeus?

Matthew Henry on Acts 14:9-19

The Lame Man Healed at Lystra; Paul and Barnabas at Lystra. 8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother's womb, who never had walked: 9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked. 11 And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Acts 14:12