Acts 14:12

And those people reckoned Barnabas was their boss god called Zeus, and they reckoned Paul was their messenger god called Hermes, because Paul did all the talking.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

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

In Context

11A big mob of people saw Paul do that, and they yelled out in their own Lyconian language, “The gods turned themselves into men, and they came here to us.”

13There was a house for Zeus just outside the town, and there was a man there that looked after the ceremonies for Zeus. That man and all the people got some bulls and some flowers, and they took them to the gates of the town. They wanted to show respect to Paul and Barnabas, just like they always showed respect to their gods. They were going to kill those bulls for them, and they were going to give them the flowers too.

Read all of Acts 14

Cross References

Acts 19:35Then an important government leader in that town got the mob to stop shouting, and he said to them, “Listen, Ephesus people, everyone knows that we Ephesus people look after the special house for Artemis, the great woman god. And everyone knows that we look after the statue of her that fell down from the sky.

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 →

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Study Acts 14:12