Acts 14:11

Act_14:11-13

The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.

The theology of heathendom

In the words and acts of these heathen Lystrians, there comes out the native theology of human hearts everywhere and in all conditions. There are three great theological beliefs involved in their conduct:

I. That the Divinity is always manifest in the miraculous. Though logically, perhaps, it could not be proved, man everywhere believes it. Whenever anything extraordinary in nature occurs, the human spectators, as well in civilised as savage states, involuntarily feel that God is at work. This doctrine, thus held by the heart of depraved humanity, accords with the teachings of the Bible.

II. That the Divinity assumes human forms. In the likeness of men. This was the general belief of heathendom. This may be regarded--

1. As a dim memory in the soul of paradise, where God held fellowship with man.

2. As a prophetic sentiment of that grand incarnation when the Word was made flesh and dwelt amongst us.

III. That the Divinity is to be worshipped when appearing in the human form. These heathens, believing that Barnabas was Jupiter, and Paul, Mercurius, began their worship, Now, the theology which comes out from the hearts of these heathens, and which is written in the souls of all, serves several important purposes.

1. As an eternal hindrance to the reign of atheism. Atheism is a contradiction to the profoundest faith of the human heart. Whatever system of doctrine is contrary to the intuitions of humanity cannot stand.

2. As indicating the responsibility of heathens. There is a light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. God has left no man without some measure of inner light.

3. As presumptive evidence in favour of the gospel. The gospel agrees with the primitive beliefs of human hearts.

4. As a guarantee for the spread of Christianity. The congruity of Christian theism with the theism of the soul is a pledge of its ultimate triumph. The gospel brings God to man in miraculous works and in a human form, and all this that he might worship. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

The worship of success

How ready the world is to pay tribute to apparent success! If a physician works a startling cure; if a commander wins a great victory; if an author writes a popular book: if an inventor contrives a wonderful machine; if a financier rolls up a vast fortune--the world looks up to him and calls him great. There are, indeed, those who are ready to give him homage beyond what mere man ought ever to receive. It is rarely an intelligent tribute which is paid to such a man. The display of his power dazzles the eyes of those who observe him, and they are ready to worship him because he possesses what they lack and long for. (H. C. Trumbull, D. D.)

And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius.--A well-known legend recounts how Jupiter and Mercury had once wandered through this region in quest of shelter and entertainment, which was everywhere refused until they came to the cottage of Philemon. When, then, the people saw the miracle, and heard the words of Paul and Barnabas, they thought that the gods of their old legend had again come down to them. In calling Barnabas Jupiter it is supposed that they were guided by the greater age, and probably the more dignified appearance of this apostle over his companion, whose bodily presence was weak, while the greater eloquence of Paul procured him the name of Mercury--the God of eloquence. (W. Denton, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 14:11-12. And when the people — Who were present when this wonderful cure was wrought; saw what Paul had done — By merely speaking a word, being all in raptures of astonishment; they lifted up their voices — In loud acclamations; saying, The gods are come down — Which the heathen supposed they frequently did, Jupiter especially. But how amazingly does the prince of darkness blind the minds of them that believe not! The Jews would not own Christ’s Godhead, though they saw him work numberless miracles: but these heathen, seeing mere men work one miracle, were for deifying them immediately! And they called Barnabas, Jupiter, &c. — Chrysostom observes, that the heathen represented Jupiter as an old, but vigorous man, of a noble and majestic aspect, and large robust make; which, therefore, he supposes might be the form of Barnabas: whereas Mercury appeared young, little, and nimble, as Paul might probably do, for he was yet but a young man. The reason, however, given by Luke is different, namely; because he was, ο ηγουμενος του λογου, the chief speaker, or, the leader of the discourse; on which account, they thought it more probable that he was Mercury, their god of eloquence.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Acts

DEIFIED AND STONED

DREAM AND REALITY

Act 14:11.

This was the spontaneous instinctive utterance of simple villagers when they saw a deed of power and kindness. Many an English traveller and settler among rude people has been similarly honoured. And in Lycaonia the Apostles were close upon places that were celebrated in Greek mythology as having witnessed the very two gods, here spoken of, wandering among the shepherds and entertained with modest hospitality in their huts.

The incident is a very striking and picturesque one. The shepherd people standing round, the sudden flash of awe and yet of gladness which ran through them, the tumultuous outcry, which, being in their rude dialect, was unintelligible to the Apostles till it was interpreted by the appearance of the priest of Jupiter with oxen and garlands for offerings, the glimpse of the two Apostles-the older, graver, venerable Barnabas, the younger, more active, ready-tongued Paul, whom their imaginations converted into the Father of gods and men, and the herald Mercury, who were already associated in local legends; the priest, eager to gain credit for his temple ‘before the city,’ the lowing oxen, and the vehement appeal of the Apostles, make a picture which is more vividly presented in the simple narrative than even in the cartoon of the great painter whom the narrative has inspired.

But we have not to deal with the picturesque element alone. The narratives of Scripture are representative because they are so penetrating and true. They go to the very heart of the men and things which they describe: and hence the words and acts which they record are found to contain the essential characteristics of whole classes of men, and the portrait of an individual becomes that of a class. This joyful outburst of the people of Lycaonia gives utterance to one of the most striking and universal convictions of heathenism, and stands in very close and intimate relations with that greatest of all facts in the history of the world, the Incarnation of the Eternal Word. That the gods come down in the likeness of men is the dream of heathenism. ‘The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,’ is the sober, waking truth which meets and vindicates and transcends that cry.

I. The heathen dream of incarnation.

In all lands we find this belief in the appearance of the gods in human form. It inspired the art and poetry of Greece. Rome believed that gods had charged in front of their armies and given their laws. The solemn, gloomy religion of Egypt, though it worshipped animal forms, yet told of incarnate and suffering gods. The labyrinthine mythologies of the East have their long-drawn stories of the avatars of their gods floating many a rood on the weltering ocean of their legends. Tibet cherishes each living sovereign as a real embodiment of the divine. And the lowest tribes, in their degraded worship, have not departed so far from the common type but that they too have some faint echoes of the universal faith.

Do these facts import anything at all to us? Are we to dismiss them as simply the products of a stage which we have left far behind, and to plume ourselves that we have passed out of the twilight?

Even if we listen to what comparative mythology has to say, it still remains to account for the tendency to shape legends of the earthly appearance of the gods; and we shall have to admit that, while they belong to an early stage of the world’s progress, the feelings which they express belong to all stages of it.

Now I think we may note these thoughts as contained in this universal belief:

The consciousness of the need of divine help.

The certainty of a fellowship between heaven and earth.

The high ideal of the capacities and affinities of man.

We may note further what were the general characteristics of these incarnations. They were transient, they were ‘docetic,’ as they are called-that is, they were merely apparent assumptions of human form which brought the god into no nearer or truer kindred with humanity, and they were, for the most part, for very self-regarding and often most immoral ends, the god’s personal gratification of very ungodlike passions and lust, or his winning victories for his favourites, or satisfying his anger by trampling on those who had incurred his very human wrath.

II. The divine answer which transcends the human dream.

We have to insist that the truth of the Incarnation is the corner-stone of Christianity. If that is struck out the whole fabric falls. Without it there may be a Christ who is the loftiest and greatest of men, but not the Christ who ‘saves His people from their sins.’

That being so, and Christianity having this feature in common with all the religions of men, how are we to account for the resemblance? Are we to listen to the rude solution which says, ‘All lies alike’? Are we to see in it nothing but the operation of like tendencies, or rather illusions, of human thought-man’s own shadow projected on an illuminated mist? Are we to let the resemblance discredit the Christian message? Or are we to say that all these others are unconscious prophecies-man’s half-instinctive expression of his deep need and much misunderstood longing, and that the Christian proclamation that Jesus is ‘God manifest in the flesh’ is the trumpet-toned announcement of Heaven’s answer to earth’s cry?

Fairly to face that question is to go far towards answering it. For as soon as we begin to look steadily at the facts, we find that the differences between all these other appearances and the Incarnation are so great as to raise the presumption that their origins are different. The ‘gods’ slipped on the appearance of humanity over their garment of deity in appearance only, and that for a moment. Jesus is ‘bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh,’ and is not merely ‘found in fashion as a man,’ but is ‘in all points like as we are.’ And that garb of manhood He wears for ever, and in His heavenly glory is ‘the Man Christ Jesus.’

But the difference between all these other appearances of gods and the Incarnation lies in the acts to which they and it respectively led, and the purposes for which they and it respectively took place. A god who came down to suffer, a god who came to die, a god who came to be the supreme example of all fair humanities, a god who came to suffer and to die that men might have life and be victors over sin- where is he in all the religions of the world? And does not the fact that Christianity alone sets before men such a God, such an Incarnation, for such ends, make the assertion a reasonable one, that the sources of the universal belief in gods who come down among men and of the Christian proclamation that the Eternal Word became flesh are not the same, but that these are men’s half-understood cries, and this is Heaven’s answer?

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

14:11-13 Zeus was the patron god of Lystra, and the city had a temple in his honor. They associated Barnabas with Zeus, perhaps because he was the more impressive figure, and Hermes was identified with Paul . . . since he was the chief speaker. The native people of Lystra thought that they were being treated to a divine visitation similar to a past mythological appearance cited by the poet Ovid (in which the gods Zeus and Hermes came to visit the area but were unrecognized except by an old couple; see Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.616–724). So the people set out to honor these supposed gods.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Act 14:11. Κατέβησαν, have come down) Often the Gentiles ascribed such a descent to their gods, especially to Jupiter, καταβάτης, the Descender. See J. H. a Seelen Medit. Exeget. pp. 453, 458.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_14:11. Λυκαονιστί] Chrysostom has finely grasped the object of this remark: οὐκ ἦν τοῦτο οὐδέπω δῆλον, τῇ γὰρ οἰκείᾳ φωνῇ ἐφθέγγοντο λέγοντες, ὅτι οἱ θεοὶ κ.τ.λ. Διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἔλεγον. The more surprised and astonished the people were, the more natural was it for them to express themselves in their native dialect, although Zeller reckons this very improbable and calculated with a view to make the homage go as far as possible. Nothing definite can be made out concerning the Lycaonian language; perhaps a dialect of the Lycian (Lassen in the Zeit. d. Deutsch. morgenl. Gesellsch. 1856, p. 329 ff.), which Jablonsky (in Ikens nov. Thes. II. p. 638 ff.) considered as derived from the Assyrian; Grotius, as identical with the Cappadocian; and Gühling (de lingua Lycaon., Viteb. 1726), as a corrupt Greek.

ὁμοιωθέντες ἀνθρώποις] having become similar to men. Theophanies in human form (Hom. Od. xvii. 485 ff.) belonged, at the instance of the myths of antiquity,[17] to the heathen popular belief, in which such conceptions survived as an echo of these ancient myths (comp. Themist. vii. p. 90, quoted by Wetstein on Act_14:12); although Baur (comp. Zeller) discovers here an imitation, in which the author of the Acts shows himself as acquainted with mythology. Comp., moreover, the analogous conception which attached itself to the appearance of Pythagoras, of Apollonius of Tyana, and others (Valckenaer, p. 506). Such a belief was naturally rejected by philosophers (Plat. Rep. ii. p. 381 CE; Cic. de Harusp. 28); but just as naturally it lingered among the people.

[17] See also Nägelsbach, Homer. Theol. p. 153.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 14:11 . ἐπῆραν τὴν φ . αὐτῶν : aorist; lifted up their voices with a sudden outburst, and then went on to devise names for the two: ἐκάλουν , “were for calling,” imperfect; cf. Luk 1:54 (Rendall). The phrase here only found in Act 2:14 , Act 22:22 and Luk 11:27 ; Friedrich, p. 29, cf. LXX, Jdg 9:7 ; phrase also found in classical Greek. οἱ ὄχλοι : the common city mob; the crowd, who would speak in their own native tongue. The Apostles had evidently spoken in Greek, which the native Lycaonians would understand and speak, Church in the Roman Empire , p. 57. But in moments of excitement their native tongue would rise more naturally to their lips, and they would give expression to their old superstitious beliefs, see Church in the Roman Empire , p. 58, and Wendt (1888), p. 313. Λυκαονιστὶ : specially mentioned not only on account of its naturalness here (see above) but also because, as St. Chrysostom noted, this mention of the fact would explain why Paul and Barnabas made no protest. Bethge’s objection that ὁμοιοπαθεῖς (Act 14:15 ) shows that St. Paul understood the words of Act 14:11 is no answer, because the preparations for the sacrifice, rather than the words of the people, enabled the Apostles to understand the bearings of the scene. On the speech of . see Conder, Palestine Explor. Fund , October, 1888. Οἱ θεοὶ κ . τ . λ .: the knowledge of the story of Baucis and Philemon, according to which Jupiter and Mercury visited in human form the neighbouring district, Ovid, Met. , viii. 611 ff., would render such words quite natural ( cf. Fasti , v., 495, and Dio Chrys., Orat. , xxxiii., p. 408). Baur, Zeller, and Overbeck, followed by Wendt, object that the people would not have thought of such high gods, but rather of magicians or demons, and the latter evidently thinks that St. Luke has coloured the narrative by introducing into it the form which in his opinion the adoration of the Apostles would assume; but the same narrative emphasises the fact that the miracle was a notable one, and we can scarcely limit the bounds of excitement on the part of a superstitious people who were wont to make their pilgrimages to the spot where Jupiter and Mercury conversed with men. At Malta a similar result follows from the miracle of Paul, and heathen mythology was full of narratives of the appearances of high gods, which were by no means strange to N.T. times (see Holtzmann’s note, Hand-Commentar , p. 378). Moreover, the people, rude as they were, might easily have seen that Paul and Barnabas were not altogether like the common magicians of the day. The main incident, McGiffert admits, was entirely natural under the circumstances, and is too striking and unique to have been invented, Apostolic Age , pp. 188, 189.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

in the speech of Lycaonia--whether a corruption of the Greek tongue, which was well enough understood in this region, or the remains of some older tongue, is not known.

The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men--the language of an unsophisticated people. But "that which was a superstition in Lycaonia, and for which the whole "creation" groaned, became a reality at Bethlehem" [WEBSTER and WILKINSON].

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 11. Saying, in the speech of Lycaonia] What this language was has puzzled the learned not a little. Calmet thinks it was a corrupt Greek dialect; as Greek was the general language of Asia Minor. Mr. Paul Ernest Jablonski, who has written a dissertation expressly on the subject, thinks it was the same language with that of the Cappadocians, which was mingled with Syriac. That it was no dialect of the Greek must be evident from the circumstance of its being here distinguished from it. We have sufficient proofs from ancient authors that most of these provinces used different languages; and it is correctly remarked, by Dr. Lightfoot, that the Carians, who dwelt much nearer Greece than the Lycaonians, are called by Homer, βαρβαροφωνοι, people of a barbarous or strange language; and Pausanias also called them Barbari. That the language of Pisidia was distinct from the Greek we have already seen, Clarke's note on "Ac 13:15". We have no light to determine this point; and every search after the language of Lycaonia must be, at this distance of time, fruitless.

The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.] From this, and from all heathen antiquity, it is evident:

1. That the heathen did not consider the Divine nature, how low soever they rated it, to be like the human nature.

2. That they imagined that these celestial beings often assumed human forms to visit men, in order to punish the evil and reward the good. The Metamorphoses of Ovid are full of such visitations; and so are Homer, Virgil, and other poets. The angels visiting Abraham, Jacob, Lot, c., might have been the foundation on which most of these heathen fictions were built.

The following passage in HOMER will cast some light upon the point:-

Και τε Θεοι, ξεινοισιν εοικοτες αλλοδαποισι,

Παντοιοι τελεθοντες, επιστρωφωσι ποληας,

Ανθρωπων ὑβριν τε και ευνομιην εφορωντες.

Hom. Odyss. xvii. ver. 485.

For in similitude of strangers oft,

The gods, who can with ease all shapes assume,

Repair to populous cities, where they mark

The outrageous and the righteous deeds of men.

COWPER.

OVID had a similar notion, where he represents Jupiter coming down to visit the earth, which seems to be copied from Genesis, Gen 18:20-21: And the Lord said, Because the cry of Sodom and Gomorrah is great, and because their sin is grievous, I will go down now, and see whether they have done altogether according to the cry of it, which is come unto me: and if not, I will know.

Contigerat nostras infamia temporis aures:

Quam cupiens falsam, summo delabor Olympo.

Et deus humana lustro sub imagine terras.

Longa mora est, quantum noxae sit ubique repertum,

Enamerare: minor fuit ipsa infamia vero.

Metam. lib. i. ver. 211.

The clamours of this vile, degenerate age,

The cries of orphans, and the oppressor's rage,

Had reached the stars: "I will descend," said I,

In hope to prove this loud complaint a lie.

Disguised in human shape, I travelled round

The world, and more than what I heard, I found.

DRYDEN.

It was a settled belief among the Egyptians, that their gods, sometimes in the likeness of men, and sometimes in that of animals which they held sacred, descended to the earth, and travelled through different provinces, to punish, reward, and protect. The Hindoo Avatars, or incarnations of their gods, prove how generally this opinion had prevailed. Their Poorana are full of accounts of the descent of Brahma, Vishnoo, Shiva, Naradu, and other gods, in human shape. We need not wonder to find it in Lycaonia.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Furthermore, the multitude. This history doth abundantly testify how ready and bent men are unto vanity. Paul uttered not that word abruptly, Arise; but he added it as it were a conclusion to the sermon made concerning Christ. Yet the people ascribe the praise of the miracle unto their idols, as if they had heard no word of Christ. Indeed, it is no such wonder, that the barbarous men fell unto superstition which they had learned from their childhood, so soon as they saw the miracle. But this vice is too common every where, and it is so bred in us, to be perverse and wrong interpreters of the works of God. Hence come such gross dotings of superstitions in Popery, because catching rashly at miracles, they take no heed to doctrine. For which cause we must take the better heed, and be the more sober, lest we happen with the sense of the flesh to corrupt (whereunto we are so bent) the power of God, which shineth and appeareth to us for our salvation. And no marvel if the Lord would have only a few miracles wrought, and that for a short time, lest through the lust of men they should be drawn unto a far contrary end; because it is unmeet that he should set his name to be mocked of the world, which must needs be, when that which is proper to him is translated unto idols, or the unbelievers corrupt his works, to invent corrupt worshipping, while that setting the word aside, they catch at every divine power which they feign.

Gods like to men. This was an opinion drawn from old fables, which, notwithstanding, took the beginning of truth. The books of the poets are full of these toys, that the gods were often seen upon earth in the likeness of men; and yet we may well think that this carne not of nothing, but rather that profane men did turn that into fables, which the holy fathers taught in times past concerning angels. And it may be that Satan, when he had men besotted, did with diverse jugglings delude them. This is of a truth, whatsoever was God’s, whensoever it went with the infidels, it was corrupt by their wicked inventions. The same must we likewise think of sacrifices, wherein God did exercise his even from the beginning, that they might have the external signs of godliness and of the worship of God. And after that the unbelievers invented to themselves strange gods, they abused the sacrifices unto their sacrilegious worship. When the men of Lycaonia see unwonted power in the cripple that was healed, they persuade themselves that it is a work of God; this is all well. But it was evil done, in that they forge to themselves false gods in Paul and Barnabas, according to the old [wonted] error, for what is the cause that they prefer Barnabas before Paul, save only because they follow the childish surmise [fiction] concerning Mercury, the interpreter of the gods, in which they had been nourished? By which example we are taught what a mischief it is to be accustomed and acquainted with errors in youth, which can so hardly be rooted out of the mind, that even through the works of God, whereby they ought to have been redressed, they wax more hard.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(11) Saying in the speech of Lycaonia.—The fact is clearly recorded with a definite purpose, and no explanation seems so natural as that which assumes it to be given as accounting for the passive attitude of the Apostles till what was then said had borne its fruit in acts. It will be admitted by all who are not under the influence of a theory that this serves almost as a crucial instance, showing that the “gift of tongues,” which St. Paul possessed so largely (1Co_14:18), did not consist in a supernatural knowledge of every provincial patois with which he came in contact. (See Note on Act_2:4.) It is clear that he might easily have learnt afterwards, from those who knew both languages, the meaning of what at the time was unintelligible. To suppose, as some have done, that the Apostles, understanding what was said, acquiesced in the preparations for sacrifice in order that they might afterwards make their protest as with a greater dramatic effect, is at variance with the natural impression made by the narrative, and, it need scarcely be said, with any worthy conception of St. Paul’s character. The diglottic character of the people, here and in other Asiatic provinces of the empire, would make it perfectly natural that they should speak to one another in their own dialect, while Greek served for their intercourse with strangers. The “speech of Lycaonia” is said to have had affinities with Assyrian.

The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.—Literally, the gods, made like unto men, are come down to us. The belief which the words expressed was characteristic of the rude simplicity of the Lycaonians. No such cry would have been possible in the great cities where the confluence of a debased polytheism and philosophical speculation had ended in utter scepticism. And the form which the belief took was in accordance with the old legends of the district. There, according to the Myth which Ovid had recently revived and adorned (Metam. viii. 625-724), Zeus and Hermes (Jupiter and Mercury) had come in human guise, and been received by Baucis and Philemon (St. Paul’s Epistle to Philemon shows that the name lingered in that region), and left tokens of their favour. We find from the poem just referred to that the place where they had dwelt was looked on as a shrine to which devout worshippers made their pilgrimages, and where they left their votive offerings.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. in the speech of Lycaonia] Which would come more naturally to their lips than any other. The people were bilingual, and St Paul had been speaking to them in Greek. This fact may give us some additional light on the question of what the gift of tongues was, which was bestowed upon the Apostles. Clearly, from what we see here, it was not such a power as enabled them at once to understand and converse in the various dialects of all the people into whose countries they might be brought in their missionary labours. For it is manifest that neither Paul nor Barnabas understood the cry of these Lycaonians. If they had, we cannot suppose that they would have allowed a moment to elapse before they corrected the false impression which the words conveyed, and at which, when they came to know its purport, they expressed such horror. They, however, left the place where the multitude of listeners had been assembled, and departed to their own lodgings without any knowledge of what the mistaken people were about to do.

The gods are come down to us] Nothing was more familiar to the heathen mind than the thought of the gods assuming human shape and going about among mankind, and it has often been noticed that the scene of the legend of Baucis and Philemon related by Ovid (Metam. viii. 611 seqq.), and in which Jupiter and Mercury are said to have wandered on earth and to have been received as guests by Baucis and Philemon, is laid in Phrygia, which province was close to Lycaonia.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And when the people saw what Paul had done,.... In curing the lame man in so marvellous a manner, and concluding it to be a divine work, and what a mere creature could never perform:

they lift up their voices; not in indignation and wrath, but as persons astonished:

saying in the speech of Lycaonia; by which it should seem that Lystra was a city of Lycaonia, since the Lycaonian language was spoken in it; the Arabic version reads, "in their own tongue"; and the Syriac version, "in the dialect of the country"; very likely a dialect of the Greek tongue;

the gods are come down to us in the likeness of men; they had a notion of deity, though a very wrong one; they thought there were more gods than one, and they imagined heaven to be the habitation of the gods; and that they sometimes descended on earth in human shape, as they supposed they now did.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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 likeness of men.

Ver. 11. The gods are come down] See the force of an evil custom, and of a vain conversation, received by tradition from the fathers, 1Pe 1:18: these Lycaonians had heard out of the fables of their poets that Jupiter and Mercury came down of old to visit Lycaon their progenitor, and that for the discourtesy he offered them, they transformed him into a wolf. Hereupon they used to offer sacrifice to those dunghill deities, and now they suppose they have them in human shape among them.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

They lifted up their voices - They spoke with astonishment, such as might be expected when it was supposed that the gods had come down.

In the speech of Lycaonia - What this language was has much perplexed commentators. It was probably a mixture of the Greek and Syriac. In that region generally the Greek was usually spoken with more or less purity; and from the fact that it was not far from the regions of Syria, it is probable that the Greek language was corrupted with this foreign admixture.

The gods ... - All the region was idolatrous. The gods which were worshipped there were those which were worshipped throughout Greece.

Are come down - The miracle which Paul had performed led them to suppose this. It was evidently beyond human ability, and they had no other way of accounting for it than by supposing that their gods had personally appeared.

In the likeness of men - Many of their gods were heroes, whom they worshipped after they were dead. It was a common belief among them that the gods appeared to people in human form. The poems of Homer, of Virgil, etc., are filled with accounts of such appearances, and the only way in which they supposed the gods to take knowledge of human affairs, and to help people, was by their personally appearing in this form. See Homer’s Odyssey, xvii. 485; Catullus, 64, 384; Ovid’s Metamorph., i. 212 (Kuinoel). Thus, Homer says:

“For in similitude of strangers oft.

The gods, who can with ease all shapes assume,

Repair to populous cities, where they mark.

Th’ outrageous and the righteous deeds of men.”

Cowper.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

And they called Barnabas, Jupiter. Perhaps because he was of taller and finer stature; for, according to Nicephorus (hist. ii. 37.) St. Paul was very low in size, and much bent; hence St. John Chrysostom says of him, tricubitalis est, & cœlos transcendit, though not more than three cubits high, he yet transcends the heavens, and hence for his eloquence, he was called Mercury. Jupiter was said to take Mercury with him, as may be seen in Amphitryone Plauti.

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

In the speech of Lycaonia; which was a dialect of the Greek tongue, that language being in the Lesser Asia ordinarily spoken.

The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men; the heathens (especially their poets) did frequently believe such kind of apparitions; probably at first from the appearing of angels unto the patriarchs and others, which by tradition they might have heard of.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11. Speech of Lycaonia—What this dialect precisely was there is no record to inform us. Probably it belonged to the eastern rather than the western type; approaching more nearly the Hebrew or Syriac than to the Latin or Greek: for the lowest stratum of population, being the earliest, is from the East, while the Greek and Romanic peoples are a return population from the West, which, nevertheless, originally flowed from the primitive Eastern cradle of the human race. Of course, this last reflex current of population was but the thin upper stratum.

The gods are come down—The very name of Lycaonia, according to the tradition, was derived from an old mythological fable of Jupiter having come down in the form of a man to pay a visit to their king, Lycaon. Lycaon, doubting the divinity of this visitor in human shape, determined to put him to the test. For this purpose he butchered a child, and had him brought upon the table as disguised food for his guest. Jupiter in wrath burned his palace with lightning, and transformed the brutal king into a wolf. The Lystrans therefore resolved not to subject themselves to any calamity by any want of respect to the possible deities now present among them.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Multitudes for people, A.V.; voice for voices, A.V. In the speech of Lycaonia. It is not known what the language of Lycaonia was, whether Cappadocian, or Celtic, or Lycian; but we learn incidentally from Stephanus Byzantinus, that there was a Lycaonian language, for he tells us that Delbia (as some write the name Derbe) was the Lycaonian for arkeuqov, a juniper tree or berry. No other Lycaonian word is known (see "Jablouskii Disquis. de Ling. Lycaon," in Stephan., "Thesaur."). The Lycaoniaus doubtless understood Greek as the language of intercommunication all over Roman Asia, but among themselves would speak their native dialect. The belief that the gods were come down in the likeness of men, and that these gods were Jupiter and Hermes, or Mercury, was most natural to Lycaonians, who were conversant with, and doubtless believed, the Phrygian legend of Philemon and Baucis, who entertained hospitably Jupiter and Hermes, when no one else would take them in, and whose cottage was by the gods turned into a temple (when all the neighborhood was drowned by a flood), of which they were made priest and priestess during life, and simultaneously metamorphosed into an oak and lime tree when their life ended (Ovid, "Metamorph.,"8:611, etc.). Ovid places the scene of the legend at Tyana, the site of which has been ascertained by Hamilton to be near Erekli, in Cappadocia, close to the borders of Lycaonia. The moral drawn in the legend itself seems to have been that which influenced the people of Lycaonia in their conduct towards the two strangers: "Cura pii dis sunt, et qui coluere coluntur," which may be Englished, "Them that honor me I will honor". (1Sa_2:30)

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The gods are come down - Which the heathens supposed they frequently did; Jupiter especially. But how amazingly does the prince of darkness blind the minds of them that believe not! The Jews would not own Christ's Godhead, though they saw him work numberless miracles. On the other hand, the heathens seeing mere men work one miracle, were for deifying them immediately.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

PAUL AND BARNABAS ARE TAKEN FOR GRECIAN GODS

11-18. All nations at the time of our Savior’s advent were on tiptoe expecting a divine messenger from heaven to teach them the way of salvation. Hence the heathens were on the constant lookout for their gods to come among them in human form. When a student in college I read a myth from a Grecian poet giving an account of Jupiter, the king of heaven and chief of all the gods, coming down in this very country, and walking in human form among the people. While we have no way of ascertaining the portraits of our Savior and the apostles, we certainly must make an exception of Barnabas and Paul, as here we have a clear index to their personal physique and character. They called Barnabas Jupiter. From this fact we know that he was a large, intelligent, fine-looking man, because such was the familiar and well-known statue of Jupiter, of which we have often seen the picture. His great temple at Athens, Greece, is still standing. We were not astonished when we saw it, though in ruins, that twenty-five hundred years ago it ranked among the seven wonders of the world, along with the Pyramids of Egypt, the Walls of Babylon, the Colossus at Rhodes, the Temple of Diana at Ephesus, the Coliseum at Rome, and the Sphinx in Egypt. They called Paul Mercury because he was so fluent of speech, and Mercury was the god of eloquence, inspiring all the orators, and giving them the power to hold the multitude spell-bound. The statue of Mercury always represented him with a small, light body, a very large head, stooping shoulders, projecting neck and exceedingly prominent though sharp and ugly physiognomy. From this fact we have a clear index to the physique of Paul, a small, ugly man, with a head so large as to appear out of proportion to his body, though chock full of well-balanced brain, flashing from his homely face preternatural intelligence. The gates of ancient cities were the great public resorts. Hence the temple of Jupiter stood immediately in front of the gate, when the multitude all leaped to the conclusion that Paul and Barnabas are gods because of the miraculous healing. The priest of Jupiter proceeds at once to bring oxen for sacrifices and bouquets to adorn the apostles, like nowadays they still bring them into the churches for the preachers. [Lord, save us from idolatry. I always have them removed from the pulpit lest I knock them off and break the vessel containing them.] Paul and Barnabas have all they can possibly do to restrain them from offering sacrifices to them and worshipping, them in the name of Jupiter and Mercury.

William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes one verse 8

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

11–13. When the people saw what Paul had done. It must be kept in mind that the people of Lystra were heathen, that they believed in many gods, that their legends taught them that the gods had often come down in the form of men and interfered in human affairs. Hence, it is not strange that when they witnessed this miracle, unlike anything ever seen before in their city, they exclaimed, “The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.” In the speech of Lycaonia. Paul had preached in Greek, which was understood over all the East, but the native dialect of the Lycaonians was different, and in that they confer together.

Called Barnabas, Jupiter. The chief of the gods in the Greek and Roman Pantheon. Barnabas was no doubt a more stately man than Paul, who says that his own “bodily presence was weak and speech contemptible,” and there was also a reason why they thought Paul, Mercurius. Mercury was the “interpreter of the gods.” His Greek name, Hermes, is the origin of our word Hermeneutics. Paul, eloquent, persuasive, active, was thought to represent the part of Mercury.

Then the priest of Jupiter. There was a temple of Jupiter before the gates of the city, with the usual priest, and carried away by their idea, they prepared to offer sacrifices to the gods whom they supposed to have visited them. Brought oxen and garlands. The oxen for sacrifices; the sacrifices before being offered were crowned with garlands. Floral crowns were also worn by the priest offering sacrifice.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

what Paul had done

This refers to Paul's healing the crippled man.

they raised their voice

To raise the voice is to speak loudly. AT: "they spoke loudly"

The gods have come down to us

A large number of people believed Paul and Barnabas were their pagan gods who had come down from heaven. AT: "The gods have come down from heaven to us" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

in the dialect of Lycaonia

"in their own Lycaonian language." The people of Lystra spoke Lycaonian and also Greek.

in the form of men

These people believed that the gods needed to change their appearance in order to look like men.

Zeus

Zeus was the king over all the other pagan gods. (See: How to Translate Names)

Hermes

Hermes was the pagan god who brought messages to people from Zeus and the other gods. (See: How to Translate Names)

The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought

It may be helpful to include additional information about the priest. AT: "There was a temple just outside the city where the people worshiped Zeus. When the priest who served in the temple heard what Paul and Barnabas had done, he brought" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

oxen and wreaths

The oxen were to be sacrificed. The wreaths were either to crown Paul and Barnabas, or put on the oxen for sacrifice.

to the gates

The gates of the cities were often used as a meeting place for the people of the city.

wanted to offer sacrifice

"wanted to offer sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas as the gods Zeus and Hermes"

translationWords

Paul

Barnabas

priest

temple

sacrifice

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

11. Λυκαονιστί, in the speech of Lycaonia. Which would come more naturally to their lips than any other. The people were bilingual, and St Paul had been speaking to them in Greek. This fact may give us some additional light on the question of what the gift of tongues was which was bestowed upon the Apostles. Clearly, from what we see here, it was not such a power as enabled them at once to understand and converse in the various dialects of all the people into whose countries they might be brought in their missionary labours. For it is manifest that neither Paul nor Barnabas understood the cry of these Lycaonians. If they had, we cannot suppose that they would have allowed a moment to elapse before they corrected the false impression which the words conveyed, and at which, when they came to know its purport, they expressed such horror. They, however, left the place where the multitude of listeners had been assembled, and departed to their own lodgings without any knowledge of what the mistaken people were about to do.

On this compare the words of Chrysostom, Ἀλλ’ οὐκ ἧν τοῦτο (the intention to offer sacrifice) οὐδέπω δῆλον. τῇ γὰρ οἰκείᾳ φωνῇ ἐφθέγγοντο λέγοντες ὄτι οἱ θεοὶ ὁμοιωθέντες ἀνθρώποις κατέβησαν πρὸς ἡμᾶς. διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἔλεγον. ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἶδον τὰ στέμματα τότε ἐξελθόντες διέῤῥηξαν τὰ ἱμάτια.

οἱ θεοὶ ὁμοιωθέντες κ.τ.λ., the gods are come down to us. Nothing was more familiar to the heathen mind than the thought of the gods assuming human shape and going about among mankind, and it has often been noticed that the scene of the legend of Baucis and Philemon related by Ovid (Metam. VIII. 611 seqq.), and in which Jupiter and Mercury are said to have wandered on earth and to have been received as guests by Baucis and Philemon, is laid in Phrygia, which province was close to Lycaonia.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

11. Λυκαονιστί] The nature of this dialect is uncertain: its existence is further mentioned by Steph. Byzant., cf. τῇ τῶν Λυκαόνων φωνῇ, in note on ver. 20. The notice is inserted to shew that the Apostles had no knowledge of the inference drawn by the crowd, till they saw the bulls being brought to their doors, ver. 13. So Chrysostom: οὐκ ἦν τοῦτο οὐδέπω δῆλον τῇ γὰρ οἰκείᾳ φωνῇ ἐφθέγγοντο, λέγοντες κ.τ.λ. διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἔλεγον (meaning, “for this reason they, the Lycaonians, spoke unintelligibly to the Apostles:” ἔλεγον taking up the λέγοντες. Wordsw. has, in his ardour to vindicate Chrysostom from heterodoxy, fallen into the mistake of rendering, “therefore the Apostles said nothing to them”)· ἐπειδὴ δὲ εἶδον τὰ στέμματα, τότε ἐξελθόντες κ.τ.λ. Hom. xxx., p. 235 f.

See, on the real nature of the gift of tongues, and the bearing of notices of this kind on its consideration, the note on ch. 2:4.

These ἐπιφάνειαι of the gods are frequent subjects of heathen poetry and mythology. Hom. Od. ρ. 484, says, καί τε θεοὶ ξείνοισιν ἐοικότες ἀλλοδαποῖσι Παντοῖοι τελέθοντες ἐπιστρωφῶσι πόληας. It was in the neighbouring country of Phrygia that Jupiter and Mercury were said to have wandered, and to have been entertained by Baucis and Philemon: ‘Jupiter huc, specie mortali, cumque parente Venit Atlantiades positis caducifer alis.’ (Ov. Met. viii. 626, f.) Dio Chrysostom (Orat. xxxiii. p. 408) says, φασὶ τοὺς οἰκιστὰς ἥρωας ἢ θεοὺς πολλάκις ἐπιστρέφεσθαι τὰς αὑτῶν πόλεις. (From Mr. Humphry’s note.)

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

In the speech of Lycaonia. The apostles had been conversing with them in Greek. The fact that the people now spoke in their native tongue explains why Paul and Barnabas did not interfere until they saw the preparations for sacrifice. They did not understand what was being said by the people about their divine character. It was natural that the surprise of the Lystrans should express itself in their own language rather than in a foreign tongue.

In the likeness of men [ομοιωθεντες ανθρωποις] . Lit., having become like to men. A remnant of the earlier pagan belief that the gods visited the earth in human form. Homer, for example, is full of such incidents. Thus, when Ulysses lands upon his native shore, Pallas meets him

"in the shape Of a young shepherd delicately formed, As are the sons of kings. A mantle lay Upon her shoulder in rich folds; her feet Shone in their sandals; in her hands she bore A javelin." Odyssey, 13, 485 sq.

Again, one rebukes a suitor for maltreating Ulysses :

"Madman! what if he Came down from heaven and were a God ! The gods Put on the form of strangers from afar, And walk our towns in many different shapes, To mark the good and evil deeds of men." Odyssey, 17, 485 sq.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.