^14:11So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted³¹ in the Lycaonian language,³² “The gods have come down to us in human form!”³³^14:12They began to call³⁴ Barnabas Zeus³⁵ and Paul Hermes,³⁶ because he was the chief speaker. ^14:13The priest of the temple³⁷ of Zeus,³⁸ located just outside the city, brought bulls³⁹ and garlands⁴⁰ to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them.⁴¹^14:14But when the apostles⁴² Barnabas and Paul heard about⁴³ it, they tore⁴⁴ their clothes and rushed out⁴⁵ into the crowd, shouting,⁴⁶^14:15“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures⁴⁷ just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn⁴⁸ from these worthless⁴⁹ things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth,⁵⁰ the sea, and everything that is in them. ^14:16In⁵¹ past⁵² generations he allowed all the nations⁵³ to go their own ways, ^14:17yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good,⁵⁴ by giving you rain from heaven⁵⁵ and fruitful seasons, satisfying you⁵⁶ with food and your hearts with joy.”⁵⁷^14:18Even by saying⁵⁸ these things, they scarcely persuaded⁵⁹ the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them.

^14:19But Jews came from Antioch⁶⁰ and Iconium,⁶¹ and after winning⁶² the crowds over, they stoned⁶³ Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead.

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Footnotes

31 Grk “they lifted up their voice” (an idiom).
32 Grk “in Lycaonian, saying.” The word “language” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in English and has not been translated.
33 So ὁμοιόω 1. However, L&N 64.4 takes the participle ὁμοιωθέντες (homoiōthentes) as an adjectival participle modifying θεοί (theoi): “the gods resembling men have come down to us.” The gods have come down to us in human form. Greek culture spoke of “divine men.” In this region there was a story of Zeus and Hermes visiting the area (Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.611–725). The locals failed to acknowledge them, so judgment followed. The present crowd was determined not to make the mistake a second time.
34 The imperfect verb ἐκάλουν (ekaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
35 Zeus was the chief Greek deity, worshiped throughout the Greco-Roman world (known to the Romans as Jupiter).
36 Hermes was a Greek god who (according to Greek mythology) was the messenger of the gods and the god of oratory (equivalent to the Roman god Mercury).
37 The words “the temple of” are not in the Greek text, but are implied. The translation “the priest of (the temple/shrine of) Zeus located before the city” is given for this phrase by Ζεύς.
38 See the note on Zeus in the previous verse.
39 Or “oxen.”
40 Or “wreaths.” Garlands were commonly wreaths of wool with leaves and flowers woven in, worn on a person’s head or woven around a staff. They were an important part of many rituals used to worship pagan gods. Although it was an erroneous reaction, the priest’s reaction shows how all acknowledged their power and access to God.
41 The words “to them” are not in the Greek text, but are clearly implied by the response of Paul and Barnabas in the following verse.
42 The apostles Barnabas and Paul. This is one of only two places where Luke calls Paul an apostle, and the description here is shared with Barnabas. This is a nontechnical use here, referring to a commissioned messenger.
43 The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousantes) is taken temporally.
44 Grk “tearing their clothes they rushed out.” The participle διαρρήξαντες (diarrēxantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This action is a Jewish response to blasphemy ( Sanhedrin 7.5; Jdt 14:16–17).
45 So ἐκπηδάω 1, “rush (lit. ‘leap’) out … εἰς τὸν ὄχλον into the crowd Ac 14:14.”
46 Grk “shouting and saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes, in v. 15) has not been translated because it is redundant. What follows is one of two speeches in Acts to a purely pagan audience (Acts 17 in Athens is the other). So Paul focused on God as Creator, a common link.
47 Grk “with the same kinds of feelings,” L&N 25.32. ὁμοιοπαθής translates the phrase “with the same nature τινί as someone.” In the immediate context, the contrast is between human and divine nature, and the point is that Paul and Barnabas are mere mortals, not gods.
48 Grk “in order that you should turn,” with ἐπιστρέφειν (epistrephein) as an infinitive of purpose, but this is somewhat awkward contemporary English. To translate the infinitive construction “proclaim the good news, that you should turn,” which is much smoother English, could give the impression that the infinitive clause is actually the content of the good news, which it is not. The somewhat less formal “to get you to turn” would work, but might convey to some readers manipulativeness on the part of the apostles. Thus “proclaim the good news, so that you should turn,” is used, to convey that the purpose of the proclamation of good news is the response by the hearers. The emphasis here is like 1 Thess 1:9–10.
49 Or “useless,” “futile.” The reference is to idols and idolatry, worshiping the creation over the Creator (Rom 1:18–32). See also 1 Kgs 16:2, 13, 26; 2 Kgs 17:15; Jer 2:5; 8:19; 3 Macc 6:11.
50 Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.
51 Grk “them, who in.” The relative pronoun (“who”) was replaced by the pronoun “he” (“In past generations he”) and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek and the awkwardness of two relative clauses (“who made the heaven” and “who in past generations”) following one another.
52 On this term see παροίχομαι. The word is a NT .
53 Or “all the Gentiles” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same). The plural here alludes to the variety of false religions in the pagan world.
54 The participle ἀγαθουργῶν (agathourgōn) is regarded as indicating means here, parallel to the following participles διδούς (didous) and ἐμπιπλῶν (empiplōn). This is the easiest way to understand the Greek structure. Semantically, the first participle is a general statement, followed by two participles giving specific examples of doing good.
55 Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
56 Grk “satisfying [filling] your hearts with food and joy.” This is an idiomatic expression; it strikes the English reader as strange to speak of “filling one’s heart with food.” Thus the additional direct object “you” has been supplied, separating the two expressions somewhat: “satisfying you with food and your hearts with joy.”
57 God’s general sovereignty and gracious care in the creation are the way Paul introduces the theme of the goodness of God. He was trying to establish monotheism here. It is an OT theme (Gen 8:22; Ps 4:7; 145:15–16; 147:8–9; Isa 25:6; Jer 5:24) which also appears in the NT (Luke 12:22–34).
58 The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is regarded as indicating means.
59 καταπαύω 2.b gives both “restrain” and “dissuade someone fr. someth.,” but “they scarcely dissuaded the crowds from offering sacrifice,” while accurate, is less common in contemporary English than saying “they scarcely persuaded the crowds not to offer sacrifice.” Paganism is portrayed as a powerful reality that is hard to reverse.
60 Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra. For location see ; ; ; .
61 Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra. Note how Jews from other cities were chasing Paul (2 Cor 11:4–6; Gal 2:4–5; Acts 9:16).
62 The participle πείσαντες (peisantes) is taken temporally ( πείθω 1.c).
63 Grk “stoning Paul they dragged him.” The participle λιθάσαντες (lithasantes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.