Act 14:11-13 | PNT | STEP | 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.

Acts 14:11-13

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" (2Co 10:10), 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.