Acts 14:12
in Acts 14Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker.
KJV
And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
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This verse in Acts 14
Commentary
14 notes on this verseThey called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius - The heathens supposed that Jupiter and Mercury were the gods who most frequently assumed the human form; and Jupiter was accustomed to take Mercury with him on such expeditions. Jupiter was the supreme god of the heathens; and Mercury was by them considered the god of eloquence. And the ancient fable, from which I have quoted so largely above, represents Jupiter and Mercury coming to this very region, where they were entertained by Lycaon, from whom the Lycaonians derived their name. See the whole fable in the first book of Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
This site's exposition
gods are come down to us
on Acts 14:11-13
The people, seeing what Paul had done, cry out in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men, and name Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercurius because he was the chief speaker, reading the miracle through their own legend of Zeus and Hermes visiting Phrygia in disguise, a story Ovid records for this very region. The priest of Jupiter, whose temple stood before the city, brings oxen and garlands to the gates and would offer sacrifice with the people, the honor escalating from acclamation toward worship in a single scene. Luke's precision about the local cult and the Lycaonian dialect, unmentioned by any other ancient source, is the kind of incidental detail historians of the region have found repeatedly accurate.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
A commentator
Ammonius of AlexandriaCATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 14.12 · Written before 300.
proposed
In the writers of ancient stories you can find that Jove, even though he was a man, made himself a god and said that he was a god, just as many Roman and Macedonian kings styled themselves gods. There one ought to believe in what …
"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. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker." But this purpose was not yet manifest, for they spake in their own tongue, saying, "The gods in the likeness of men are come down to us": therefore the Apostle said nothing to them as yet.
"And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius." I suppose Barnabas was a man of dignified appearance also. Here was a new sort of trial, from immoderate zeal, and no small one: but hence also is shown the virtue of the Apostles, and how on all occasions they ascribe all to God.
After he had spoken with me he rose up from the couch, and taking the Shepherd and the virgins, he departed. But he said to me that he would send back the Shepherd and the virgins to my dwelling. Amen.
The Medieval Church1 voice
But Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker; because they believed Mercury to grant eloquence and speech to mortals. Hence, they called Mercury as if running in the middle, that is, between ears and tongues, and the Greeks called him Hermes, which means interpreter.
7 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church2 voices
"And they called Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes." You see how it was customary among the Greeks to make gods out of men. Remember the origin of idol-worship, so as to give an answer when they ask whence idol-worship came. In the very same manner …
And they called Barnabas Jupiter; indeed, because he seemed to be the chief among them. For they thought Jupiter was the father of gods and king of men.
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
): They called Barnabas Jupiter; for, if they will have him to be a god, it is as easy to make him the prince of their gods as not. It is probable that he was the senior, and the more portly comely man, that had something of majesty in his countenance.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation+unbalanced-parens
And they called Barnabas Jupiter,....
The outrage of the people against Paul, at the instigation of the Jews, the effect of which was that they stoned him, as they thought, to death; but he was wonderfully restored to life,
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
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.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
And they called Barnabas, Jupiter - Jupiter was the most powerful of all the gods of the ancients. He was represented as the son of Saturn and Ops, and was educated in a cave on Mount Ida, in the island of Crete. The worship of Jupiter was almost universal. He was the Aremon of Africa, the Belus of Babylon, the Osiris of Egypt. His common appellation was, The Father of gods and men. He was usually represented as sitting upon a golden or an ivory throne, holding in one hand a thunderbolt, and in the other a scepter of cypress. His power was supposed to extend over other gods; and everything was subservient to his will except the Fates. There is the most abundant proof that he was worshipped in the region of Lycaonia and throughout Asia Minor. There was, besides, a fable among the inhabitants of Lycaonia that Jupiter and Mercury had once visited that place, and had been received by Philemon. The whole fable is related by Ovid, “Metam.,” 8, 611, etc. And Paul, Mercurius - Mercury, called by the Greeks Hermes, was a celebrated god of antiquity. No less than five of this name are mentioned by Cicero. The most celebrated was the son of Jupiter and Maia. He was the messenger of the gods, and of Jupiter in particular; he was the patron of travelers and shepherds; he conducted the souls of the dead into the infernal regions; he presided over orators, and declaimers, and merchants; and he was also the god of thieves, pickpockets, and all dishonest persons. He was regarded as the god of eloquence; and as light, rapid, and quick in his movements. […]
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἐκάλουν | ekaloun | They were calling | G2564 → | 147 times |
| τε | te | then | G5037 → | 213 times |
| τὸν | ton | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Βαρναβᾶν | barnaban | Barnabas | G921 → | 28 times |
| Δία, | dia | Zeus, | G2203 → | |
| τὸν | ton | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| δὲ | de | other | G1161 → | 2765 times |
| Παῦλον | paulon | Paul | G3972 → | 158 times |
| Ἑρμῆν, | hermen | Hermes, | G2060 → | |
| ἐπειδὴ | epeide | because | G1894 → | 10 times |
| αὐτὸς | autos | he himself | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἦν | en | was | G1510 → | 2333 times |
| ὁ | ho | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ἡγούμενος | hegoumenos | leading | G2233 → | 28 times |
| τοῦ | tou | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| λόγου. | logou | speaker. | G3056 → | 329 times |
ἐκάλουνThey were calling
ekalounG2564 →147 times
τεthen
teG5037 →213 times
τὸν<the>
tonG3588 →19766 times
ΒαρναβᾶνBarnabas
barnabanG921 →28 times
Δία,Zeus,
diaG2203 →
τὸν<the>
tonG3588 →19766 times
δὲother
deG1161 →2765 times
ΠαῦλονPaul
paulonG3972 →158 times
Ἑρμῆν,Hermes,
hermenG2060 →
ἐπειδὴbecause
epeideG1894 →10 times
αὐτὸςhe himself
autosG846 →5565 times
ἦνwas
enG1510 →2333 times
ὁthe
hoG3588 →19766 times
ἡγούμενοςleading
hegoumenosG2233 →28 times
τοῦ<the>
touG3588 →19766 times
λόγου.speaker.
logouG3056 →329 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
5 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Acts 19:35Finally the city clerk quieted the crowd and declared, “Men of Ephesus, doesn’t everyone know that the city of Ephesus is guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which…
it leads to
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–11
and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them.
- Acts 14:12–13
Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
- 1 Timothy 4:2
influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.
- Ephesians 2:12
remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.
- Acts 19:26
And you can see and hear that not only in Ephesus, but in nearly the whole province of Asia, Paul has persuaded a great number of people to turn away. He says that man-made…
- 2 Thessalonians 2:10–11
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Acts
Who and where
1 name in this verse with a page on the site.
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Ammonius of Alexandria, CATENA ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 14.12; Bede, Commentary on Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 30; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Shepherd of Hermas, Shepherd of Hermas, Similitude 10; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.