Acts 14:11-13

14:11 So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted ¹  in the Lycaonian language, ²  “The gods have come down to us in human form!” ³  14:12 They began to call ⁴  Barnabas Zeus ⁵  and Paul Hermes, ⁶  because he was the chief speaker. 14:13 The priest of the temple ⁷  of Zeus, ⁸  located just outside the city, brought bulls ⁹  and garlands ¹⁰  to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them. ¹¹ 

¹ tn Grk “they lifted up their voice” (an idiom).

² tn 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.

³ tn So BDAG 707 s.v. ὁμοιόω 1. However, L&N 64.4 takes the participle ὁμοιωθέντες (Jomoiwqente") as an adjectival participle modifying θεοί (qeoi): “the gods resembling men have come down to us.”

⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἐκάλουν (ekaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

⁵ sn Zeus was the chief Greek deity, worshiped throughout the Greco-Roman world (known to the Romans as Jupiter).

⁶ sn 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).

⁷ tn 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 BDAG 426 s.v. Ζεύς.

⁸ sn See the note on Zeus in the previous verse.

⁹ tn Or “oxen.”

¹⁰ tn Or “wreaths.”

¹¹ tn 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.