Acts 14:11-22

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  14:14 But when the apostles ¹²  Barnabas and Paul heard about ¹³  it, they tore ¹⁴  their clothes and rushed out ¹⁵  into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁶  14:15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures ¹⁷  just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn ¹⁸  from these worthless ¹⁹  things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, ²⁰  the sea, and everything that is in them. 14:16 In ²¹  past ²²  generations he allowed all the nations ²³  to go their own ways, 14:17 yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good, ²⁴  by giving you rain from heaven ²⁵  and fruitful seasons, satisfying you ²⁶  with food and your hearts with joy.” ²⁷  14:18 Even by saying ²⁸  these things, they scarcely persuaded ²⁹  the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them.

14:19 But Jews came from Antioch ³⁰  and Iconium, ³¹  and after winning ³²  the crowds over, they stoned ³³  Paul and dragged him out of the city, presuming him to be dead. 14:20 But after the disciples had surrounded him, he got up and went back ³⁴  into the city. On ³⁵  the next day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. ³⁶ 

Paul and Barnabas Return to Antioch in Syria

14:21 After they had proclaimed the good news in that city and made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, ³⁷  to Iconium, ³⁸  and to Antioch. ³⁹  14:22 They strengthened ⁴⁰  the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue ⁴¹  in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom ⁴²  of God through many persecutions.” ⁴³ 

[14:11]  ¹ tn Grk “they lifted up their voice” (an idiom).

[14:11]  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.

[14:11]  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.”

[14:12]  ⁴ tn The imperfect verb ἐκάλουν (ekaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.

[14:12]  ⁵ sn Zeus was the chief Greek deity, worshiped throughout the Greco-Roman world (known to the Romans as Jupiter).

[14:12]  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).

[14:13]  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.

[14:13]  ⁸ sn See the note on Zeus in the previous verse.

[14:13]  ⁹ tn Or “oxen.”

[14:13]  ¹⁰ tn Or “wreaths.”

[14:13]  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.

[14:14]  ¹² sn 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.

[14:14]  ¹³ tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is taken temporally.

[14:14]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “tearing their clothes they rushed out.” The participle διαρρήξαντες (diarrhxante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. This action is a Jewish response to blasphemy (m. Sanhedrin 7.5; Jdt 14:16-17).

[14:14]  ¹⁵ tn So BDAG 307 s.v. ἐκπηδάω 1, “rush (lit. ‘leap’) out…εἰς τὸν ὄχλον into the crowd Ac 14:14.”

[14:14]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “shouting and saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes, in v. 15) has not been translated because it is redundant.

[14:15]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “with the same kinds of feelings,” L&N 25.32. BDAG 706 s.v. 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.

[14:15]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “in order that you should turn,” with ἐπιστρέφειν (epistrefein) 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.

[14:15]  ¹⁹ tn 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.

[14:15]  ²⁰ tn 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.

[14:16]  ²¹ tn 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.

[14:16]  ²² tn On this term see BDAG 780 s.v. παροίχομαι. The word is a NT hapax legomenon.

[14:16]  ²³ tn 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.

[14:17]  ²⁴ tn The participle ἀγαθουργῶν (agaqourgwn) is regarded as indicating means here, parallel to the following participles διδούς (didou") and ἐμπιπλῶν (empiplwn). 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.

[14:17]  ²⁵ tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).

[14:17]  ²⁶ tn 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.”

[14:17]  ²⁷ sn 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).

[14:18]  ²⁸ tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is regarded as indicating means.

[14:18]  ²⁹ tn BDAG 524 s.v. 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.

[14:19]  ³⁰ sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.

[14:19]  ³¹ sn 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).

[14:19]  ³² tn The participle πείσαντες (peisante") is taken temporally (BDAG 791 s.v. πείθω 1.c).

[14:19]  ³³ tn Grk “stoning Paul they dragged him.” The participle λιθάσαντες (liqasante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[14:20]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and entered”; the word “back” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[14:20]  ³⁵ tn Grk “And on.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[14:20]  ³⁶ sn Derbe was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) southeast of Lystra. This was the easternmost point of the journey.

[14:21]  ³⁷ sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 35 mi (60 km) northwest of Derbe.

[14:21]  ³⁸ sn Iconium was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) north of Lystra.

[14:21]  ³⁹ sn Antioch was a city in Pisidia about 90 mi (145 km) west northwest of Lystra.

[14:22]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”

[14:22]  ⁴¹ sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”

[14:22]  ⁴² sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.

[14:22]  ⁴³ tn Or “sufferings.”