Acts 14:12

And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. AND THEY CALLED BARNABAS, JUPITER - the father of the gods, (as Chrysostom thinks) from his commanding mien. AND PAUL, MERCURIUS - the messenger and attendant of Jupiter, and the spokesman of the gods. This latter character was that which suggested the application of this name to Paul, "because he was the chief speaker....

8-18 All things are possible to those that believe. When we have faith, that most precious gift of God, we shall be delivered from the spiritual helplessness in which we were born, and from the dominion of sinful habits since formed; we shall be made able to stand upright and walk cheerfully in the ways of the Lord. When Christ, the Son of God, appeared in the likeness of men, and did many miracles, men were so far from doing sacrifice to him, that they made him a sacrifice to their pride and malice; but Paul and Barnabas, upon their working one miracle, were treated as gods. The same power of the god of this world, which closes the carnal mind against truth, makes errors and mistakes find easy admission. We do not learn that they rent their clothes when the people spake of stoning them; but when they spake of worshipping them; they could not bear it, being more concerned for God's hono...

Verse Acts 14:12. _THEY 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. As the ancients usually represented Jupiter as rather an aged man, large, noble, and majestic; and Mercury young, light, and active, the conjecture of Chrysostom is very probable, that Barnabas was a large, noble, well-

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 Philemo...

EXPOSITION ACTS 14:1 _Entered _for _went both, _A.V.; _Jews _for _the Jews, _A.V.; _and _for _and also, _A.V.; Greeks for _the Greeks, _A.V. Observe how in every case Greeks are found attending the synagogue. SO SPAKE, etc. This illustrates the statement in Romans 10:17, that "faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God." ACTS 14:2 _The Jews that were disobedient _for _the unbelieving Jews, _A.V. and T.R.; _stirred up the souls of the Gentiles, and made them, _etc., for _stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds, _etc., A.V. The Jews that were disobedien

AND THEY CALLED BARNABAS JUPITER,.... The supreme God; it may be because that Barnabas was the oldest man, of the tallest stature, and largest bulk, and made the best figure; whereas Paul was younger, of a low stature, and mean appearance: AND PAUL MERCURIUS, because he was the chief speaker; Mercury was the god of eloquence, and the messenger of the gods, and the interpreter of their will r; Paul being chiefly concerned in preaching and speaking to the people, they called him by the name of this God: the Jews had a doctor in their schools, whom they called דאש המדברים, "the chief of the speakers" s. r Vid Macrob. Saturnal. l. 1. c. 17, 19. s Juchasin, fol. 45. 2. 46. 1....

JUPITER Latin for Greek "Zeus", the national god of the Greeks. MERCURIUS Greek "Hermes"....

CHAPTER 14 _ 1. The work in Iconium and the persecution of the Apostles (Acts 14:1)._ 2. In Derbe and Lystra; the Impotent Man healed (Acts 14:7). 3. The Stoning of Paul and further ministries (Acts 14:19). 4. The Return to Antioch (Acts 14:25). Iconium was a Phrygian town, bordering on Lycaonia. Here again the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles. They abode there a long time, and in spite of opposition and persecution they spoke with much boldness the Word of God. Signs and wonders were also done by their hands. When their lives were threatened by the unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, they fled to Lystra and Der

LYSTRA. Lystra, 25 miles SW. of Iconium, 10 miles off the trade route, in a secluded glen. Lystra and Derbe were the two cities of the Lycaonian region of Galatia; Roman influence was strong there, and Lystra was a Roman colony. The cure of a lame man in connexion with the preaching leads to serious consequences. The incident reminds us forcibly of Acts 3:2; in both cases the lameness is congenital, and the man leaps. In this case, however, faith plays the part it does in the Gospels; it is awakened apparently by Paul's preaching. Of the language of Lycaonia nothing is now known; _the_ mention of it is like a mist over the whole story. It is not asserted that Paul and Barnabas understood that language; but we know that Greek was currently spoken in the district. The recognition of the missionaries as divine beings (cf....

ON TO ICONIUM (Acts 14:1-7)...