And Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
Parallel translations
- WEB 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.
- BSB Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
- NASB And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, since he was the chief speaker.
- NLT They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Zeus and that Paul was Hermes, since he was the chief speaker.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They named Barnabas 'Zeus' and Paul 'Hermes,' since Paul was the chief speaker. The crowd's misplaced honor reveals their ignorance of the true God.
Overview
In local legend Zeus and Hermes had once visited the region disguised as men, so the crowd fit the miracle into that story. Calling Paul 'Hermes,' the gods' messenger, fit his role as the main preacher. Luke records this to set up Paul and Barnabas's emphatic rejection of worship in the following verses.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 1
- Acts 19:35When the town clerk had quieted the multitude, he said, “You men of Ephesus, what man is there who doesn’t know that the city of the Ephesians is temple keeper of the great goddess Artemis, and of the image which fell down from Zeus?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 14:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.