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Paul and Barnabas at Lystra

In[a] Lystra[b] sat a man who could not use his feet,[c] lame from birth,[d] who had never walked. This man was listening to Paul as he was speaking. When Paul[e] stared[f] intently at him and saw he had faith to be healed, 10 he said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.”[g] And the man[h] leaped up and began walking.[i] 11 So when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they shouted[j] in the Lycaonian language,[k] “The gods have come down to us in human form!”[l] 12 They began to call[m] Barnabas Zeus[n] and Paul Hermes,[o] because he was the chief speaker. 13 The priest of the temple[p] of Zeus,[q] located just outside the city, brought bulls[r] and garlands[s] to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them.[t] 14 But when the apostles[u] Barnabas and Paul heard about[v] it, they tore[w] their clothes and rushed out[x] into the crowd, shouting,[y] 15 “Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures[z] just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn[aa] from these worthless[ab] things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth,[ac] the sea, and everything that is in them. 16 In[ad] past[ae] generations he allowed all the nations[af] to go their own ways, 17 yet he did not leave himself without a witness by doing good,[ag] by giving you rain from heaven[ah] and fruitful seasons, satisfying you[ai] with food and your hearts with joy.”[aj] 18 Even by saying[ak] these things, they scarcely persuaded[al] the crowds not to offer sacrifice to them.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 14:8 tn Grk “And in.” 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.
  2. Acts 14:8 sn Lystra was a city in Lycaonia about 18 mi (30 km) south of Iconium.
  3. Acts 14:8 tn Grk “powerless in his feet,” meaning he was unable to use his feet to walk.
  4. Acts 14:8 tn Grk “lame from his mother’s womb” (an idiom).sn The description lame from birth makes clear how serious the condition was, and how real it was. This event is very similar to Acts 3:1-10, except here the lame man’s faith is clear from the start.
  5. Acts 14:9 tn Grk “speaking, who.” The relative pronoun has been replaced by the noun “Paul,” and a new sentence begun in the translation because an English relative clause would be very awkward here.
  6. Acts 14:9 tn Or “looked.”
  7. Acts 14:10 tn BDAG 722 s.v. ὀρθός 1.a has “stand upright on your feet.”
  8. Acts 14:10 tn Grk “he”; the referent (the man) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
  9. Acts 14:10 tn This verb is imperfect tense in contrast to the previous verb, which is aorist. It has been translated ingressively, since the start of a sequence is in view here.
  10. Acts 14:11 tn Grk “they lifted up their voice” (an idiom).
  11. Acts 14:11 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.
  12. Acts 14:11 tn So BDAG 707 s.v. ὁμοιόω 1. However, L&N 64.4 takes the participle ὁμοιωθέντες (homoiōthentes) as an adjectival participle modifying θεοί (theoi): “the gods resembling men have come down to us.”sn The gods have come down to us in human form. Greek culture spoke of “divine men.” In this region there was a story of Zeus and Hermes visiting the area (Ovid, Metamorphoses 8.611-725). The locals failed to acknowledge them, so judgment followed. The present crowd was determined not to make the mistake a second time.
  13. Acts 14:12 tn The imperfect verb ἐκάλουν (ekaloun) has been translated as an ingressive imperfect.
  14. Acts 14:12 sn Zeus was the chief Greek deity, worshiped throughout the Greco-Roman world (known to the Romans as Jupiter).
  15. Acts 14:12 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).
  16. Acts 14:13 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.
  17. Acts 14:13 sn See the note on Zeus in the previous verse.
  18. Acts 14:13 tn Or “oxen.”
  19. Acts 14:13 tn Or “wreaths.”sn Garlands were commonly wreaths of wool with leaves and flowers woven in, worn on a person’s head or woven around a staff. They were an important part of many rituals used to worship pagan gods. Although it was an erroneous reaction, the priest’s reaction shows how all acknowledged their power and access to God.
  20. Acts 14:13 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.
  21. Acts 14:14 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.
  22. Acts 14:14 tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousantes) is taken temporally.
  23. Acts 14:14 tn Grk “tearing their clothes they rushed out.” The participle διαρρήξαντες (diarrēxantes) 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).
  24. Acts 14:14 tn So BDAG 307 s.v. ἐκπηδάω 1, “rush (lit. ‘leap’) outεἰς τὸν ὄχλον into the crowd Ac 14:14.”
  25. Acts 14:14 tn Grk “shouting and saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes, in v. 15) has not been translated because it is redundant.sn What follows is one of two speeches in Acts to a purely pagan audience (Acts 17 in Athens is the other). So Paul focused on God as Creator, a common link.
  26. Acts 14:15 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.
  27. Acts 14:15 tn Grk “in order that you should turn,” with ἐπιστρέφειν (epistrephein) 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.
  28. Acts 14:15 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.
  29. Acts 14:15 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.
  30. Acts 14:16 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.
  31. Acts 14:16 tn On this term see BDAG 780 s.v. παροίχομαι. The word is a NT hapax legomenon.
  32. Acts 14:16 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.
  33. Acts 14:17 tn The participle ἀγαθουργῶν (agathourgōn) is regarded as indicating means here, parallel to the following participles διδούς (didous) and ἐμπιπλῶν (empiplōn). 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.
  34. Acts 14:17 tn Or “from the sky” (the same Greek word means both “heaven” and “sky”).
  35. Acts 14:17 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.”
  36. Acts 14:17 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; Pss 4:7; 145:15-16; 147:8-9; Isa 25:6; Jer 5:24) which also appears in the NT (Luke 12:22-34).
  37. Acts 14:18 tn The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is regarded as indicating means.
  38. Acts 14:18 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.

In Lystra and Derbe

And at (A)Lystra (B)a man was sitting who had no strength in his feet, lame from his mother’s womb, who had never walked. This man listened to Paul as he spoke, who, (C)when he fixed his gaze on him and saw that he had (D)faith to be [a]saved from being lame, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet.” (E)And he leaped up and began to walk. 11 And when the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the (F)Lycaonian language, “(G)The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” 12 And they began calling Barnabas, [b]Zeus, and Paul, [c]Hermes, because he was [d]the chief speaker. 13 And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was [e]just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and (H)was wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds. 14 But when (I)the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they (J)tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd, crying out 15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also (K)men of the same nature as you, (L)proclaiming the gospel to you that you should turn from these [f](M)vain things to a (N)living God, (O)who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. 16 [g]In the generations gone by He (P)permitted all the [h]nations to (Q)go their own ways; 17 and yet (R)He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and (S)gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And saying these things, with difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them.

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 14:9 Or made well
  2. Acts 14:12 In Lat Jupiter, the chief pagan god
  3. Acts 14:12 In Lat Mercury, considered the messenger or spokesman for the pagan gods of Greece and Rome
  4. Acts 14:12 Lit the leader of the speaking
  5. Acts 14:13 Lit in front of
  6. Acts 14:15 Idols
  7. Acts 14:16 Lit Who in the generations gone by permitted
  8. Acts 14:16 Or Gentiles