Passage

Acts 14.11-15

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"9. The same heard Paul speaking, who, fastening eyes upon him, and seeing that he had faith to be made whole, 10. said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped up and walked."

"11. And when the multitude saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 12. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercury, because he was the chief speaker. 13. And the priest of Jupiter whose temple was before the city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the multitudes. 14. But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they rent their garments, and sprang forth among the multitude, crying out 15. and saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good tidings, that ye should turn from these vain things unto a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that in them is:"

"16. who in the generations gone by suffered all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17. And yet He left not himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you from heaven rains and fruitful seasons, filling your hearts with food and gladness." (Acts 14:9-17, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"9. He was listening to Paul speaking, who, fastening eyes on him, and seeing that he had faith to be made whole, 10. said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your feet!” He leaped up and walked."

"11. When the multitude saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the language of Lycaonia, “The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men!” 12. They called Barnabas “Jupiter”, and Paul “Mercury”, because he was the chief speaker. 13. The priest of Jupiter, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and would have made a sacrifice along with the multitudes. 14. But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they tore their clothes, and sprang into the multitude, crying out, 15. “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to the living God, who made the sky, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them;"

"16. who in the generations gone by allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. 17. Yet he didn’t leave himself without witness, in that he did good and gave you rains from the sky and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”" (Acts 14:9-17, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"9. The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed, 10. Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked."

"11. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. 12. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker. 13. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen and garlands unto the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people. 14. Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out, 15. And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:"

"16. Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 17. Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness." (Acts 14:9-17, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"9. this one was hearing Paul speaking, who, having stedfastly beheld him, and having seen that he hath faith to be saved, 10. said with a loud voice, 'Stand up on thy feet upright;' and he was springing and walking,"

"11. and the multitudes having seen what Paul did, did lift up their voice, in the speech of Lycaonia, saying, 'The gods, having become like men, did come down unto us;' 12. they were calling also Barnabas Zeus, and Paul Hermes, since he was the leader in speaking. 13. And the priest of the Zeus that is before their city, oxen and garlands unto the porches having brought, with the multitudes did wish to sacrifice, 14. and having heard, the apostles Barnabas and Paul, having rent their garments, did spring into the multitude, crying 15. and saying, 'Men, why these things do ye? and we are men like-affected with you, proclaiming good news to you, from these vanities to turn unto the living God, who made the heaven, and the earth, and the sea, and all the things in them;"

"16. who in the past generations did suffer all the nations to go on in their ways, 17. though, indeed, without witness He did not leave himself, doing good, from heaven giving rains to us, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness;'" (Acts 14:9-17, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: Luke the physician (traditionally) / narrator + Paul and Barnabas's direct refusal of worship
Audience: Theophilus + Gentile-Christian audience (composition); the Lycaonian crowd at Lystra (immediate scene)
Location: Lystra, in Lycaonia (south-central Anatolia, modern Turkey); first missionary journey
Time period: events c. AD 47-48; composed c. AD 62-80

Theological reading

The Lystra incident provides the canonical apostolic refusal of divine worship. When mistaken for Zeus and Hermes by a pagan crowd, Paul and Barnabas tear their garments (the Jewish gesture of horror at blasphemy) and explicitly reject worship: We also are men of like passions with you. The pattern is canonically replicated at Acts 10:25-26 (Peter refusing Cornelius's worship) and Revelation 19:10 / 22:8-9 (the angel refusing John's worship). The pattern is structurally contrasted by the New Testament's repeated record of Jesus receiving worship without rebuke (Matt 14:33; Matt 28:9; Matt 28:17; John 9:38; etc.) and especially Thomas's my Lord and my God (John 20:28) which Jesus accepts. The apologetic deployment: the apostolic pattern of refusing worship is what establishes the contrast that makes Jesus's acceptance of worship Christologically load-bearing. See Christs Deity.

Key words

No Strong's-tagged lexicon matches yet recorded for this passage.

Quoted in

Lesson 2.4, Christology in One Lesson

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.