100 Reasons to Believe New Testament History
29. Worship of Hermes and Zeus in Lystra
In Acts 14, Luke records that when Paul and Barnabas came to the city of Lystra their were deified by the populace after Paul’s miraculous healing of a crippled man. Acts 14:11-12 reads:
“And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycanonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.”
Note that the names Jupiter and Mercurius are translated in the King James Bible from the Latin. In the original Greek these names are Zeus and Hermes. Zeus was the head of the pantheon of gods and Hermes was his herald. Since Paul was the more active of the two missionaries, he was mistaken for Hermes the messenger, while Barnabas was taken for Zeus, who sent Hermes about his affairs. Archaeology has indeed verified the worship of these two deities in that place in the ancient world. At Sedasa, near Lystra, two inscriptions have been found which testify to this fact A.
The first records the dedication of a statue of Hermes to Zeus, by men with Lycaonian names. The second inscription mentions “priests of Zeus”. In 1926, a stone alter was found near Lystra dedicated to “the hearer of prayer [thought to be Zeus] and Hermes.” Luke therefore appears quite correct in his description of these two gods being linked in the worship of the people in this area.
29. Worship of Hermes and Zeus in Lystra - Notes and References
A. J.A. Thompson, “The Bible and Archaeology”, Eerdmans Publishing Co., Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1962, p. 383
E.M. Blaiklock, “The Archaeology of the New Testament”, Thomas Nelson, Nashville, 1984, p.91
The incident at Lystra recorded in Acts 14 appears authentic in another important aspect. Read carefully the sermon Paul gives these folks recorded in 14:15-17:
“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: Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways. 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.”