Leaped (ato). Better, as Rev., leaped up. Note the ao- rist tense, indicating a single act, while the imperfect, walked, denotes continwous action.
11. In the speech of Lycaonia. The apostles had been conversing with them in Greek. The fact that the people now spoke in their native tongue explains why Paul and Barnabas did not interfere until they saw the preparations for sacrifice. They did not understand what was being said by the people about their divine character. It was natural that the surprise of the Lystrans should express itself in their own language rather than in a foreign tongue.
In the likeness of men (cporwSévtes avIpwrrois). Lit., having become like to men. A remnant of the earlier pagan belief that the gods visited the earth in human form. Homer, for example, is full of such incidents. Thus, when Ulysses lands upon his native shore, Pallas meets him
‘in the shape Of a young shepherd delicately formed, As are the sons of kings. A mantle lay Upon her shoulder in rich folds ; her feet Shone in their sandals; in her hands she bore A javelin.” Odyssey, xiii., 221-225.
Again, one rebukes a suitor for maltreating Ulysses:
“Madman! what if he Came down from heaven and were a god! The gods Put on the form of strangers from afar, And walk our towns in many different shapes, To mark the good and evil deeds of men.” Odyssey, xvii., 485 sq.
12. Barnabas Jupiter, and Paul Mercury. The Greek names of these deities were Zeus and Hermes. As the herald of the gods, Mercury is the god of skill in the use of speech and
Cu. XIV.J THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 521
of eloquence in general, for the heralds are the public speakers in the assemblies and on other occasions. Hence he is sent on messages where persuasion or argument are required, as to Calypso to secure the release of Ulysses from Ogygia ( Odys- sey,” 1., 84); and to Priam to warn him of danger and to escort him to the Grecian fleet (“TIliad,” xxiv., 390). Horace ad- dresses him as the “eloquent” grandson of Atlas, who artfully formed by oratory the savage manners of a primitive race (“ Odes,” i., 10). Hence the tongues of sacrificial animals were offered to him. As the god of ready and artful speech, his office naturally extended to business negotiations. . He was the god of prudence and skill in all the relations of social inter- course, and the patron of business and gain. A merchant-guild at Rome was established under his protection. And as, from its nature, commerce is prone to degenerate into fraud, so he appears as the god of thievery, exhibiting cunning, fraud, and perjury.* ‘“ He represents, so to speak, the utilitarian side of thehumanmind. . . . Inthe limitation of his faculties and powers, in the low standard of his moral habits, in the abundant activity of his appetites, in his indifference, his ease, his good- nature, in the full-blown exhibition of what Christian theology would call conformity to the world, he is, as strictly as the nat- ure of the case admits, a product of the invention of man. He is the god of intercourse on earth” (Gladstone, “ Homer and the Homeric Age ”).
The chief speaker (6 syovpevos tod AOyou). Lit., the lead- er in discourse. Barnabas was called Jupiter, possibly because his personal appearance was more imposing than Paul’s (see 2 Cor. x. 1, 10), and also because Jupiter and Mercury were com- monly represented as companions in their visits to earth.t
13. Of Jupiter (rod Avs). Properly, the Jupiter, the tute-
*See the Homeric Hymn to Hermes, and Horace, Odes, B.i., Ode x.; Tliad, v., 390; xxiv., 24.
+ As, for instance, in the beautiful story of Baucis and Philemon, as related by Ovid (Metamorphoses, viii., 626-724).
§22 WORD STUDIES IN THE NEW TESTAMENT. [Cu. XIV.
lary deity of Lystra. Itis unnecessary to supply temple, as Rev. The god himself was regarded as present in his temple.