Acts 14:13

Amplified Bible

The priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance of the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, and wanted to offer sacrifices with the crowds.

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the town, brought bulls and wreaths to the gates because he intended, with the crowds, to offer sacrifice.

King James Version (1611)
Then the priest of Iupiter, which was before their city, brought oxen, and garlands vnto the gates, and would haue done sacrifice with the people.

King James Version
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.

English Standard Version
And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance to the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

New American Standard Bible
Moreover, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

New Century Version
The priest in the temple of Zeus, which was near the city, brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates. He and the people wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and was wanting to offer sacrifice with the crowds.

Berean Standard Bible
The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, hoping to offer a sacrifice along with the crowds.

Contemporary English Version
The temple of Zeus was near the entrance to the city. Its priest and the crowds wanted to offer a sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul. So the priest brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates.

Complete Jewish Bible
and the priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates, intending to offer a sacrifice to them with the people.

Darby Translation
And the priest of Jupiter who was before the city, having brought bulls and garlands to the gates, would have done sacrifice along with the crowds.

Easy-to-Read Version
The temple of Zeus was near the city. The priest of this temple brought some bulls and flowers to the city gates. The priest and the people wanted to offer a sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then Iupiters priest, which was before their citie, brought bulles with garlands vnto the gates, & would haue sacrificed with the people.

George Lamsa Translation
Then the priest of the chief of gods whose shrine was outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gate of the courtyard where they stayed, and he wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

Good News Translation
The priest of the god Zeus, whose temple stood just outside the town, brought bulls and flowers to the gate, for he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice to the apostles.

Lexham English Bible
And the priest of the temple of Zeus that was just outside the city brought bulls and garlands to the gates and was wanting to offer sacrifice, along with the crowds.

Literal Translation
And the priest of Zeus being before their city, carrying bulls and garlands to the gates, he wished to sacrifice along with the crowds.

American Standard Version
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.

Bible in Basic English
And the priest of the image of Jupiter, which was before the town, took oxen and flowers to the doors of the town, and was about to make an offering with the people.

Hebrew Names Version
The Kohen of Jupiter, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and would have made a sacrifice with the multitudes.

International Standard Version
The priest of the temple of Zeus, which was just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates. He and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices.Daniel 2:46;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And the priest of the lord of the gods, who was without the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates of the court of the place where they dwelt, and willed to sacrifice to them.

Murdock Translation
And the priest of the Lord of the Gods, who was without the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gate of the court where they lodged, and was disposed to offer sacrifices to them.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Then Iupiters priest, which was before their citie, brought oxen and garlandes vnto the doore, and woulde haue done sacrifice with the people.

English Revised Version
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.

World English Bible
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 with the multitudes.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city, brought bulls and garlands to the gates, and with the multitude, would have sacrificed.

Weymouth's New Testament
And the priest of Zeus--the temple of Zeus being at the entrance to the city--brought bullocks and garlands to the gates, and in company with the crowd was intending to offer sacrifices to them.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And the preest of Jubiter that was bifor the citee, brouyte boolis and crownes bifor the yatis, with puplis, and wolde haue maad sacrifice.

Update Bible Version
And the priest of Jupiter whose [temple] was before the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and would have sacrificed with the multitudes.

Webster's Bible Translation
Then the priest of Jupiter, who was before their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and would have done sacrifice with the people.

New English Translation
The priest of the temple of Zeus, located just outside the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifices to them.

New King James Version
Then the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of their city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, intending to sacrifice with the multitudes.

New Living Translation
Now the temple of Zeus was located just outside the town. So the priest of the temple and the crowd brought bulls and wreaths of flowers to the town gates, and they prepared to offer sacrifices to the apostles.

New Life Bible
The god of Jupiter was in a building near the gate leading into the city. The religious leader of that place brought cattle and flowers to the gate. He and many other people wanted to burn these as gifts in an act of worship to Paul and Barnabas.

New Revised Standard
The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates; he and the crowds wanted to offer sacrifice.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Also, the priest of the Jupiter that was before the city, bringing bulls and garlands unto the gates, with the multitudes, would have offered sacrifice.

Douay-Rheims Bible
(14-12) The priest also of Jupiter that was before the city, bringing oxen and garlands before the gate, would have offered sacrifice with the people.

Revised Standard Version
And the priest of Zeus, whose temple was in front of the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates and wanted to offer sacrifice with the people.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Then Iupiters Preste which dwelt before their cite brought oxe and garlondes vnto the churche porche and wolde have done sacrifise with the people.

Young's Literal Translation
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,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
But Iupiters prest which dwelt before their cite, broughte oxen and garlandes before the gate, and wolde haue done sacrifice with the people.

Mace New Testament (1729)
even the priest of Jupiter, whose statue was at the city-gates, brought oxen and garlands there, and together with the people, would have offer'd sacrifice to the apostles.

Simplified Cowboy Version
The temple of Zeus was just outside of town. The priests there got some bulls and flowers and started preparing a sacrifice and a shindig in honor of the two cowboys.

Contextual Overview

⁸Now at Lystra a man sat who was unable to use his feet, for he was crippled from birth and had never walked. ⁹This man was listening to Paul as he spoke, and Paul looked intently at him and saw that he had faith to be healed, ¹⁰and said with a loud voice, "Stand up on your feet." And he jumped up and began to walk. ¹¹And the crowds, when they saw what Paul had done, raised their voices, shouting in the Lycaonian language, "The gods have come down to us in human form!" ¹²They began calling Barnabas, Zeus [chief of the Greek gods], and Paul, Hermes [messenger of the Greek gods], since he took the lead in speaking. ¹³The priest of Zeus, whose temple was at the entrance of the city, brought bulls and garlands to the city gates, and wanted to offer sacrifices with the crowds.¹⁴But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard about it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting, ¹⁵"Men, why are you doing these things? We too are only men of the same nature as you, bringing the good news to you, so that you turn from these useless and meaningless things to the living God, WHO MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA AND EVERYTHING THAT IS IN THEM. ¹⁶"In generations past He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; ¹⁷yet He did not leave Himself without some witness [as evidence of Himself], in that He kept constantly doing good things and showing you kindness, and giving you rains from heaven and productive seasons, filling your hearts with food and happiness."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

and would: Acts 10:25, Daniel 2:46

Reciprocal: Proverbs 7:22 - as an Mark 14:63 - his Acts 16:18 - being Acts 19:35 - Jupiter

Cross-References

Genesis 10:16
and the Jebusite and the Amorite and the Girgashite

Genesis 14:24
"I will take nothing except what my young men have eaten, and the share of the spoils belonging to the men [my allies] who went with me—Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre; let them take their share of the spoils."

Genesis 39:14
she called to the men of her household and said to them, "Look at this, your master has brought a Hebrew [into the household] to mock and insult us; he came to me to lie with me, and I screamed.

Genesis 40:15
"For in fact I was taken (stolen) from the land of the Hebrews by [unlawful] force, and even here I have done nothing for which they should put me in the dungeon."

Genesis 41:12
"Now there was with us [in the prison] a young man, a Hebrew, servant to the captain of the guard; and we told him, and he interpreted our dreams for us, to each man according to the significance of his own dream.

Genesis 43:32
So the servants served Joseph by himself [in honor of his rank], and his brothers by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because [according to custom] the Egyptians could not eat food with the Hebrews, for that is loathsome to the Egyptians.

Exodus 2:6
When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. And she took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children."

Exodus 2:11
One day, after Moses had grown [into adulthood], it happened that he went to his countrymen and looked [with compassion] at their hard labors; and he saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his countrymen.

Numbers 21:21
Then Israel sent messengers to Sihon, king of the Amorites, saying,

1 Samuel 4:12
Now a man [from the tribe] of Benjamin ran from the battle line and came to Shiloh that same day with his clothes torn and dust on his head [as signs of mourning over the disaster].

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city,.... Not that the priest was before the city, but Jupiter; and the phrase denotes either his presidency over the city, and so the Arabic version renders it, "who was the chief god of their city"; or the place where his image stood, which was out of the city, and so may be said to be before it; accordingly the Syriac version renders it, "who was without the city"; he who officiated as priest to him:

brought oxen and garlands unto the gates; either "of the city", as the Arabic and Ethiopic versions add, where was the statue of Jupiter; or else, and which is most likely, he brought them to the gates of the house, where Paul and Barnabas were; and to this sense the Syriac version renders it, "to the door of the dwelling place where they abode": what the oxen were brought for is easy to conceive, had it not been expressed; but for what should garlands or crowns be brought? These were used in sacrifices, for different purposes; sometimes they crowned the gods t, to whom they sacrificed, and these might be brought to be put upon the heads of Paul and Barnabas; and sometimes the priests wore them u, and which seems to be in imitation of the mitre, wore by the high priest among the Jews; and sometimes even those who came to sacrifice, and implore the assistance of their deities, wore them w; likewise the altars on which they offered sacrifice were crowned with these garlands x; and the sacrifices themselves, and which last seems to be the case here: the garlands were brought to be put upon the oxen; and these were for the most part made of cypress; sometimes of the pine tree, and sometimes of other leaves and flowers, such as were peculiar to the gods y: and there was something like this among the Jews, at the offerings of their first fruits, which were done in this manner z;

"they that were nearest (to Jerusalem) brought green figs and grapes; and they that were more remote brought dried figs and raisins; and an ox went before them, whose horns were covered with gold, ועטרת של זית, "and a crown of olives" on his head; a pipe sounded before them, till they came near to Jerusalem, and then they sent some before them, who "crowned" their first fruits.''

And would have done sacrifice with the people; that is, the priest and the people with him, would have offered sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, as to two deities; and the Syriac and Ethiopic versions add, "to them"; to both the apostles, with which agrees the Arabic version.

t Baruch vi. 9. Justin. Apolog. 2. p. 57. Tertull. de Corona, c. 10. Alex. ab. Alex. Gen. dier. l. 4. c. 17. u Tertull. de Idolatria, c. 18. Alex. ab. Alex. ib. Paschalius de Coronis. l. 4. c. 13. w Paschal. ib. x Ovid de Tristibus, l. 3. eleg. 13. y Paschal. ib. c. 16. z Misn. Biccurim, c. 3. sect. 3.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Then the priest of Jupiter - He whose office it was to conduct the worship of Jupiter by offering sacrifices, etc.

Which was before their city - The word “which” here refers not to the priest, but to Jupiter. The temple or image of Jupiter was in front of their city, or near the gates. Ancient cities were supposed to be under the protection of particular gods; and their image, or a temple for their worship, was placed commonly in a conspicuous place at the entrance of the city.

Brought oxen - Probably brought two one to be sacrificed to each. It was common to sacrifice bullocks to Jupiter.

And garlands - The victims of sacrifice were usually decorated with ribbons and chaplets of flowers. See Kuinoel.

Unto the gates - The gates of the city, where were the images or temple of the gods.

Would have done sacrifice - Would have offered sacrifice to Barnabas and Paul. This the priest deemed a part of his office. And here we have a remarkable and most affecting instance of the folly and stupidity of idolatry.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Acts 14:13. Then the priest of Jupiter, which was before their city] There is a meaning here, which ordinary readers will not readily apprehend. Many cities were put under the protection of a particular deity; and the image of that deity placed at the entrance, to signify that he was the guardian and protector. To this St. Luke, every where as accurate as he is circumstantial, refers. Lystra, it appears, was under the guardianship of Jupiter Propulaius, διος προπυλαιου, which St. Luke translates, του διος οντος της πολεως, the Jupiter that was before the city, which is another term for Jupiter Custos, or Jupiter the guardian. All these deities, according to the attributes they sustained, had their peculiar priests, rites, and sacrifices; and each a peculiar service and priest for the office he bore; so that Jupiter Brontes, Jupiter the thunderer, had a different service from Jupiter Custos, Jove the guardian. Hence we can see with what accuracy St. Luke wrote: the person who was going to offer them sacrifices was the priest of Jupiter Custos, under whose guardianship the city of Lystra was, and whom the priest supposed had visited the city in a human form; and Barnabas, probably for the reasons already assigned, he imagined was the person; and as Mercury, the god of eloquence, was the general attendant of Jupiter, the people and the priest supposed that Paul, who had a powerful, commanding eloquence, was that god, also disguised. A beautiful figure of such an image of Jupiter as, I suppose, stood before the gate of Lystra, still remains; and a fine engraving of it may be seen in Gruter's Inscriptions, vol. i. p. xx. Jupiter is represented naked, sitting on a curule or consular chair; in his right hand he holds his thunder, and a long staff in his left; at his right, stands the eagle prepared for flight; and, above, the winged cap and caduceus of Mercury. On the base is the inscription, IUPPITER CUSTOM DOMUS AUG. Jupiter, the guardian of the house of Augustus. As the preserver or guardian of towns, he was generally styled Jupiter Custos, Serenus and Servator. His name, JUPITER, i.e. jurans pater, the helping father, entitled him, in those days of darkness, to general regard. On this false god, who long engrossed the worship of even the most enlightened nations on the earth, much may be seen in Lactantius, Divinar. Institution. lib. i., in the Antiquite expliquee of Montfaucon; and various inscriptions, relative to his character as guardian, c., may be seen in Gruter, as above.

Oxen and garlands — That is, oxen adorned with flowers, their horns gilded, and neck bound about with fillets, as was the custom in sacrificial rites. They also crowned the gods themselves, the priests, and gates of the temples, with flowers. Of this method of adorning the victims, there are numerous examples in the Greek and Latin writers. A few may suffice. Thus OVID:-

Victima labe carens et praestantissima forma

Sistitur ante aras et vittis praesignis et auro.

OVID, Met. lib. xv. ver. 130.

The fairest victim must the powers appease,

So fatal 'tis sometimes too much to please:

A purple filet his broad brow adorns

With flowery garlands, crown, and gilded horns.

DRYDEN.

Huic Anius niveis circumdata tempora vittis

Concutiens, et tristis ait;__________

Ibid. lib. xiii. ver. 643.

The royal prophet shook his hoary head,

With fillets bound; and, sighing, thus he said___

CALCOTT.

________________________fovet ignibus aras,

Muneribus deos implet: feriuntque secures

Colla torosa boum vinctorum cornua vittis.

Ibid. lib. vii. ver. 427.

Rich curling fumes of incense feast the skies,

A hecatomb of voted victims dies,

With gilded horns, and garlands on their head,

In all the pomp of death to th' altar led.

TATE.

VIRGIL also refers to the same rites and circumstances: -

Saepe in honore deum medio stans hostia ad aram

Lanea dum nivea circumdatur infula vitta,

Inter cunctantes cecidit moribunda ministros.

VIRG. Georg. lib. iii. ver. 486.

The victim ox that was for altars pressed,

Trimmed with white ribbons, and with garlands dressed,

Sunk of himself, without the god's command,

Preventing the slow sacrificer's hand.

DRYDEN.

Many similar examples may be seen in Wetstein and others.

At the time of worship, the Hindoo priests place garlands of flowers on the head of the image. Whether the garlands were intended to decorate the oxen or the apostles, we cannot say; but in either case the conduct of the Lycaonians was conformable to that of the modern Hindoos.