"The gods have come down to us in the likeness of men," and they named Paul and Barnabas after their gods. Barnabas was tall, so they called him Jupiter; and Paul, being short and a gifted speaker, they called Mercury, because Mercury was supposed to preside over learning and eloquence.
To Offer Sacrifice
Some time after the meeting, the priests of Jupiter, who officiated in the temple of Jupiter that was in the city, decided to offer sacrifice to their gods as personified in Paul and Barnabas. So with the people, they gathered at the gates of the city, brought oxen and began to prepare to offer sacrifice.
Missionaries Protest.
When Paul and Barnabas heard of it, they ran among the people, and "rent their clothes" in protestation against such sacrifice. To rend their clothes was to express intense feeling and the people so understood it. Besides doing this they cried: "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."
Paul Stoned.
However, they could scarcely make the people refrain from worshiping them; but there were certain Jews there who had followed the missionaries from Antioch and Iconium, "who persuaded the people" that Paul and Barnabas were deceivers, and that the miracle which had been performed had been done by the power of the evil one. These Jews swayed the people to such an extent that instead of worshiping Paul and Barnabas, they picked up stones and stoned Paul until he fell to the earth, apparently dead. Thinking he was so, the mob then dragged his body out of the city and left it.
A Many Headed Monster.
What a many-headed monster this mob was! First they were ready to worship the men as gods, and then in just a few minutes became so bitter that they would stain their souls with murder! Shakespeare called such a crowd
"The blind monster, with uncounted heads.
The still discordant, wavering multitude."