Zeus and Hermes at Lystra
The specific pairing of Zeus and Hermes that the crowd at Lystra reaches for is attested as a local cult in that district.
Fakapapau'i 'e he keliTohi tongi maka2nd–3rd century AD
Acts has the crowd at Lystra shout in Lycaonian that Barnabas is Zeus and Paul Hermes. Inscriptions and a stone altar from the area show Zeus and Hermes worshipped together as a local pair — a combination not common elsewhere.
And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
- Na'e 'ilo'i
- Near Lystra, central Anatolia, Turkey, 1909 — William Calder and later surveys
- 'Oku tauhi 'i
- Museums in Konya, Turkey
- Lea
- Greek and Latin
- Na'e a'u mai fēfē kiate kitautolu
- Na'e keli hake, pe 'oku kei tu'u 'i he potu na'e langa ai.
Ko e me'a 'oku ne fakahā
The inscriptions are later than Paul's visit; they show the local cult, not the episode.
Founga hono ngāue'aki 'e he kau hisitōlia
A frequently cited example in the study of Anatolian religion and of Acts' local colour.
'I he Folofola
Fekau'aki mo
Ngaahi ma'u'anga fakamatala
- Calder, "Acts XIV.12", Expository Times 37 (1926); Hemer (1989)
'Oku 'i he lea faka-Pilitānia 'a e ngaahi fakamatala ko 'eni he taimi ni. 'E muimui mai 'a e liliu.