Acts 14:18 kjv
And with these sayings scarce restrained they the people, that they had not done sacrifice unto them.
Acts 14:18 nkjv
And with these sayings they could scarcely restrain the multitudes from sacrificing to them.
Acts 14:18 niv
Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
Acts 14:18 esv
Even with these words they scarcely restrained the people from offering sacrifice to them.
Acts 14:18 nlt
But even with these words, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them.
Acts 14 18 Cross References
| Verse | Text | Reference |
|---|---|---|
| God Alone to be Worshipped | ||
| Exo 20:3 | "You shall have no other gods before me." | Foundation of exclusive worship for God. |
| Deut 6:13 | "You shall fear the Lord your God, and serve him, and shall swear by his name." | Directs all reverence and service to God alone. |
| Matt 4:10 | "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." | Jesus reaffirms God's sole right to worship (OT quote). |
| Rev 4:11 | "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power." | Heavenly acclamation of God's unique worth. |
| 1 Chr 29:11 | "Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory..." | Acknowledging God's unique sovereignty. |
| Psa 115:3 | "Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases." | Contrasts with impotent idols. |
| Isa 42:8 | "I am the Lord; that is my name; my glory I will not give to another." | God's glory is incommunicable. |
| Rejection of Human/Angel Worship | ||
| Acts 10:25-26 | "Peter lifted him up, saying, 'Stand up; I myself am also a man.'" | Peter's similar refusal of worship. |
| Rev 19:10 | "Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said, 'Do not do that!'" | Angel rejects worship, pointing to God. |
| Rev 22:8-9 | "I fell down to worship at the feet of the angel... He said, 'Do not do that!'" | Second angelic refusal of worship. |
| Col 2:18 | "...insisting on self-abasement and worship of angels..." | Warning against worshipping created beings. |
| Idolatry / Misdirected Worship | ||
| Rom 1:23 | "...exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man." | Human propensity for idolatry and deifying man. |
| Rom 1:25 | "They exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator." | Direct condemnation of creature worship. |
| Isa 44:17 | "...then he falls down before it and worships it. He prays to it..." | Illustrates the absurdity of idol worship. |
| Psa 115:4-8 | "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands... Those who make them become like them." | Highlights the impotence and vanity of idols. |
| 1 Cor 10:20 | "What pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God." | Spiritual reality behind idol worship. |
| Gal 4:8 | "...you were enslaved to those who by nature are not gods." | Prior bondage to false deities. |
| Human Folly and the Living God | ||
| Acts 14:15 | "...turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth..." | Apostles' clear message: abandon idols for the Creator. |
| Jer 16:19-20 | "...Our fathers have inherited nothing but lies, worthless things in which there is no profit." | Realization of paganism's emptiness. |
| 1 Thes 1:9 | "...how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God." | Example of true conversion from idolatry. |
| Jn 6:26-27 | "You are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill." | Warning against misunderstanding signs or motives. |
| Gen 1:1 | "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." | Basis for God as the unique Creator, echoed in Acts 14:15-17. |
Acts 14 verses
Acts 14 18 Meaning
Acts 14:18 details how, despite Paul and Barnabas's earnest and clear words, they faced extreme difficulty in preventing the crowds at Lystra from offering them divine sacrifice. This highlights the powerful grip of pagan beliefs on the people, their tendency to deify impressive figures or events, and the apostles' unwavering commitment to direct all worship to the One True God.
Acts 14 18 Context
Acts chapter 14 describes Paul and Barnabas's ministry in Iconium, then Lystra. In Lystra, Paul miraculously heals a man who had been lame from birth, causing him to walk. The Lystran crowd, steeped in Greco-Roman polytheism and local myths, immediately interprets this miracle through their cultural lens. Believing that gods had descended to earth in human form (specifically Zeus and Hermes, whom they identified as Barnabas and Paul, respectively), the priest of Zeus brought oxen and garlands to offer sacrifice. Acts 14:15-17 details the apostles' passionate protest, their declaration of being mere mortals, and their evangelistic appeal to turn from "these vain things" to the living Creator God. Verse 18 is the immediate consequence, revealing the profound difficulty in swaying a deeply superstitious and emotionally charged crowd from their entrenched religious practices.
Acts 14 18 Word analysis
- Even with these words (Καὶ ταῦτα λέγοντες – Kai tauta legontes): This phrase signifies that despite the clear and firm declaration Paul and Barnabas had just delivered (recorded in Acts 14:15-17), the crowds remained largely unswayed. It implies the weight and clarity of the apostles' previous statement, yet highlights the strong resistance they met.
- they scarcely (μόλις – molis): The Greek term molis emphatically conveys difficulty and struggle. It means "hardly," "with great effort," or "barely." This indicates that preventing the sacrifice was not easy; it required significant persuasive power and possibly physical intervention by the apostles to halt the initiated religious ritual.
- restrained (κατέπαυσαν – katepausan): This word, derived from kata (down) and pausō (to cease), means to make something cease, to stop it completely, or put an end to it. Here, it signifies that the apostles effectively halted the sacrificial ceremony, but the preceding word scarcely underscores the formidable challenge they faced in achieving this.
- the crowds (τοὺς ὄχλους – tous ochlous): This refers to the general populace, a large assembly of people. Often in Acts, ochlos suggests a group that is easily swayed by emotion or charismatic figures, capable of shifting its loyalty or conviction quickly, sometimes volatile. Here, it reflects their collective, deeply ingrained pagan mindset.
- from offering sacrifice (τοῦ μὴ θύειν – tou me thyein): Thyein denotes "to sacrifice," specifically animal sacrifice offered to deities in pagan religious contexts. The negative particle me indicates prevention of this action. This was not a casual act of reverence, but a full-fledged religious ritual aimed at deifying Paul and Barnabas, showcasing the profound spiritual gravity of the Lystrans' misunderstanding.
- Words-group: Even with these words, they scarcely restrained: This phrase vividly portrays the profound struggle faced by the apostles. It shows that logical or theological persuasion, no matter how earnest or clear, can meet intense resistance from ingrained cultural beliefs and emotional reactions. The sheer effort implies a deep-seated spiritual blindness in the crowd, despite witnessing a divine miracle.
- Words-group: restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice: This highlights the immediate, urgent task of preventing a serious act of idolatry. It reveals the apostles' resolute stance against any form of worship directed towards themselves, reinforcing the singular object of worship: the living God.
Acts 14 18 Bonus section
The spontaneous identification of Barnabas as Zeus and Paul as Hermes by the Lystran crowd suggests the strong influence of their local myths and legends. This specifically echoes tales like Ovid's story of Philemon and Baucis, where Zeus and Hermes visited in human guise and were initially rejected, only to be honored by the pious couple. This prior cultural narrative provided the lens through which they interpreted the miracle. The earnest attempt to offer a full pagan sacrifice—complete with oxen, garlands, and the priest of Zeus—shows the gravity of their devotion and their expectation of divine favor for honoring the supposed gods in their midst. This incident further clarifies that for the apostles, the signs and wonders were meant to point to the truth of God's message, not to glorify the messengers themselves, a crucial distinction often missed by those entrenched in polytheistic thought.
Acts 14 18 Commentary
Acts 14:18 provides a powerful snapshot of the clash between fervent paganism and nascent Christianity. Despite the apostles' clear renunciation of divinity and their earnest appeal to the one true God who created all, the Lystran crowd was barely dissuaded from their sacrificial intentions. This vividly demonstrates the tenacious grip of idolatry and the human tendency to attribute divinity to impressive, yet mortal, beings or events rather than acknowledging the Creator. The "scarcely" reveals the intense spiritual and cultural inertia the apostles had to overcome, highlighting that even clear teaching might not immediately dismantle long-held superstitions. The apostles' actions set a critical precedent for all Christian leadership: humility, integrity, and absolute refusal to accept glory or worship meant only for God.