ISB ~ Acts 14 v11 - 18

The crowd’s reaction is based on a local legend preserved by the Roman poet Ovid. It was said that Greek deities once before had made a disguised visit to this region, but the natives had refused them hospitality and turned them away. Only a single devout couple had taken them in. In thanksgiving, the gods had turned the home of the couple into a beautiful temple, and in anger, they had destroyed the dwellings of the rest. Amazed by the healing of the cripple, the crowd thought the gods were revisiting them disguised as Paul and Barnabas (14:12) and hoped to avoid the tragic mistake of their ancestors.