What Does Acts 14:13 Mean in the King James?

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.

Acts 14:13 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The garlands and oxen show awe turning into a public crowning of the human messengers as gods.

THE MEANING

You meet the moment when awe takes a dangerous shape: the priest brings oxen and garlands to the gates, and the crowd is ready to sacrifice to the people before them. An extraordinary act is being read as proof that its visible agents are gods. The verse shows how quickly wonder can become a public ritual.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

The verse undoes the belief that a person who carries extraordinary power must be divine.

THE ROOT

στέμματα

stemmata

GROWS FROM

στέφω

stephō

To encircle or crown; to make a wreath.

The Greek word for garlands belongs to the word family of wreaths and crowns, so these are more than decoration: they visibly honor the sacrifice. The procession makes the crowd’s mistaken elevation of the messengers into gods public.

ALSO GROWS

stemma: Wreath or garland.

στέμμα

This is the singular form of the word used for the garlands brought to the gates.

stephanos: Wreath or crown.

στέφανος

The related crown word brings out the honor being placed on the people the crowd mistakes for gods.

θύειν

thyein

GROWS FROM

θύω

thyō

To sacrifice or offer in sacrifice.

The Greek is a concrete verb, “to sacrifice,” following the oxen and garlands brought to the gates. Its word family also names offerings of praise, joining the slaughtered animal here to an offering made with words elsewhere.

ALSO GROWS

thysia: Sacrifice or offering.

θυσία

This related noun appears in Hebrews’ “sacrifice of praise,” linking animal offerings with praise offered to God.

thysiastērion: Altar, the place of sacrifice.

θυσιαστήριον

The altar shares the same sacrificial word family and makes clear that this verb describes a concrete ritual act.

THE PATTERN

When a human messenger is mistaken for the source of power, honor gathers around the messenger instead of God.

Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.

Psalm 115:1 · KJVThe psalm redirects glory away from people and toward the LORD, naming the boundary the crowd at Lystra crosses.

And as Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet, and worshipped him. But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.

Acts 10:25-26 · KJVPeter refuses the honor directed at him and names himself as a man, correcting the same misdirection.

And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Revelation 19:10 · KJVThe messenger refuses worship and redirects it to God, making explicit the distinction the crowd at Lystra misses.

THE THREAD

By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.

Hebrews 13:15 · KJV

The noun ⁨θυσία⁩ (thysia, “sacrifice”) in Hebrews belongs to the same word family as ⁨θύω⁩ (thyō, “to offer in sacrifice”) here. The shared root holds together the slaughtered offering in Acts and the offering of praise made with the lips.

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