Bible Dictionary
Mercurius
Mercurius is the Roman name for Hermes, a pagan god associated with speech, eloquence, commerce, and messages. At Lystra, the people called Paul Mercurius because he was the chief speaker while Barnabas was identified with Jupiter.
Definition
Mercurius was the Roman identification of the Greek Hermes, a pagan deity associated with eloquence, commerce, and messages. He was represented as the companion of Jupiter.
Biblical Usage
At Lystra, the people called Paul Mercurius because he was the chief speaker, while Barnabas was identified with Jupiter.
Historical Background
The inhabitants’ reaction reflected a local belief that the gods could appear in human likeness. Hermes was regarded as a herald and god of eloquence and commerce.
Scripture References
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
Easton's Bible Dictionary
The Hermes (i.e., “the speaker”) of the Greeks (Acts 14:12), a heathen God represented as the constant attendant of Jupiter, and the god of eloquence. The inhabitants of Lystra took Paul for this god because he was the “chief speaker.”
Smith's Bible Dictionary
(herald of the gods), properly Hermes, the Greek deity, whom the Romans identified with their Mercury, the god of commerce and bargains. Hermes was the son of Zeus (Jupiter) and Maia the daughter of Atals, and is constantly represented as the companion of his father in his wandering upon earth. The episode of Baucis and Philemon, Ovid, Metam . viii. 620-724, appears to have formed part of the folk-lore of Asia Minor, and strikingly illustrates the readiness with which the simple people of Lystra recognized in Barnabas and Paul the gods who, according to their wont, had come down in the likeness of men. (Acts 14:11)