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Act_14:11. Λυκαονιστί ] Chrysostom has finely grasped the object of this remark: οὐκ ἦν τοῦτο οὐδέπω δῆλον , τῇ γὰρ οἰκείᾳ φωνῇ ἐφθέγγοντο λέγοντες , ὅτι οἱ θεοὶ κ . τ . λ . Διὰ τοῦτο οὐδὲν αὐτοῖς ἔλεγον . The more surprised and astonished the people were, the more natural was it for them to express themselves in their native dialect, although Zeller reckons this very improbable and calculated with a view to make the homage go as far as possible. Nothing definite can be made out concerning the Lycaonian language; perhaps a dialect of the Lycian (Lassen in the Zeit. d. Deutsch. morgenl. Gesellsch. 1856, p. 329 ff.), which Jablonsky (in Iken’s nov. Thes. II. p. 638 ff.) considered as derived from the Assyrian; Grotius, as identical with the Cappadocian; and Gühling (de lingua Lycaon., Viteb. 1726), as a corrupt Greek.
ὁμοιωθέντες ἀνθρώποις ] having become similar to men. Theophanies in human form (Hom. Od. xvii. 485 ff.) belonged, at the instance of the myths of antiquity,[17] to the heathen popular belief, in which such conceptions survived as an echo of these ancient myths (comp. Themist. vii. p. 90, quoted by Wetstein on Act_14:12); although Baur (comp. Zeller) discovers here an imitation, in which the author of the Acts shows himself as “acquainted with mythology.” Comp., moreover, the analogous conception which attached itself to the appearance of Pythagoras, of Apollonius of Tyana, and others (Valckenaer, p. 506). Such a belief was naturally rejected by philosophers (Plat. Rep. ii. p. 381 C–E; Cic. de Harusp. 28); but just as naturally it lingered among the people.
[17] See also Nägelsbach, Homer. Theol. p. 153.