“Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.”
The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing that nothing unusual happened to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god. - The Maltese 'expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead' (pimplēmi ē katō piptō aphnō, pimplēmi ē katō piptō aphnō-'expecting him to be swollen or fall down suddenly'). 'After waiting a long time' (animenos kai theōreō, animenos kai theōreō-'waiting and observing'), seeing nothing, they 'changed their minds' (metaballō ta dogma, metaballō ta dogma-'changed their opinion') and 'said he was a god' (theos, theos). Their reversal from 'murderer' to 'god' shows how quickly pagan folk theology makes sense of the inexplicable. Paul is neither cursed criminal nor divine being, but a human apostle through whom God works.
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