In the town of Lystra, Paul heals a man who has never walked, and the crowd decides the gods have come down. They call Barnabas Jupiter and Paul Mercurius, and the priest of Jupiter brings oxen and garlands to offer sacrifice (Acts 14:12-13). Paul and Barnabas tear their clothes and run into the crowd, urging them to turn “unto the living God” (Acts 14:15). Jupiter appears once more in Acts 19:35, where a city official in Ephesus speaks of the image that fell down from heaven. Both scenes show the apostles speaking into a world full of other gods.
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And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.
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.
And when the townclerk had appeased the people, he said, Ye men of Ephesus, what man is there that knoweth not how that the city of the Ephesians is a worshipper of the great goddess Diana, and of the image which fell down from Jupiter?
Matthew George Easton, 1897
The principal deity of the ancient Greeks and Romans. He was worshipped by them under various epithets. Barnabas was identified with this god by the Lycaonians (Acts 14:12), because he was of stately and commanding presence, as they supposed Jupiter to be. There was a temple dedicated to this god outside the gates of Lystra (14:13).
William Smith, 1884
(a father that helps), the Greek Zeus. The Olympian Zeus was the national god of the Hellenic race, as well as the supreme ruler of the heathen world, and as such formed the true opposite to Jehovah. Jupiter or Zeus is mentioned in two passages of the New Testament, on the occasion of St. Paul’s visit to Lystra, (Acts 14:12,13) where the expression "Jupiter, which was before their city," means that his temple was outside the city. Also in (Acts 19:35)