Who did the pagans at Lystra think Paul and Barnabas were?
The pagans at Lystra thought Paul and Barnabas were pagan gods who had come down in human form. They identified Barnabas as Jupiter, assuming he was Jupiter’s offspring, and Paul as Mercurius, because Paul was the most important of the two and the chief speaker.
Les explains that the pagans at Lystra thought one of their pagan gods had come down, and that is what they thought Paul and Barnabas were. In verse 12 they called Barnabas Jupiter because they thought he must be an offspring of Jupiter. They called Paul Mercurius because Paul was the chief speaker. Les clarifies that “chief speaker” did not mean Paul was the worst, vile, or using awful language; it meant he was the most important of the two and the chief speaker rather than Barnabas being.
And when the people saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voices, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men.