Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes, because he was the chief speaker.
This cripple, lame from birth and never able to walk, represents our spiritual impotency until God's grace strengthens us. He heard Paul preach and believed the apostles had divine power to heal him; that faith Paul perceived and acted upon, working a cure that testified to the gospel's power among the Gentiles.
AI summary
Commenting on Acts 14:8-18
And they called Barnabas Jupiter,.... The supreme God; it may be because that Barnabas was the oldest man, of the tallest stature, and largest bulk, and made the best figure; whereas Paul was younger, of a low stature, and mean appearance: and Paul Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker; Mercury was the god of eloquence, and the messenger of the gods, and the interpreter...
Verse 12. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter. Jupiter was represented as the most powerful of all the gods of the ancients. He was represented as the son of Saturn and Ops, and was educated in a cave on Mount Ida, in the island of Crete. The worship of Jupiter was almost universal. He was the Ammon of Africa, the Belus of Babylon, the Osiris of Egypt.