King James Bible Dictionary

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).

the father that helpeth

A Greek and Roman deity.
Acts 14:12-13; Acts 19:35

(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)

JU'PITER, noun [Latin the air or heavens; Jovis pater.]

1. The supreme deity among the Greeks and Romans.

2. One of the superior planets, remarkable for its brightness. Its diameter is about eighty-nine thousand miles; its distance from the sun, four hundred and ninety millions of miles, and its revolution round the sun a little less than twelve years.