Albert Barnes Commentary Acts 14:11

"And when the multitude saw what Paul had done, they lifted up their voice, saying in the speech of Lycaonia, The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men." — Acts 14:11 (ASV)

They lifted up their voices. They spoke with astonishment, such as might be expected when it was supposed that the gods had come down.

In the speech of Lycaonia. What this language was has much puzzled commentators. It was probably a mixture of the Greek and Syriac. In that region, Greek was usually spoken with more or less purity; and because it was not far from the regions of Syria, it is probable that the Greek language was corrupted with this foreign admixture.

The gods, etc. All the region was idolatrous. The gods worshipped there were those worshipped throughout Greece.

Are come down. The miracle Paul had performed led them to suppose this. It was evidently beyond human ability, and they had no other way of accounting for it than by supposing that their gods had personally appeared.

In the likeness of men. Many of their gods were heroes, whom they worshipped after they were dead. It was common among them to suppose that the gods appeared to men in human form.

The poems of Homer, Virgil, etc., are filled with accounts of such appearances; and they supposed that the only way the gods took knowledge of human affairs and aided men was by their personally appearing in this form. (See Homer's Odyssey, xvii.485; Catullus, 64.384; Ovid's Metamorphosis, i.212. Kuinoel).

Thus Homer says:
For in likeness of strangers often
The gods, who can with ease all shapes assume,
Repair to populous cities, where they mark
The outrageous and the righteous deeds of men.—COWPER

Among the Hindus, the opinion has been prevalent that there have been many incarnations of their gods.

(Note: For "lifted up," an alternative is "raised." For "gods," compare Acts 18:6.)