Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 14:14

"But when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of it, they rent their garments, and sprang forth among the multitude, crying out" — Acts 14:14 (ASV)

When the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of this.—They were, we may believe, in the house, within the courtyard, and therefore did not see the sacrificial procession; but they heard the noise of the multitude, perhaps also of some sacrificial hymn, and asked what it meant.

They rent their clothes.—The act is obviously recorded as that of men who are startled and surprised, and is altogether incompatible with the theory that they knew they had been taken for deities and were expecting such honours. On the act of rending the clothes, see the note on Matthew 26:65. It was the extremest expression of horror, hardly ever used except in condemnation of spoken or acted blasphemy. How far it would be fully understood by the pagan population of Lystra may be a question, but its very strangeness would startle and arrest them.