Actschapter 17
34 verses · Luke · about AD 62 · Acts
Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.
Introduction
Luke, Acts, Acts Overview.
Luke tells this chapter in the third person, as the account of one man moving quickly between three cities. He wrote for readers who met both Jewish and Greek objections to the faith. The first two cities are synagogue towns, and the third is the old capital of Greek learning. Listen for how Paul's approach changes with his hearers and for what stays the same. Listen also for the charges brought against the believers and who brings them. The speech at Athens is the longest address to pagans in the book. Read it as a pattern for speaking to people who do not know the Scriptures.
Context
- Who
- Theophilus and Gentile readers, watching the gospel argued in the intellectual capital of the Greek world.
- What
- Paul's preaching and the opposition it met at Thessalonica and Berea, and his address to the council of the Areopagus at Athens.
- Where
- Thessalonica and Berea in Macedonia, then Athens in the province of Achaia, in its synagogue, its marketplace and before the Areopagus.
- When
- About AD 50 on the usual reckoning, in the second mission, before Paul's long stay at Corinth in chapter 18.
- Why
- To show the gospel argued from the Scriptures to Jews and from creation to Greeks, and to answer the charge that the believers defied Caesar.
Historical context
Thessalonica was a free city with its own assembly, and Luke calls its officials "politarchs", an unusual title once thought to be a mistake until inscriptions from the city turned up using exactly that word. The charge against the missionaries there is political: they say there is another king, Jesus. Under Roman rule that was a dangerous sentence.
Show the rest of the historical context, 3 more paragraphs
The bond taken from Jason was a security deposit, forfeited if there was further trouble. That is probably why Paul could not return to the city.
Athens by this time was a university town living off its past, no longer a power but still the place people went to argue. Its marketplace was crowded with statues, and ancient writers describe altars there dedicated to unnamed gods, set up to cover any deity a city might have offended by accident.
The Areopagus was both a rocky hill and the venerable council named after it, which had oversight of religion and public teaching in the city. Paul is not on trial so much as examined: a man proposing new gods was expected to explain himself. He quotes Greek poets rather than Scripture, because his hearers had none.
Significance
The Bereans gave the first readers a standard: they welcomed the message eagerly and checked it against the Scriptures daily. Enthusiasm and examination were not treated as opposites.
Show the rest of the significance, 1 more paragraph
Athens showed the gospel meeting philosophy on its own ground. Paul grants what the Stoics and Epicureans got right, then breaks with both at the point they could not accept: a fixed day of judgment, and a man raised from the dead. Some sneered, some delayed, and a few believed, an honest ratio Luke saw no need to hide.
The heads below are this chapter's scenes. The numbered points under each are its verses.
Thessalonica: These That Turned the World Upside Down
Acts 17:1-4
where there was a Jewish synagogue: At Thessalonica Paul went into the synagogue, as was his custom, the method he will use again at Berea and Corinth. On three Sabbaths he reasoned from the Scriptures that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead.
Acts 17:1
“Amphipolis - This was the capital of the eastern province of Macedonia. It was originally a colony of the Athenians, but under the Romans it was made the capital of that part of Macedonia. It was near to Thrace, and was situated not far from the mouth of the river Strymon, which flowed around the city, and thus occasioned its name, around the city.”
1 more voice on this verseWhat preachers and commentators have said about this verse, in their own words.
Acts 17:1
“And whereas being beaten at Philippos, [Philippi,] and scarce escaping out of great danger, he preached Christ at Thessalonica, it appeareth thereby how courageous he was to keep the course of his calling, and how bold he was ever now and then to enter into new dangers.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them: Ramsay takes the three Sabbaths as the synagogue phase of a longer stay. Philippians 4:16 says the church at Philippi sent him aid in Thessalonica more than once. 1 Thessalonians 2:9 has him working night and day there.
Acts 17:2
“As his manner was - He constantly offered salvation first to the Jews; and for this purpose attended their Sabbath-days’ meetings at their synagogues.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:2
“Luke setteth down first what was the sum of the disputation; to wit, that Jesus, the son of Mary, is Christ, who was promised in times past in the law and the prophets, who, by the sacrifice of his death, did make satisfaction for the sins of the world, and brought righteousness and life by his resurrection; secondly, how he proved that which he taught.”
John Calvin · Commentaries (1554)reformed
the Christ had to suffer and rise: The verb for explaining means to open, and Luke used it of the risen Jesus opening the Scriptures at Luke 24:32 and 24:45. Paul argues from the Scriptures the same necessity Jesus taught at Luke 24:26. Then he names Jesus as the Christ.
Acts 17:3
“Opening - διανοίγων dianoigōn. See Luk 24:32. The word means to explain or to unfold. It is usually applied to what is shut, as the eye, etc. Then it means to explain what is concealed or obscure. It means here that he explained the Scriptures in their true sense. And alleging - παρατιθέμενος paratithemenos. Laying down the proposition; that is, maintaining that it must be so. That Christ must needs have suffered - That there was a fitness and necessity in his dying, as Jesus of Nazareth had done.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:3
“The cross of Christ was to the Jews a stumbling-block, because it did by no means agree with the idea they had framed of the Messiah; but Paul here alleges and makes it out undeniably, not only that it was possible he might be the Messiah, though he suffered, but that, being the Messiah, it was necessary he should suffer.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 17:3
“Opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered, &c.--His preaching, it seems, was chiefly expository, and designed to establish from the Old Testament Scriptures (1) that the predicted Messiah was to be a suffering and dying, and therefore a rising, Messiah; (2) that this Messiah was none other than Jesus of Nazareth.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
quite a few leading women: Women of rank held an unusual public standing in Macedonia, and inscriptions there honour them by name, as J. B. Lightfoot and Ramsay both noted. First Thessalonians 1:9 adds that many converts turned to God from idols. The church was largely Greek.
Acts 17:4
"Of the Greeks that worshipped God a great multitude." By Greeks he means Jews who spoke Greek, or else he means proselytes numbered among the Jews, from among the Greeks. He calls them worshippers of God because they observed the Law.
Theophylact of Ohrid · written before 1107 · Commentary on Actspatristic
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:4
“These were hoi sebomenoi Hellenes -- the worshipping Gentiles; as in America they call those of the natives that are converted to the faith of Christ the praying Indians. These were admitted to join with the Jews in their synagogue-worship.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 17:4
“The devout Greeks - That is, Gentiles who were proselytes to the Jewish religion, so far as to renounce idolatry, and live a moral life, but probably had not received circumcision.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 17:5-9
The Jews, however, became jealous: The Jews dragged Jason before the city officials and turned the message into sedition against Caesar, saying that there is another king. Luke calls these officials politarchs, the title found on an inscription from the Vardar Gate at Thessalonica.
Acts 17:5
“Now see what that division was which Christ came to send upon earth; some of the Jews believed the gospel and pitied and prayed for those that did not; while those that did not envied and hated those that did. St. Paul in his epistle to this church takes notice of the rage and enmity of the Jews against the preachers of the gospel, as their measure-filling sin.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
turned the world upside down: The verb for turned upside down means to stir up sedition, and the commander uses it at 21:38 of the Egyptian who led a revolt. The world here is the whole inhabited world under Caesar. The mob charged Paul and Silas with unrest across it.
Acts 17:6
“And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers--literally, "the politarchs"; the very name given to the magistrates of Thessalonica in an inscription on a still remaining arch of the city--so minute is the accuracy of this history. crying, These that have turned the world upside down--(See on Ac 16:20).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:6
“And when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers to the rulers of the city. It is written in Greek: And some other brothers; whence it is understood that Jason was also a brother, that is, faithful to Christ.”
Bede · written before 735 · Retractions on Actspatristic
saying that there is another king: Paul's letters to this church speak of God's kingdom at 1 Thessalonians 2:12 and of the Lord's coming in every chapter. The accusers turned that hope into rebellion against Caesar, the same charge brought against Jesus at Luke 23:2.
Acts 17:7
“Whom Jason hath received - Has received into his house, and entertained kindly. These all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar - The charge against them was that of sedition and rebellion against the Roman emperor. Grotius on this verse remarks that the Roman people, and after them the emperors, would not permit the name of king to be mentioned in any of the vanquished provinces except by their permission. Saying that there is another king - This was probably a charge of mere malignity.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:7
“But Christ's kingdom was not of this world. His followers said indeed, Jesus is a king, but not an earthly king, not a rival with Cæsar, nor his ordinances interfering with the decrees of Cæsar, but who had made it a law of his kingdom to render unto Cæsar the things that are Cæsar's.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
the crowd and city officials were greatly disturbed: Thessalonica was a free city under Rome, governing itself through its own officials. A charge of treason against Caesar could cost the city that freedom. The officials had reason to be disturbed.
Acts 17:8
“And they troubled the people, and the rulers of the city,.... Fearing some revolution would be made, and some new king, or rather tyrant, would start up, and usurp a power over them; or that they should come under some suspicion or charge with the Roman government, and should be called to an account, for admitting such men and tenets among them; with such fears were they possessed, when they heard these things; alleged against the apostle and his company.”
collected bond from Jason and the others: Jews often took Jason as a Greek name for Joshua, as the high priest Jesus did in Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.1. The bond made Jason and the others answerable for any further disturbance. He paid for his hospitality.
Acts 17:9
“And when they had taken security of Jason - This is an expression taken from courts, and means that Jason and the other gave satisfaction to the magistrates for the good conduct of Paul and Silas, or became responsible for it. Whether it was by depositing a sum of money, and by thus giving bail, is not quite clear. The sense is, that they did it in accordance with the Roman usages, and gave sufficient security for the good conduct of Paul and Silas. Heuman supposes that the pledge given was that they should leave the city.”
The Bereans Search the Scriptures Daily
Acts 17:10-12
Paul and Silas away to Berea: Luke calls the Bereans more noble-minded than the Thessalonians because they received the message eagerly and examined the Scriptures every day. Many believed, Jews with prominent Greek women and men, the same mix the mission gathered in each city.
Acts 17:10
“Thus out of the eater came forth meat, and the devil was outshot in his own bow; he thought by persecuting the apostles to stop the progress of the gospel, but it was so overruled as to be made to further it. The care that the brethren took of Paul and Silas, when they perceived how the plot was laid against them: They immediately sent them away by night, incognito, to Berea.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
examined the Scriptures every day: The verb for examined is a court word for judicial inquiry. Luke uses it of Pilate at Luke 23:14 and of the council questioning Peter and John at 4:9. The Bereans put the message on trial before the Scriptures.
Acts 17:11
“Mark the "nobility" ascribed to this state of mind. searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so--whether the Christian interpretation which the apostle put upon the Old Testament Scriptures was the true one.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
3 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:11
“These were more ingenuous - Or generous. To be teachable in the things of God is true generosity of soul. The receiving the word with all readiness of mind, and the most accurate search into the truth, are well consistent.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 17:11
“These were more noble - εὐγενέστεροι eugenesteroi. This literally means more noble by birth; descended from more illustrious ancestors. But here the word is used to denote a quality of mind and heart. They were more generous, liberal, and noble in their feelings; more disposed to inquire candidly into the truth of the doctrines advanced by Paul and Silas. It is always proof of a noble, liberal, and ingenuous disposition to be willing to examine into the truth of any doctrine presented. The writer refers here particularly to the Jews. In that - Because.”
Acts 17:11
“Observe, [1.] The doctrine of Christ does not fear a scrutiny. We that are advocates for his cause desire no more than that people will not say, These things are not so, till they have first, without prejudice and partiality, examined whether they be so or no. [2.] The New Testament is to be examined by the Old.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Cross references
Acts 17:11
- Quoted inActs 17:11“Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.”
anakrinontes tas graphas ('searching the scriptures daily, whether those things were so'), the Berean meta-frame: the site's own charter for how a reader should TEST a proposed citation
prominent Greek women and men: Luke names the women before the men here, as he names leading women at 17:4, which fits the standing of women in Macedonia. One of the Berean believers, Sopater son of Pyrrhus, travels with Paul at 20:4. The church sent its own man.
Acts 17:12
“Therefore many of them believed - From the manner in which they heard, received, and examined the word preached to them, it was not likely they could be deceived. And, as it was the truth that was proclaimed to them, it is no wonder that they apprehended, believed, and embraced it. Of honorable women which were Greeks - Probably mere heathens are meant; and these were some of the chief families in the place. Thus we find that the preaching of Paul at Berea was made the instrument of converting both Jews and Gentiles.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 17:13-15
to incite and agitate the crowds: The Jews from Thessalonica followed Paul to Berea to incite the crowds, carrying the opposition across the sixty miles between the cities. The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast and on to Athens, while Silas and Timothy remained in Berea.
Acts 17:13
“But when the Jews of Thessalonica,.... The unbelieving Jews there, had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea; which they came at, either by persons that came from thence to Thessalonica, or by letters sent them: they came thither also; as the Jews from Antioch and Iconium came to Lystra on a like account, Act 14:19 and stirred up the people; the common people, the natives of the place, against the apostles; suggesting that they were wicked men, and enemies to all laws, human or divine, civil or religious.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:13
“Stirred up the people - The word used here σαλεύειν saleuein denotes properly “to agitate” or “excite,” as the waves of the sea are agitated by the wind. It is with great beauty used to denote the “agitation and excitement of a popular tumult,” from its resemblance to the troubled waves of the ocean. The figure is often employed by the Classic writers, and also occurs in the Scriptures. See Psa 65:7; Isa 17:12-13; Jer 46:7-8.”
sent Paul to the coast: The received Greek text adds a small word, as if toward the sea. Some older readers took the move as a feint to mislead the pursuers from Thessalonica. The older manuscripts send Paul to the sea itself.
Acts 17:14
“Accordingly, it was only on arriving at Athens, that the convoy of Berean brethren, who had gone thus far with him, were sent back to bid Silas and Timothy follow him thither. Silas and Timotheus abode there still--"to build it up in its holy faith, to be a comfort and support in its trials and persecutions, and to give it such organization as might be necessary" [HOWSON].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:14
“To go as it were to the sea - This passage is generally understood to mean that the disciples took Paul towards the sea, as if he had intended to embark, and return to Troas, but with the real design to go to Athens. But it is more likely that his conductors, in order to his greater safety, left the public or more frequented road, and took him coastwise to Athens.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
brought him to Athens: First Thessalonians 3:1 to 2 shows Timothy reaching Athens and being sent back to Thessalonica. Silas and Timothy rejoin Paul only at Corinth, at 18:5. Luke compresses the movements.
Acts 17:15
“And they that conducted Paul,.... From Berea to the sea side: brought him unto Athens; a famous city in Attica, where both (q) Pliny and Ptolomy (r) place it, well known for the learning and wisdom of the ancient philosophers, who had their schools and universities in it; the former of these calls it a free city, and says, it needed no description nor commendation, its fame was so diffused everywhere.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:15
“Unto Athens - This was the first visit of Paul to this celebrated city; and perhaps the first visit of a Christian minister. His success in this city, for some cause, was not great, but his preaching was attended with the conversion of some individuals. See Act 17:34. Athens was the most celebrated city of Greece, and was distinguished for the military talents, the learning, the eloquence, and the politeness of its inhabitants. It was founded by Cecrops and an Egyptian colony about 1556 years before the Christian era.”
Acts 17:15
“It was a great university, much resorted to from all parts, and therefore, for the better diffusing of gospel light, Paul is sent thither, and is not ashamed nor afraid to show his face among the philosophers there, and there to preach Christ crucified, though he knew it would be as much foolishness to the Greeks as it was to the Jews a stumbling-block.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Athens: A City Wholly Given to Idols
deeply disturbed in his spirit: Luke uses the verb for deeply disturbed elsewhere of a sharp provoking that leads to action. Ancient writers counted more images of the gods at Athens than in the rest of Greece combined. The sight gave the motive for the speech that follows.
Acts 17:16
“While Paul was waiting for the - Having no design, as it seems, to preach at Athens, but his zeal for God drew him into it unawares, without staying till his companions came.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:16
“He saw the city wholly given to idolatry - Κατειδωλον, Full of idols, as the margin has it, and very properly. Whoever examines the remains of this city, as represented by Mr. Stuart in his Antiquities, already referred to, will be satisfied of the truth of St. Luke’s remark: it was full of idols. Bishop Pearce produces a most apposite quotation from Pausanias, which confirms the observation: Ουκ ην αλλαχου τοσαυτα ιδειν ειδωλα. There was no place where so many idols were to be seen. Paus. in Attic. cap. xvii.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
Acts 17:16
“And this city, after the empire became Christian, continued incurably addicted to idolatry, and all the pious edicts of the Christian emperors could not root it out, till, by the irruption of the Goths, that city was in so particular a manner laid waste that there are now scarcely any remains of it.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 17:17-18
he reasoned in the synagogue: In the marketplace Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated Paul, the one school teaching pleasure and chance, the other duty and fate. Their word for babbler means a seed picker, a collector of scraps of borrowed ideas.
Acts 17:17
“Therefore disputed he - Or reasoned. He engaged in an argument with them. With the devout persons - Those worshipping God after the manner of the Jews. They were Jewish proselytes, who had renounced idolatry, but who had not been fully admitted to the privileges of the Jews. See the notes on Act 10:2. And in the market - In the forum. It was not only the place where provisions were sold, but was also a place of great public concourse. In this place the philosophers were not infrequently found engaged in public discussion.”
Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers: The Stoics took their name from the Painted Porch in the very marketplace where Paul debated, and the Epicureans from their founder Epicurus. Strabo names Tarsus, Paul's home city, as a seat of Stoic philosophers. Paul knew these hearers.
Acts 17:18
“Certain philosophers of the Epicureans - These were the followers of Epicurus, who acknowledged no gods except in name, and absolutely denied that they exercised any government over the world or its inhabitants; and that the chief good consisted in the gratification of the appetites of sense. These points the Epicureans certainly held; but it is not clear that Epicurus himself maintained such doctrines. And of the Stoics - These did not deny the existence of the gods; but they held that all human affairs were governed by fate.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
4 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:18
“He seemeth to be a proclaimer - This he returns upon them at the 23rd verse; of strange gods - Such as are not known even at Athens. Because he preached to them Jesus and the resurrection - A God and a goddess. And as stupid as this mistake was, it is the less to be wondered at, since the Athenians might as well count the resurrection a deity, as shame, famine, and many others.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 17:18
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ;" branding not all philosophy, but the Epicurean, which Paul mentions in the Acts of the Apostles, which abolishes providence and deifies pleasure, and whatever other philosophy honours the elements, but places not over them the efficient cause, nor apprehends the Creator.
Clement of Alexandria · written before 215 · The Stromata Book 1patristic
Acts 17:18
“Ton Iesoun kai ten anastasin, "Jesus they took for a new god, and anastasis, the resurrection, for a new goddess." Thus they lost the benefit of the Christian doctrine by dressing it up in a pagan dialect, as if believing in Jesus, and looking for the resurrection, were the worshipping of new demons.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
Acts 17:18
“While therefore the Stoical was in itself superior to the Epicurean system, both were alike hostile to the Gospel. "The two enemies it has ever had to contend with are the two ruling principles of the Epicureans and Stoics--Pleasure and Pride" [HOWSON].”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Acts 17:19-21
brought him to the Areopagus: They brought Paul to the Areopagus, the ancient council that then oversaw religion and teaching in the city. The text leaves open whether their question was courteous inquiry or formal examination. Luke adds that the Athenians spent their time hearing and articulating new ideas.
Acts 17:19
“And brought him unto Areopagus - Margin, or “Mars’ hill.” This was the place or court in which the Areopagites, the celebrated supreme judges of Athens, assembled. It was on a hill almost in the middle of the city; but nothing now remains by which we can determine the form or construction of the tribunal. The hill is almost entirely a mass of stone, and is not easily accessible, its sides being steep and abrupt. On many accounts this was the most celebrated tribunal in the world.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:19
“The Areopagus, or hill of Mars, (dedicated to Mars, the heathen God of war,) was the place where the Athenians held their supreme court of judicature. But it does not appear he was carried thither as a criminal. The original number of its Judges was twelve; but afterward it increased to three hundred.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
some strange notions to our ears: The charge echoes the one brought against Socrates in the same city, of bringing in strange new gods, which Xenophon records at Memorabilia 1.1.1. Athens had tried a teacher for this before. Luke's readers would hear the echo.
Acts 17:20
“Thou bringest - strange things to our ears - The doctrine of the apostles was different from any they had ever heard: it was wholly spiritual and divine; thus it was strange: it was contrary to their customs and manners; and thus it was strange also. As it spoke much of the exaltation and glory of Jesus Christ, they supposed him to be a setter forth of strange gods: and, therefore, on the authority of the laws, which forbade the introduction of any new deities, or modes of worship, he was called before the Areopagus.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
hearing and articulating new ideas: Demosthenes rebuked the Athenians for going about the marketplace asking whether there was any news, in his First Philippic 10. Thucydides has Cleon mock the Athenians for their love of new arguments at 3.38. Luke gives the Athenians and foreigners the same reputation.
Acts 17:21
“For all the Athenians - This was their general character. And strangers which were there - Athens was greatly distinguished for the celebrity of its schools of philosophy. It was at that time at the head of the literary world. Its arts and its learning were celebrated in all lands. It is known, therefore, that it was the favorite resort of people of other nations, who came there to become acquainted with its institutions and to listen to its sages.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:21
“And the strangers sojourning there - And catching the distemper of them. Some new thing - The Greek word signifies some newer thing. New things quickly grew cheap, and they wanted those that were newer still.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
On Mars' Hill: The Unknown God Declared
Acts 17:22-23
you are very religious: Paul opened at the Areopagus with a compliment, the Greek word meaning very devoted to religion. He had found an altar inscribed to an unknown god. He took that gap as his opening and proclaimed the one they worship as something unknown.
Acts 17:22
“Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill - That is, in the midst of the judges, who sat in the Areopagus. Ye are too superstitious - Κατα παντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεϚερους ὑμας θεωρω; I perceive that in all respects ye are greatly addicted to religious practices; and, as a religious people, you will candidly hear what I have got to say in behalf of that worship which I practice and recommend. See farther observations at the end of the chapter.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:22
“The court of justice which sat here was famous for its equity, which drew appeals to it from all parts; if any denied a God, he was liable to the censure of this court. Diagoras was by them put to death, as a contemner of the gods; nor might any new God be admitted without their approbation.”
Matthew Henry · Commentary on the Whole Bible (1707-1721)puritan
TO AN UNKNOWN GOD: Pausanias saw altars to unknown gods at Athens, in his Description of Greece 1.1.4. Diogenes Laertius tells of nameless altars set up there by Epimenides against a plague.
Acts 17:23
“Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship--rather, "Whom, therefore, knowing Him not, ye worship," alluding to "The Unknown God." him declare--announce. I unto you--This is like none of his previous discourses, save that to the idolaters of Lycaonia (Ac 14:15-17).”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:23
“I found an altar - Some suppose this was set up by Socrates, to express in a covert way his devotion to the only true God, while he derided the plurality of the heathen gods, for which he was condemned to death: and others, that whoever erected this altar, did it in honour to the God of Israel, of whom there was no image, and whose name Jehovah was never made known to the idolatrous Gentiles.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 17:23
“For as I passed by - Greek: “For I, coming through, and seeing, etc.” And beheld - Diligently contemplated; attentively considered ἀναθεωρῶν anatheōrōn. The worship of an idolatrous people will be an object of intense and painful interest to a Christian. Your devotions - τὰ σεβάσματα ta sebasmata.”
temples made by human hands: Paul said the God who made the world does not live in temples made by human hands. He spoke with the Parthenon in view on the Acropolis above, and Stephen said nearly the same at 7:48.
Acts 17:24
“God that made the world, etc. - Though the Epicureans held that the world was not made by God, but was the effect of a fortuitous concourse of atoms, yet this opinion was not popular; and the Stoics held the contrary: 1. St. Paul assumes, as an acknowledged truth, that there was a God who made the world and all things. 2. That this God could not be confined within temples made with hands, as he was the Lord or governor of heaven and earth.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:24
“God that made the world, and all things therein,.... In this account of the divine Being, as the Creator of the world, and all things in it, as the apostle agrees with Moses, and the rest of the sacred Scriptures; so he condemns both the notion of the Epicurean philosophers, who denied that the world was made by God, but said that it owed its being to a fortuitous concourse of atoms; and the notion of the Peripatetics, or Aristotelians, who asserted the eternity of the world; and some of both sects were doubtless present.”
served by human hands: God needs nothing from human hands, because He gives everyone life and breath and everything else. Athenian religion assumed the gods needed feeding, housing and appeasing through ritual service, and Paul reverses that exchange. He gives the same order in Romans, where the creature owes the creator worship.
Acts 17:25
“Neither is he served as though he needed any thing - or person - The Greek word equally takes in both. To all - That live and breathe;-in him we live; and breathe - In him we move. By breathing life is continued.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:25
“Neither is worshipped with men’s hands - The word here rendered “worshipped” (θεραπέυεται therapeuetai) denotes to “serve”; to wait upon; and then to render religious service or homage. There is reference here, undoubtedly, to a notion prevalent among the pagan, that the gods were fed or nourished by the offerings made to them. The idea is prevalent among the Hindus that the sacrifices which are made, and which are offered in the temples, are consumed by the gods themselves.”
From one man He made: From one man God made every nation, a sentence that sets aside the Greek contempt for barbarians. Ramsay describes the ranking of the era, Greek over barbarian and free over slave, against which the line stood.
Acts 17:26
“And hath made of one blood,.... That is, of one man's blood; the Vulgate Latin version reads, "of one"; and the Arabic version of De Dieu reads, "of one man"; of Adam, the first parent of all mankind, and who had the blood of all men in his veins: hence the Jews (u) say, "the first man was דמו של עולם, "the blood of the world";'' and this by propagation has been derived from him, and communicated to all mankind.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:26
“Hath made of one blood - In AB, some others, with the Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala, Clement, and Bede, the word αἱματος, blood, is omitted. He hath made of one (meaning Adam) all nations of men; but αἱμα, blood, is often used by the best writers for race, stock, kindred: so Homer, Iliad, vi. ver. 211: Ταυτης τοι γενεης τε και αἱματος ευχομαι ειναι. I glory in being of that same race and blood. So Virgil, Aen. viii. ver. 142, says; Sic genus amborum scindit se Sanguine ab uno. Thus, from one stock, do both our stems divide.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
reach out for Him: The verb for reach out pictures a blind man groping for a wall. God set the times and boundaries so that people would seek Him, and Paul adds that He is not far from each one of us.
Acts 17:27
"You are near, Lord, and all your commandments are truth." God says elsewhere, "I am a God who is near and not a God who is far away, says the Lord." For the power of God is everywhere according to the word of creation and providence. Knowing this, Paul, addressing the Greeks as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, says, "We do not seek God far from us, for in him we live and move and are," and "the Spirit of the Lord has filled the earth."
Origen of Alexandria · written before 253 · Palestinian Catena on Psalm 118.151patristic
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:27
“That they should seek the Lord - Greek: to seek the Lord. The design of thus placing them on the earth - of gang them their habitation among his works - was, that they should contemplate his wisdom in his works, and thus come to a knowledge of his existence and character. All nations, though living in different regions and climates, have thus the opportunity of becoming acquainted with God, Rom 1:19-20. The fact that the nations did not thus learn the character of the true God shows their great stupidity and wickedness.”
Acts 17:27
“If haply - The way is open; God is ready to be found. But he will lay no force upon man; they might feel after him - This is in the midst between seeking and finding.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
we live and move: Paul quotes two Greek poets and turns their lines from Zeus to the creator. Most commentators trace in Him we live and move to the Cretan poet Epimenides. That we are His offspring comes from the Stoic poet Aratus.
Acts 17:28
“For in him we live, and move, and have our being - He is the very source of our existence: the principle of life comes from him: the principle of motion, also, comes from him; one of the most difficult things in nature to be properly apprehended; and a strong proof of the continual presence and energy of the Deity. And have our being - Και εσμεν, And we are: we live in him, move in him, and are in him. Without him we not only can do nothing, but without him we are nothing.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:28
“As certain also of your own poets have said - Aratus, whose words these are, was an Athenian, who lived almost three hundred years before this time. They are likewise to be found, with the alteration of one letter only, in the hymn of Cleanthes to Jupiter or the supreme being, one of the purest and finest pieces of natural religion in the whole world of Pagan antiquity.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
the Divine Being is like gold: If people are God's offspring and bear His likeness, a carved likeness of God reverses the relation of maker and made. The images that filled Athens are the target of the sentence, which echoes the mockery of idols in Isaiah.
Acts 17:29
“Forasmuch then - Admitting or assuming this to be true. The argument which follows is drawn from the concessions of their own writers. We ought not to think - It is absurd to suppose. The argument of the apostle is this: “Since we are formed by God; since we are like him, living and intelligent beings; since we are more excellent in our nature than the most precious and ingenious works of art, it is absurd to suppose that the original source of our existence can be like gold, and silver, and stone.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:29
“We ought not to think - A tender expression especially in the first per son plural. As if he had said, Can God himself be a less noble being than we who are his offspring? Nor does he only here deny, that these are like God, but that they have any analogy to him at all, so as to be capable of representing him.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 17:30-31
God overlooked the ignorance: Paul's call to repent rests on one proof, that God raised from the dead the Man appointed to judge the world with justice. The resurrection first drew the philosophers in verse 18, and it closes his appeal.
Acts 17:30
“The times of this ignorance God winked at - He who has an indisputable right to demand the worship of all his creatures has mercifully overlooked those acts of idolatry which have disgraced the world and debased man; but now, as he has condescended to give a revelation of himself, he commands, as the sovereign, all men every where, over every part of his dominions, to repent, μετανοειν, to change their views, designs, and practices; because he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness; and, as justice will then be done, no sinner, no…”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:30
“But now - This day, this hour, saith Paul, puts an end to the Divine forbearance, and brings either greater mercy or punishment. Now he commandeth all men everywhere to repent - There is a dignity and grandeur in this expression, becoming an ambassador from the King of heaven.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
by the Man He has appointed: Judging the world with justice is the work the psalms of the LORD's reign give to God, at Psalms 9:8, 96:13 and 98:9. Paul gives that judgment to a Man, as Peter did at 10:42. The resurrection is the proof.
Acts 17:31
“Because he hath appointed a day - This is given as a reason why God commands people to repent. They must be judged; and if they are not penitent and pardoned, they must be condemned. See the notes on Rom 2:16. Judge the world - The whole world - Jews and Gentiles. In righteousness - According to the principles of strict justice. Whom he hath ordained - Or whom he has constituted or appointed as judge. See the Act 10:42 notes; Joh 5:25 notes. Hath given assurance - Has afforded evidence of this.”
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:31
“Whereof he hath given assurance to all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead - God raising Jesus demonstrated hereby, that he was to be the glorious Judge of all. We are by no means to imagine that this was all which the apostle intended to have said, but the indolence of some of his hearers and the petulancy of others cut him short.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Acts 17:31
"Wherefore, girding up your loins," "serve the Lord in fear" and truth, as those who have forsaken the vain, empty talk and error of the multitude, and "believed in Him who raised up our Lord Jesus Christ from the dead, and gave Him glory," and a throne at His right hand. To Him all things in heaven and on earth are subject. Him every spirit serves. He comes as the Judge of the living and the dead. His blood will God require of those who do not believe in Him.
Polycarp of Smyrna · written before 155 · Epistle to the Philippians 2patristic
Acts 17:32-34
some began to mock him: When they heard about the resurrection, some began to mock him, others asked to hear him again, and some joined him and believed. Luke names Dionysius the Areopagite, a member of the council itself, with a woman named Damaris. Some read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 against this scene.
Acts 17:32
“When they heard of the resurrection, etc. - Paul undoubtedly had not finished his discourse: it is likely that he was about to have proclaimed salvation through Christ crucified; but, on hearing of the resurrection of the body, the assembly instantly broke up; the Epicureans mocking, εχλευαζον, began to laugh; and the Stoics saying they would take another opportunity to hear him on that subject. And thus the assembly became dissolved before the apostle had time to finish his discourse, or to draw all the conclusions he had designed from the premises he had laid down.”
Adam Clarke · Commentary on the Bible (1810-1826)evangelical
2 more voices on this verse
Acts 17:32
“He declared it then to be of such a character as the Pharisees had admitted it, and such as the Lord had Himself maintained it, and such too as the Sadducees refused to believe it-such refusal leading them indeed to an absolute rejection of the whole verity. Nor had the Athenians previously understood Paul to announce any other resurrection.”
Tertullian · written before 220 · On the Resurrection of the Fleshpatristic
Acts 17:32
“Some mocked - Interrupting him thereby. They took offense at that which is the principal motive of faith, from the pride of reason. And having once stumbled at this, they rejected all the rest.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
Paul left the Areopagus: Luke records no verdict, and Paul walks out free. Ramsay reads the scene as a hearing before the council of the Areopagus, which let him go. Paul left Athens for Corinth soon after, at 18:1.
Acts 17:33
“So Paul departed - Seeing there was little hope of saving them. It was not his custom to labor long in a barren field, or to preach where there was no prospect of success.”
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:33
“So Paul departed--Whether he would have opened, to any extent, the Gospel scheme in this address, if he had not been interrupted, or whether he reserved this for exposition afterwards to earnest inquirers, we cannot tell. Only the speech is not to be judged of as quite complete.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
Dionysius the Areopagite: Eusebius cites Dionysius of Corinth for the report that Dionysius the Areopagite became the first overseer of the church at Athens, in Church History 4.23.3. The writings later published under his name date from about AD 500. Damaris is named nowhere else.
Acts 17:34
“Ancient tradition says he was placed by the apostle over the little flock at Athens. "Certainly the number of converts there and of men fit for office in the Church was not so great that there could be much choice" [OLSHAUSEN]. a woman named Damaris--not certainly one of the apostle's audience on the Areopagus, but won to the faith either before or after.”
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown · Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)reformed
1 more voice on this verse
Acts 17:34
“Among whom was even Dionysius the Areopagite - One of the Judges of that court: on whom some spurious writings have been fathered in later ages, by those who are fond of high sounding nonsense.”
John Wesley · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament (1755)evangelical
How this psalm is built
The form: Narrative with a speech, three city scenes of which the last carries a full address, as Alexander classes it.
The patterns in this chapter
| Device | What it does | Where to see it |
|---|---|---|
| Into the synagogue, as was his custom | Paul goes into the synagogue at Thessalonica at verse 2, at Berea at verse 10 and at Athens at verse 17, and at Athens he adds the marketplace. The site's exposition, citing Matthew Henry and W. M. Ramsay, reads the pattern as Paul's own settled practice.This site's published exposition of Acts 17:1 to 4, The exposition_notes row on Acts 17:1 to 4, citing Matthew Henry and W. M. Ramsay. | Acts 17:2, Acts 17:10, Acts 17:17 |
| The address at the Areopagus | Paul opens from their altar at verses 22 and 23, speaks of God as maker and giver at verses 24 and 25, of the one man and the nations at verses 26 to 28, of idols at verse 29, and closes on repentance, judgment and the resurrection at verses 30 and 31. John Calvin reads the order as beginning from what the hearers could know of God in creation.John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, 1552 to 1554, on Acts 17:22 to 31. | Acts 17:22, Acts 17:24, Acts 17:26, Acts 17:29, Acts 17:30 |
| Two lines of Greek poetry | Verse 28 quotes a line most commentators trace to Epimenides and a second from the Phaenomena of Aratus. The site's exposition, citing John Lightfoot and W. M. Ramsay, records both sources.This site's published exposition of Acts 17:28, The exposition_notes row on Acts 17:28, citing John Lightfoot and W. M. Ramsay. | Acts 17:28 |
| Three responses | At the close some mock, some ask to hear more, and some join Paul and believe, with Dionysius and Damaris named among them. The site's exposition, citing John Chrysostom and Alexander Maclaren, reads the three as the responses the gospel meets everywhere.This site's published exposition of Acts 17:32 to 34, The exposition_notes row on Acts 17:32 to 34, citing John Chrysostom and Alexander Maclaren. | Acts 17:32, Acts 17:34 |
The shape of the chapter
12 more paragraphs on the patterns
The chapter holds three city scenes. Verses 1 to 9 are at Thessalonica, where the synagogue weeks end in a riot and a bond. Verses 10 to 15 are at Berea, where the hearers examine the Scriptures until trouble arrives from Thessalonica.
Verses 16 to 34 are at Athens. Paul reasons in the synagogue and the marketplace, is brought to the Areopagus, gives the address of verses 22 to 31, and leaves with a few believers.
Where it stands in Acts
Chapter 16 left Paul and Silas released from Philippi, and 17:1 carries them along the road to Thessalonica. The chapter hands Paul on to Corinth at 18:1, where Silas and Timothy rejoin him at 18:5 after the separations of verses 14 and 15.
The Athens speech stands beside the synagogue sermon at Pisidian Antioch in chapter 13 and the address at Lystra in 14:15 to 17, which also begins from God as maker of heaven and earth.
The debated readings
The Areopagus. W. M. Ramsay reads the scene as a hearing before the council of the Areopagus, and J. A. Alexander leaves open whether the question of verse 19 is courteous inquiry or formal examination.
The sources of verse 28. The first line is traced by most commentators to Epimenides of Crete, and the second is from the Phaenomena of Aratus. John Lightfoot and W. M. Ramsay trace both.
The outcome at Athens. Some readers set 1 Corinthians 2:1 to 5 against the speech, as if Paul regretted it, and the site's exposition, citing John Chrysostom and Alexander Maclaren, reads the close as the same mixed harvest found in every city.
Where it reaches
The speech rests on the Old Testament without quoting it. The God who made the world and all in it answers Genesis 1 and Isaiah 42:5, and God's dwelling in no house made by hands answers 1 Kings 8:27 and the words of Stephen at 7:48. The judgment of the world with justice echoes Psalms 9:8, 96:13 and 98:9.
In the New Testament the chapter stands behind 1 and 2 Thessalonians, and 1 Thessalonians 1:9 describes the converts who turned to God from idols. Romans 1:19 to 23 makes the same case about idols that verse 29 makes at Athens.
Keep studying
Studies10
Places2
Words12
Subjects4
Sources for this chapter
The summary
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory; John Calvin, Commentaries; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the New Testament and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.
The form and classifications
J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained, 1857, on Acts 17 and John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles, 1552 to 1554, on Acts 17:22 to 24.
The exposition
Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Acts; Demosthenes, First Philippic 10; Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Philosophers 1.110; Eusebius, Church History 3.4.10 and 4.23.3; J. A. Alexander, The Acts of the Apostles Explained; J. B. Lightfoot, Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jamieson, Fausset and Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Titus; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Lightfoot, Horae Hebraicae et Talmudicae; Josephus, Antiquities 12.5.1; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Pausanias, Description of Greece 1.1.4; R. J. Knowling, The Acts of the Apostles, The Expositor's Greek Testament; Strabo, Geography 14.5.13 to 14; Thucydides, History of the Peloponnesian War 3.38; W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen; William Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen and Xenophon, Memorabilia 1.1.1.