Acts 17:25
in Acts 17Nor is He served by human hands, as if He needed anything, because He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
KJV
Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
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This verse in Acts 17
Commentary
11 notes on this verse"He does not require… He Himself giving to all life and breath and all things." Two proofs of Divinity, namely: that God needs nothing and grants all things to all. But here Paul also shows that God is not a father, but the Creator of …
This site's exposition
worshipped with men's hands
Neither is he worshipped with men's hands as though he needed anything, since he is the giver of life and breath and everything else, the created dependent on the creator rather than the reverse. Athenian religion ran on the assumption that the gods needed feeding, housing, and appeasing through ritual service, and Paul overturns the whole transaction in a single clause. The logic is the same Paul will later give the Gentiles in Romans, that the creature owes the creator worship rather than the creator owing the creature anything in return. The bench notes how the verse answers, quietly and without argument for argument's own sake, the entire economy of pagan temple sacrifice.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers4 voices
"Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed anything" - do you observe how, little by little, he brings in the philosophy? how he ridicules the heathen error? "seeing it is He that giveth to all life, and breath, and all things."
"Neither is worshipped by men's hands." How then was He worshipped by men's hands among the Jews? Not by hands, but by the understanding. "As though He needed anything:" since even those acts of worship He did not in this sort seek, "as having need. Shall I eat," saith He, "the flesh of bulls, or drink the blood of goats?" Neither is this enough - the having need of naught - which he has affirmed: for though this is Divine, yet a further attribute must be added. "Seeing it is He that giveth unto all, life and breath and all things." Two proofs of Godhead: Himself to have need of naught, and to supply all things to all men. Produce here Plato and all that he has philosophized about God, all that Epicurus has: and all is but trifling to this! "Giveth," he says, "life and breath." Lo, he makes Him the Creator of the soul also, not its begetter. See again how he overthrows the doctrine about matter.
Paul, in the Acts of the Apostles, is recorded to have said to the Areopagites, "I perceive that ye are more than ordinarily religious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with the inscription, To The Unknown God. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you.
For fear that they should think that God proclaimed by him was one of the common gods, he adds in correction: "He does not dwell in hand-made temples." For indeed he dwells in temples, but not in these, rather in the human soul. For he …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
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.
4 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Neither is worshipped with men's hands,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
This is the culminating point of a pure Theism. 26, 27. and hath made of one blood all nations of men to dwell on all the face of the earth--Holding with the Old Testament teaching, that in the blood is the life (Ge 9:4;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Neither is worshiped with men’s hands - This is an indirect stroke against making of images, and offering of sacrifices: he is not worshipped with human hands, as if he needed any thing, or required to be represented under a particular form or attitude; nor has he required victims for his support; for it is impossible that he should need any thing who himself gives being, form, and life, to all creatures. Giveth - life, and breath, and all things - These words are elegantly introduced by St. Paul: God gives life, because he is the fountain of it: he gives breath, the faculty of breathing or respiration, by which this life is preserved; and though breathing or respiration, be the act of the animal, yet the πνοην, the faculty of breathing, and extracting from the atmosphere what serves as a pabulum of life, is given by the influence of God, and the continued power thus to respire, and extract that pure oxygen gas which is so evident a support of animal life, is as much the continued gift of God as life itself is. But, as much more is necessary to keep the animal machine in a state of repair, God gives the τα παντα, all the other things which are requisite for this great and important purpose, that the end for which life was given may be fully answered. St. Paul also teaches that Divine worship is not enacted and established for God, but for the use of his creatures: he needs nothing that man can give him; for man has nothing but what he has received from the hand of his Maker.
The words behind it
16 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οὐδὲ | oude | nor | G3761 → | 141 times |
| ὑπὸ | hupo | by | G5259 → | 219 times |
| χειρῶν | cheiron | hands | G5495 → | 175 times |
| ἀνθρωπίνων | anthropinon | human | G442 → | |
| θεραπεύεται | therapeuetai | is He served | G2323 → | 43 times |
| προσδεόμενός | prosdeomenos | as needing | G4326 → | |
| τινος, | tinos | anything, | G5100 → | 528 times |
| αὐτὸς | autos | Himself | G846 → | 5565 times |
| διδοὺς | didous | giving | G1325 → | 412 times |
| πᾶσιν | pasin | to all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| ζωὴν | zoen | life | G2222 → | 135 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πνοὴν | pnoen | breath | G4157 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| τὰ | ta | the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| πάντα· | panta | all; | G3956 → | 1235 times |
οὐδὲnor
oudeG3761 →141 times
ὑπὸby
hupoG5259 →219 times
χειρῶνhands
cheironG5495 →175 times
ἀνθρωπίνωνhuman
anthropinonG442 →
θεραπεύεταιis He served
therapeuetaiG2323 →43 times
προσδεόμενόςas needing
prosdeomenosG4326 →
τινος,anything,
tinosG5100 →528 times
αὐτὸςHimself
autosG846 →5565 times
διδοὺςgiving
didousG1325 →412 times
πᾶσινto all
pasinG3956 →1235 times
ζωὴνlife
zoenG2222 →135 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πνοὴνbreath
pnoenG4157 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
τὰthe
taG3588 →19766 times
πάντα·all;
pantaG3956 →1235 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Genesis 2:7Then the LORD God formed man from the dust of the ground and breathed the breath of life into his nostrils, and the man became a living being.
it leads to
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Ecclesiastes 12:7
before the dust returns to the ground from which it came and the spirit returns to God who gave it.
- Job 33:4
The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- Isaiah 64:8
But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.
- 1 Corinthians 15:45
Through
Isaiah 42:5This is what God the LORD says—He who created the heavens and stretched them out, who spread out the earth and its offspring, who gives breath to the people on it and life to…
it leads to
- Isaiah 40:22
He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth; its dwellers are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
- Isaiah 45:12
It is I who made the earth and created man upon it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I ordained all their host.
- Jeremiah 10:12
The LORD made the earth by His power; He established the world by His wisdom and stretched out the heavens by His understanding.
- Zechariah 12:1
This is the burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. Thus declares the LORD, who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth, who forms the spirit of man…
- Isaiah 40:22
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
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About Acts
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 1; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 38; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.