Acts 17:33
in Acts 17At that, Paul left the Areopagus.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thus Paul went out from among them.
KJV
So Paul departed from among them.
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This verse in Acts 17
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
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.
This site's exposition
some began to mock him
on Acts 17:32-34
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.
This site's exposition
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.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers1 voice
"And so," it says, "Paul went forth." How? Having persuaded some; derided by others. "But certain men," it says, "clave unto him, and believed, among whom was also Dionysius the Areopagite and some others." He did convert both Dionysius the Areopagite, and some others. For those who were careful of right living, quickly received the word; but the others not so.
The Medieval Church1 voice
"So Paul departed from among them." How? Having persuaded some, but being mocked by others.
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
19 ), that is, to the borders of Illyricum where he now was; and we may suppose though he is said only to pass through these cities, yet that he staid so long in them as to publish the gospel there, and to prepare the way for the entrance of other ministers among them, whom he would afterwards send.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-citation-number+unbalanced-parens
So Paul departed from among them.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
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.
2 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked--As the Greek religion was but the glorification of the present life, by the worship of all its most beauteous forms, the Resurrection, which presupposes the vanity of the present life, and is nothing but life out of the death of all that sin has blighted, could have no charm for the true Greek.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
So Paul departed from among them - He could not be convicted of having done any thing contrary to the law; and, when the assembly broke up, he was permitted to go about his own business.
The words behind it
7 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| οὕτως | houtos | Thus | G3779 → | 208 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| Παῦλος | paulos | Paul | G3972 → | 158 times |
| ἐξῆλθεν | exelthen | went out | G1831 → | 216 times |
| ἐκ | ek | from | G1537 → | 911 times |
| μέσου | mesou | [the] midst | G3319 → | 56 times |
| αὐτῶν.¶ | auton | of them. | G846 → | 5565 times |
οὕτωςThus
houtosG3779 →208 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
ΠαῦλοςPaul
paulosG3972 →158 times
ἐξῆλθενwent out
exelthenG1831 →216 times
ἐκfrom
ekG1537 →911 times
μέσου[the] midst
mesouG3319 →56 times
αὐτῶν.¶of them.
autonG846 →5565 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies9
On this verse
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); Albert Barnes, Notes on Acts; Alexander Maclaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture, Acts; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 39; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts and W. M. Ramsay, St. Paul the Traveller and the Roman Citizen.