Acts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28
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Acts 17:1
Διοδεύσαντες δὲ τὴν Ἀμφίπολιν καὶ τὴν Ἀπολλωνίαν ἦλθον εἰς Θεσσαλονίκην, ὅπου ἦν συναγωγὴ τῶν Ἰουδαίων.
Paraphrase:
Comments:
Acts 17:2
κατὰ δὲ τὸ εἰωθὸς τῷ Παύλῳ εἰσῆλθεν πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ ἐπὶ σάββατα τρία διελέξατο αὐτοῖς ἀπὸ τῶν γραφῶν,
Acts 17:3
διανοίγων καὶ παρατιθέμενος ὅτι τὸν χριστὸν ἔδει παθεῖν καὶ ἀναστῆναι ἐκ νεκρῶν, καὶ ὅτι οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ χριστός, ὁ Ἰησοῦς ὃν ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν.
Acts 17:4
καί τινες ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπείσθησαν καὶ προσεκληρώθησαν τῷ Παύλῳ καὶ τῷ Σιλᾷ, τῶν τε σεβομένων Ἑλλήνων πλῆθος πολὺ γυναικῶν τε τῶν πρώτων οὐκ ὀλίγαι.
Acts 17:5
ζηλώσαντες δὲ οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι καὶ προσλαβόμενοι τῶν ἀγοραίων ἄνδρας τινὰς πονηροὺς καὶ ὀχλοποιήσαντες ἐθορύβουν τὴν πόλιν, καὶ ἐπιστάντες τῇ οἰκίᾳ Ἰάσονος ἐζήτουν αὐτοὺς προαγαγεῖν εἰς τὸν δῆμον·
Acts 17:6
μὴ εὑρόντες δὲ αὐτοὺς ἔσυρον Ἰάσονα καί τινας ἀδελφοὺς ἐπὶ τοὺς πολιτάρχας, βοῶντες ὅτι Οἱ τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀναστατώσαντες οὗτοι καὶ ἐνθάδε πάρεισιν,
Acts 17:7
οὓς ὑποδέδεκται Ἰάσων· καὶ οὗτοι πάντες ἀπέναντι τῶν δογμάτων Καίσαρος πράσσουσι, βασιλέα ἕτερον λέγοντες εἶναι Ἰησοῦν.
Acts 17:8
ἐτάραξαν δὲ τὸν ὄχλον καὶ τοὺς πολιτάρχας ἀκούοντας ταῦτα,
Acts 17:9
καὶ λαβόντες τὸ ἱκανὸν παρὰ τοῦ Ἰάσονος καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἀπέλυσαν αὐτούς.
Acts 17:10
Οἱ δὲ ἀδελφοὶ εὐθέως διὰ νυκτὸς ἐξέπεμψαν τόν τε Παῦλον καὶ τὸν Σιλᾶν εἰς Βέροιαν, οἵτινες παραγενόμενοι εἰς τὴν συναγωγὴν τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἀπῄεσαν·
Acts 17:11
οὗτοι δὲ ἦσαν εὐγενέστεροι τῶν ἐν Θεσσαλονίκῃ, οἵτινες ἐδέξαντο τὸν λόγον μετὰ πάσης προθυμίας, τὸ καθ’ ἡμέραν ἀνακρίνοντες τὰς γραφὰς εἰ ἔχοι ταῦτα οὕτως.
Acts 17:12
πολλοὶ μὲν οὖν ἐξ αὐτῶν ἐπίστευσαν, καὶ τῶν Ἑλληνίδων γυναικῶν τῶν εὐσχημόνων καὶ ἀνδρῶν οὐκ ὀλίγοι.
Acts 17:13
ὡς δὲ ἔγνωσαν οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Θεσσαλονίκης Ἰουδαῖοι ὅτι καὶ ἐν τῇ Βεροίᾳ κατηγγέλη ὑπὸ τοῦ Παύλου ὁ λόγος τοῦ θεοῦ, ἦλθον κἀκεῖ σαλεύοντες καὶ ταράσσοντες τοὺς ὄχλους.
Acts 17:14
εὐθέως δὲ τότε τὸν Παῦλον ἐξαπέστειλαν οἱ ἀδελφοὶ πορεύεσθαι ἕως ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν· ὑπέμεινάν τε ὅ τε Σιλᾶς καὶ ὁ Τιμόθεος ἐκεῖ.
Acts 17:15
οἱ δὲ καθιστάνοντες τὸν Παῦλον ἤγαγον ἕως Ἀθηνῶν, καὶ λαβόντες ἐντολὴν πρὸς τὸν Σιλᾶν καὶ τὸν Τιμόθεον ἵνα ὡς τάχιστα ἔλθωσιν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐξῄεσαν.
Acts 17:16
Ἐν δὲ ταῖς Ἀθήναις ἐκδεχομένου αὐτοὺς τοῦ Παύλου, παρωξύνετο τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ θεωροῦντος κατείδωλον οὖσαν τὴν πόλιν.
Acts 17:17
διελέγετο μὲν οὖν ἐν τῇ συναγωγῇ τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις καὶ τοῖς σεβομένοις καὶ ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ κατὰ πᾶσαν ἡμέραν πρὸς τοὺς παρατυγχάνοντας.
Acts 17:18
τινὲς δὲ καὶ τῶν Ἐπικουρείων καὶ Στοϊκῶν φιλοσόφων συνέβαλλον αὐτῷ, καί τινες ἔλεγον· Τί ἂν θέλοι ὁ σπερμολόγος οὗτος λέγειν; οἱ δέ· Ξένων δαιμονίων δοκεῖ καταγγελεὺς εἶναι· ὅτι τὸν Ἰησοῦν καὶ τὴν ἀνάστασιν εὐηγγελίζετο.
Acts 17:19
ἐπιλαβόμενοί τε αὐτοῦ ἐπὶ τὸν Ἄρειον Πάγον ἤγαγον, λέγοντες· Δυνάμεθα γνῶναι τίς ἡ καινὴ αὕτη ἡ ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλουμένη διδαχή;
Acts 17:20
ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν· βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι.
Acts 17:21
Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ οἱ ἐπιδημοῦντες ξένοι εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον ηὐκαίρουν ἢ λέγειν τι ἢ ἀκούειν τι καινότερον.
Acts 17:22
Σταθεὶς δὲ Παῦλος ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἀρείου Πάγου ἔφη· Ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατὰ πάντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ·
Then Paul, standing in the middle of the Areopagus, said, “Men, Athenians, according to all things, I see you very pious.
Paraphrase: Then Paul stood up. Above him and below him were the famous Greek temples with their multitude of different deities. This was the famous Areopagus; the greatest center of learning and inquiry anywhere in the world. “Men of Athens,” Paul began. “I am a new visitor to your city; and already, I notice that you people are very fervent in the practice of your religion. It seems that there is an altar in this city to every god that has ever existed.”
Comments:
It seems to me that Paul uses “pious” or “religious” here as an opening compliment. Farrar says (see footnote 1) that the key note of the speech is one of entire conciliatoriness. For this use of ὡς, see GGBB 300.
Acts 17:23
διερχόμενος γὰρ καὶ ἀναθεωρῶν τὰ σεβάσματα ὑμῶν εὗρον καὶ βωμὸν ἐν ᾧ ἐπεγέγραπτο· Ἀγνώστῳ θεῷ. ὃ οὖν ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε, τοῦτο ἐγὼ καταγγέλλω ὑμῖν.
For while I was passing through and observing all the objects of your worship, I even found an altar in which it had been inscribed “to the unknown god.” Therefore, what you worship unknowingly, this One, I proclaim to you.
Paraphrase: “In fact, as I was wandering around your city admiring all the religious objects, I even found an altar with an inscription ‘To the Unknown God.’ You have altars to every deity; and in case you might have missed one, you even built an altar to that god whom you might have missed. I would like to say something to you about this God whom you have overlooked.”
Comments:
ἀγνοοῦντες = participle of manner §44.
Acts 17:24
ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὗτος οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ὑπάρχων κύριος οὐκ ἐν χειροποιήτοις ναοῖς κατοικεῖ
God, who made the universe and all the things in it, this One, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in handmade temples.
Paraphrase: “First, this God does not act within this universe as all your deities do. No temple can possibly accommodate Him. He is above the universe and acts on the universe from without it. He is the God of both creation and providence. By His work of creation, He brought this universe into existence. By providence, I mean that He rules as the supreme Sovereign over every part of it and directs it to His own ends.”
Comments:
Acts 17:25
οὐδὲ ὑπὸ χειρῶν ἀνθρωπίνων θεραπεύεται προσδεόμενός τινος, αὐτὸς διδοὺς πᾶσι ζωὴν καὶ πνοὴν καὶ τὰ πάντα·
Neither is He served by human hands, needing anything. He, giving to all life and breath and all things,
Paraphrase: “This is why He doesn’t need anything from any of us; nothing we do can improve His circumstances. In fact, the very reverse is true. He is the One who gives life and breath to each person. We live in constant dependence on Him; if He should stop caring for us, we would immediately be ruined.”
Comments:
αὐτὸς is the subject of ἐποίησέν in the next verse.
Acts 17:26
ἐποίησέν τε ἐξ ἑνὸς πᾶν ἔθνος ἀνθρώπων κατοικεῖν ἐπὶ παντὸς προσώπου τῆς γῆς, ὁρίσας προστεταγμένους καιροὺς καὶ τὰς ὁροθεσίας τῆς κατοικίας αὐτῶν,
He made of one man, each nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, determining the appointed times and boundaries of their settlements.
Paraphrase: “Furthermore, He did not just create the universe; He has also created all human persons. This God created the first man and then fashioned the woman from him. From this first couple, every person who has ever walked on this earth has come. Then this same God went on to determine the place where each civilization would settle and multiply. God also set the times for each of these societies, how long each would last, who would rule them and for how long, how wealthy they would become, and so on.” (Job 12:23; 1 Samuel 2:7)
Comments:
Acts 17:27
ζητεῖν τὸν θεὸν εἰ ἄρα γε ψηλαφήσειαν αὐτὸν καὶ εὕροιεν, καί γε οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ὑπάρχοντα.
to seek God if somehow they might feel for Him and find even though being not far from each one of us.
Paraphrase: “God’s purpose in all this was simple. He created human persons with the capacity to reach out for Him. Human persons were given a unique sense by which they know that there is something out there beyond the natural world in which we live. As a result of this, people are religious. Every religion is just the attempt of a people group to search for God. Unfortunately, without divine revelation, their search is just a blind fumbling around like a person trying to find a light switch in a dark room.”
Comments:
Note the optative. For the conditional statement here, see GGBB 484. The nuance of this construction is that the result (finding God) is something possible but not very likely.
Acts 17:28
ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν, ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθ’ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν· Τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν.
For in Him we live and move and are, as even some of your own authors have said, “For of Him, we are the offspring.”
Paraphrase: “Now hear me out on this, men. You might object to my saying that you are all fumbling around in the dark looking for the truth, but think about this. God is the One who created us. We exist because of Him, our life is sustained by His power, and our whole life is under His sovereign control. Is it any wonder then, that human persons naturally tend to reach out for the One who did this and who continues to do these things in their life? I’m not an expert in your philosophy, but didn’t one of your own authors teach that we are all the children of God? Well with this I heartily agree. We were created by this Great Creator God; and therefore, we are His offspring. Now if this is true, then He is the only real God and the only One truly worthy of our worship. This is the God you should seek to know and to Him alone you should swear allegiance.”
Comments:
Τοῦ is an orphan.
Acts 17:29
γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ὀφείλομεν νομίζειν χρυσῷ ἢ ἀργύρῳ ἢ λίθῳ, χαράγματι τέχνης καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως ἀνθρώπου, τὸ θεῖον εἶναι ὅμοιον.
Therefore, being children of God, we ought not to think the deity to be like a sculpture, of gold or silver or stone, of the art and design of a man.
Paraphrase: “Again, if God created us in His image (Genesis 1:27) so that we can call ourselves His offspring, then why do we think that this God can be represented by a statue of gold or silver or some kind of stone sculpture? Do you think that a human person, no matter how intelligent or skilled, can reduce His Creator down to a simple statue or image?”
Comments:
χρυσῷ ἢ ἀργύρῳ ἢ λίθῳ = datives of material (GGBB 169)
Acts 17:30
τοὺς μὲν οὖν χρόνους τῆς ἀγνοίας ὑπεριδὼν ὁ θεὸς τὰ νῦν παραγγέλλει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πάντας πανταχοῦ μετανοεῖν,
Therefore, the times of ignorance overlooking, God, the things now, proclaims to men, everywhere, all to repent.
Paraphrase: “Let me wrap this up. God is willing to overlook these mistakes you’ve made in the past. Now, however, you have all heard the truth about who God is and why He brought us here. Please recognize that all the religion that exists in this city, every altar, every statue god, every temple; it’s all just the vain and futile attempt of human persons to try to connect with their Creator. Stop trying to please every deity that you find in the world. Stop even thinking that all these deities are anything at all but the figment of people’s imagination. Brothers, there is only one God, and we are all accountable to Him. With all due respect, until we come to bow before this God and to swear our allegiance to him, we are just blind men trying to find feel our way forward. One of our authors said, “The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.”
Comments:
τὰ νῦν is an expression that only occurs in Acts. (Acts 4:29; 5:38; 17:30; 20:32; 27:22) It is a temporal expression meaning something like the current situation; see Alexander.
τοῖς ἀνθρώποις is the object of παραγγέλλει (GGBB 171). For πάντας, see principle 23.
Acts 17:31
καθότι ἔστησεν ἡμέραν ἐν ᾗ μέλλει κρίνειν τὴν οἰκουμένην ἐν δικαιοσύνῃ ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν, πίστιν παρασχὼν πᾶσιν ἀναστήσας αὐτὸν ἐκ νεκρῶν.
Because, He has set a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has appointed, providing proof to all raising Him from the dead.
Paraphrase: “Be sure of this. God has a set day, known only to Himself, on which He will bring the entire world to judgment. He will judge each person by His perfect standard of justice. In this final judgment, He will not sit in judgment Himself; rather, He has appointed His own Man to give justice to every person. How do we know who this Man is? We know Him because He is the One whom God brought back to life after He had died and was buried.”
Comments:
πίστιν is used here to refer to the object of faith, not the exercise of faith.
Acts 17:32
Ἀκούσαντες δὲ ἀνάστασιν νεκρῶν οἱ μὲν ἐχλεύαζον οἱ δὲ εἶπαν Ἀκουσόμεθά σου περὶ τούτου καὶ πάλιν.
Now when hearing the resurrection of the dead, they began to scoff, and they said, “We will hear of you concerning this even again.”
Paraphrase: Now when Paul spoke of Jesus as having been resurrected, many in the audience burst into laughter. They scoffed at the idea of a man being brought back to life. “Stop please!” they called out, “You’re making a fool of yourself by suggesting such a preposterous thing. We were following you up until you got to this point. Please, take a break and get some rest. Perhaps the heat is getting to you? Whatever, we’ll all be back here after lunch. Then we’ll let you get back on your soapbox, and you can continue to make your case, but please, no more talk of dead people coming back to life. You’re not going to get any traction with us by presenting such nonsense. We are educated people of science here, not a bunch of hillbillies.”
Comments:
ἐχλεύαζον is ingressive. (§1099; GGBB 544)
See principle 15.
Acts 17:33
οὕτως ὁ Παῦλος ἐξῆλθεν ἐκ μέσου αὐτῶν·
So Paul departed from their midst.
Paraphrase: Paul was disappointed at the interruption. Up until this point, they had all been listening respectfully; now, there was no point in continuing. Clearly, the crowd had heard enough. Paul gathered up his things and left.
Comments:
Acts 17:34
τινὲς δὲ ἄνδρες κολληθέντες αὐτῷ ἐπίστευσαν, ἐν οἷς καὶ Διονύσιος ὁ Ἀρεοπαγίτης καὶ γυνὴ ὀνόματι Δάμαρις καὶ ἕτεροι σὺν αὐτοῖς.
But certain men, being joined to him, believed. Among them, even Dionysius, the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them.
Paraphrase:
Comments: