Acts 17:22-24 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 17:22-31

We have here St. Paul's sermon at Athens. Divers sermons we have had, which the apostles preached to the Jews, or such Gentiles as had an acquaintance with and veneration for the Old Testament, and were worshippers of the true and living God; and all they had to do with them was to open and allege that Jesus is the Christ; but here we have a sermon to heathens, that worshipped false gods, and were without the true God in the world, and to them the scope of their discourse was quite different... read more

William Barclay

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 17:22-31

17:22-31 Paul stood up in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I see that in all things you are as superstitious as possible. As I came through your city and as I saw the objects of your worship. I found amongst them an altar with the inscription, 'To the Unknown God.' So then, what you worship and do not know, this I preach to you. God, who made the universe and everything in it, this God is Lord of heaven and earth and does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is he... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 17:22

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill ,.... Or of Areopagus, as it is better rendered in Acts 17:19 for it is the same place, and it is the same word that is here used: Paul stood in the midst of that court of judicature, amidst the Areopagites, the judges of that court, and the wise and learned philosophers of the different sects that were assembled together: and said, ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious ; or "more religious", than any other... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 17:23

For as I passed by ,.... Or "through"; that is, through the city of Athens: and beheld your devotions ; not so much their acts of worship and religion, as the gods which they worshipped; in which sense this word is used in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 and the altars which were erected to them, and the temples in which they were worshipped; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions render it, "the houses", and "places of your worship"; and the Ethiopic version, "your images", or "deities", I... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - 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... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:23

Beheld your devotions - Σεβασματα , The objects of your worship; the different images of their gods which they held in religious veneration, sacrificial instruments, altars, etc., etc. To the Unknown God - ΑΓΝΩΣΤΩ ΘΕΩ . That there was an altar at Athens thus inscribed, we cannot doubt after such a testimony; though St. Jerome questions it in part; for he says St. Paul found the inscription in the plural number, but, because he would not appear to acknowledge a plurality of gods, he... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - 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: St. Paul assumes, as an acknowledged truth, that there was a God who made the world and all things. That this God could not be confined within temples made with hands, as he was the Lord or governor of heaven and earth. 3. That, by fair consequence, the gods whom they... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:22

Verse 22− 22.Men of Athens. We may divide this sermon of Paul into five members. For though Luke doth only briefly touch those things which he set down in many words, yet I do not doubt but that he did comprehend the sum, so that he did omit none of the principal points. First, Paul layeth superstition to the charge of the men of Athens, because they worship their gods all at a very venture; − (284) secondly, he showeth by natural arguments who and what God is, and how he is rightly... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:23

Verse 23− 23.To the unknown God. I can well grant that this altar was dedicated to all strange gods; yet I cannot yield to that which Jerome saith, that Paul did, by a certain holy wiliness, attribute that to one God which was written of many. For seeing the superscription [inscription] was common in every man’s mouth, there was no place for subtilty, [craft;] why did he then change the plural number? Surely, not that he might deceive the men of Athens, but because the matter did so require,... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Acts 17:22-31

William Barclay's Daily Study Bible - Acts 17:22-31

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 17:22

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 17:23

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Acts 17:24

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:22

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:23

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:24

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:22

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 17:23

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