Combined Bible Commentary
Acts 17:29
See notes on verse 22
See notes on verse 22
Verse 29. _FORASMUCH THEN AS WE ARE THE OFFSPRING OF GOD_, c.] This inference of the apostle was very strong and conclusive and his argument runs thus: "If we are the offspring of God, he cannot be l...
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...
CHAPTER 17 _ 1. The Gospel in Thessalonica (Acts 17:1)._ 2. The Gospel in Beroea (Acts 17:10). 3. Paul in Athens (Acts 17:15). Three cities in which the Gospel is next preached are before us in thi...
PAUL'S SPEECH TO THE AREOPAGUS. He opens with a compliment to the religiosity of the Athenians. He has walked up and down the city and marked the many objects of worship; he has also found an altar wi...
IN THESSALONICA (Acts 17:1-9)...
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 worshi...
FORASMUCH... ARE. Being then. Greek. _huparcho,_ as in verses: Acts 24:27. THINK. reckon. Greek. _nomizo._ See note on Acts 14:19. THE GODHEAD. Greek. _to theion._ App-98. GRAVEN. an engraving, or s...
_we ought not to think_, &c. As man is of more honour than material things, how far above these must the Godhead be. The Athenians, the Apostle would teach them, had formed not too high but too low a...
Speech of St Paul at Athens Taking notice of the extreme religious scrupulousness, which had led the Athenians to raise an altar to an unknown God, the Apostle declares to them the God whom alone the...
ΟΥ̓Κ ὈΦΕΊΛΟΜΕΝ ΝΟΜΊΖΕΙΝ Κ.Τ.Λ., _we ought not to think_, &c. As man is of more honour than material things, how far above these must the Godhead be. The Athenians, the Apostle would teach them, had fo...
SPEECH OF ST PAUL AT ATHENS Taking notice of the extreme religious scrupulousness which had led the Athenians to raiso an altar to an unknown God, the Apostle declares to them the God whom alone they...
_A SERMON ABOUT THE ONE TRUE GOD ACTS 17:24-34:_ In his sermon Paul showed that the true God_ _ made the world and all things therein. This God is Lord of heaven and earth. He gives to all life, and b...
ΎΠΆΡΧΟΝΤΕΣ _praes. act. part., см._ Acts 17:24; Причинное _part._, "так как мы..." ΌΦΕΊΛΟΜΕΝΡΓΑΒΘ. _ind. act. от_ ΟΦΕΊΛΩ (G3784) быть обязанным, быть должным, с _inf._ ΝΟΜΊΖΕΙΝ _praes. act. inf. от_...
WE OUGHT NOT TO THINK, &C.— For the observations proposed on this verse, and referred to chap. Acts 14:15. See the _Inferences_ at the end of this chapter....
IN ATHENS. Acts 17:14 b - Acts 17:34. a. The brethren from Berea go with Paul as far as Athens and take back a command for the coming of Silas and Timothy. Acts 17:14 b -...
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. FORASMUCH THEN AS WE AND THE OFFSPRING...
19 The hill called the Areopagus (Latin, Mars' Hill), just a few steps above the Market Place, was a most fitting forum for the folly of God to defeat the wisdom of the world. At Rome Paul's weakness...
SECOND MISSIONARY JOURNEY (CONTINUED) 1-15. Thessalonica and Berœa. 1. Amphipolis] 32 m. W. of Philippi. APOLLONIA] 30 m. W. of Amphipolis. THESSALONICA] now Salonika, was the capital of the provin...
ATHENS. After leaving Berœa, St. Paul entered the Roman province of Achaia, which was at this time a senatorian province, governed by a proconsul, and of which the capital was Corinth. He first visite...
PAUL'S SPEECH. It is discreet and to the point. It deals not with the OT., with which his hearers were unacquainted, but with the truths of natural religion, many of which were understood (though only...
The argument probably is: Since we are the offspring of God, in that our souls are immaterial and immortal, we ought to regard the author of our souls as an immaterial and immortal spirit, and not lik...
GOOD NEWS FOR EVERYONE ACTS _MARION ADAMS_ CHAPTER 17 PAUL AND SILAS GO TO THESSALONICA, 17:1-4 V1 Paul and Silas travelled through Amphipolis and Apollonia. They came to Thessalonica. There was...
FORASMUCH THEN AS WE ARE THE OFFSPRING OF GOD. — One consequence from the thought of son-ship is pressed home at once. If we are God’s offspring our conception of Him should mount upward from what is...
CHAPTER 12 ST. PAUL IN MACEDONIA. Acts 16:29; Acts 17:1; Acts 17:10 TROAS was at this time the termination of St. Paul's Asiatic travels. He had passed diagonally right through Asia Minor, followin...
CHAPTER 12 ST. PAUL IN MACEDONIA. Acts 16:29; Acts 17:1; Acts 17:10 TROAS was at this time the termination of St. Paul's Asiatic travels. He had passed diagonally right through Asia Minor, followin...
γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες : for ὑπάρχειν, see above on Acts 17:24; is the inference simply that because we are dependent upon God for all things, it is absurd to suppose that the divine nature can be like...
THE ONE LIVING AND TRUE GOD Acts 17:22 The gospel preacher must avail himself of any circumstance in his surroundings that will enable him to arrest the attention of his audience. He must meet them...
At Thessalonica and Berea the apostle visited the synagogues, and again in each case persecution arose from the Jews. A sentence which fell from the lips of the leader of the mob shows with what rapid...
Paul's Sermon on Mars Hill The apostle began his sermon by noting that they were very religious, worshipping idols devoted to all types of gods, even an unknown God. Paul seized upon their recognition...
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, (q) graven by art and man's device. (q) Which things (gold, silver, and s...
Cherubim, which extended wings, were ordered by God to be made, and placed over the propitiatory; (Exodus xxxvii. 7.) the brazen serpent is declared by Jesus Christ himself to have been a figure of hi...
PAUL AT ATHENS 16-33. While Timothy and Silas prosecute the work in the upper country, Paul and Luke spend the time at Athens, the world's grand emporium of science, literature, philosophy, and idolat...
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. (23) For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar wit...
We now enter on the missionary journeys, as they are called, of the apostle Paul. The work, under the Spirit, opens to the glory of the Lord. Not merely are Gentiles met in grace and brought into the...
− 29._Therefore seeing that. _He gathereth that God cannot be figured or resembled by any graven image forasmuch as he would have his image extant in us. For the soul wherein the image of God is prope...
In the last case it was the power exercised by the enemy over the passions of the Gentiles that caused the persecution of the apostles: at Thessalonica we again find the old and universal enmity of th...
FORASMUCH THEN AS WE ARE THE OFFSPRING OF GOD,.... In the sense before given; for the apostle is not here speaking of himself, and other saints, as being the children of God, by adoption, and by regen...
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device. Ver. 29. _That the Godhead is like_] _Qui...
_For as much then as we are the offspring of God We_, with all the powers and faculties of our rational nature, and since these bear but a very imperfect and distant resemblance of those original, con...
WE OUGHT NOT TO THINK; that Jehovah is like material objects of any kind....
The conclusion of Paul and the effect of his sermon:...
FORASMUCH, THEN, AS WE ARE THE OFFSPRING OF GOD, WE OUGHT NOT TO THINK THAT THE GODHEAD IS LIKE UNTO GOLD, OR SILVER, OR STONE, GRAVEN BY ART AND MAN'S DEVICE....
From Philippi Paul and his company travelled westward in Greece to Thessalonica (also in Macedonia). A Jewish synagogue being there, they attended this for three sabbath days, reasoning with the Jews...
THEREFORE, SINCE WE ARE THE OFFSPRING OF GOD, WE OUGHT NOT TO THINK THAT THE DIVINE NATURE IS LIKE GOLD OR SILVER OR STONE, SOMETHING SHAPED BY ART AND MAN ' S DEVISING. 1. Since we come from God - -...
"Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man"Godhead" The Divine nature, "Lit., that which is divine...
22-31 Here we have a sermon to heathens, who worshipped false gods, and were without the true God in the world; and to them the scope of the discourse was different from what the apostle preached to...
WE ARE THE OFFSPRING OF GOD; this is spoken by the apostle in a poetical expression, according unto what he had cited. We are indeed the children, and in our souls bear the image of God. But as many a...
Acts 17:29 Therefore G3767 are G5225 (G5723) offspring G1085 God G2316 ought G3784 (G5719) not G3756 think...
EFFECTIVE MINISTRY IN ATHENS (17:15-34). His Berean guides saw Paul safely to Athens. This had not been where he was originally aiming for. After Thessalonica his intention had probably been to procee...
“Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like to gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man.” He then further emphasises that to speak of men as the...
Acts 17:29. WE OUGHT NOT TO THINK THAT THE GODHEAD IS LIKE UNTO GOLD OR SILVER OR STONE GRAVEN BY ART. The Greek word translated by ‘Godhead' is better rendered ‘Divinity,' or ‘that which is Divine.'...
WE OUGHT NOT TO THINK (ουκ οφειλομεν νομιζειν). It is a logical conclusion (ουν, therefore) from the very language of Aratus and Cleanthes.THAT THE GODHEAD IS LIKE (το θειον εινα ομοιον). Infiniti...
OFFSPRING OF GOD (Greek, "genos", means "race"). The reference is to the creation-work of God in which He made man (i.e. mankind, the race in Adam) in his own likeness, (Genesis 1:26); (Genesis 1:27)...
Acts 17:26 St. Paul at Athens. I. The Jewish nation had existed to be a witness for this universal fellowship among the nations. It had existed as a witness against that which tended to divide them a...
CONTENTS: Founding of church at Thessalonica and the Jewish opposition. Paul and Silas at Berea. Paul at Athens and the sermon from Mars' hill. CHARACTERS: Christ, Paul, Silas, Jason, Caesar, philoso...
Acts 17:1. _When they had passed through Amphipolis._ Boiste adds the Roman name _Emboli._ It was built by Simon, the Athenian commander. It stood on an island formed in the river Strymon, and was cal...
PAUL STOOD UP. Many seem to think Paul made a great mistake in what he said to this group, and see a resolve never to repeat this error in what he says in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. But this cannot be! Paul...
_And they that conducted Paul brought him unto Athena _ PAUL AT ATHENS I. The place which the apostle visited. Athens. II. The feelings of which he was the subject. Not of admiration at the masterp...
_Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill._ NOVELTY ATTRACTIVE Yes, the people gathered in crowds round the statue, and looked at it again and again. It was not the finest work of art in the city,...
_Forasmuch then … we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold._ PAUL’S CUMULATIVE ARGUMENT Up to this verse Paul has made a general statement respecting God. Here he lays down the ground...
ACTS—NOTE ON ACTS 17:29 God is not LIKE GOLD OR SILVER OR STONE, of which idols are made. God made us (we are GOD’S OFFSPRING). We are much more complex and wonderful than these lifeless materials. Th...
ACTS—NOTE ON ACTS 17:22 Paul’s Areopagus address is the prime example in Acts 1:1 of preaching to Gentiles who have no knowledge of the OT....
_CRITICAL REMARKS_ Acts 17:22. TOO SUPERSTITIONS.—Somewhat superstitious (R.V.); better, _more god-fearing_, more religious (_sc._, than others)—_i.e._, unusually religious; though the word has both...
EXPOSITION ACTS 17:1 AMPHIPOLIS. This was the ancient capital of that division of Macedonia (Macedonia Prima); see Acts 16:12, note. It was situated on the Via Egnatia, thirty-four miles southwest f...
Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews (Acts 17:1): Now Luke passes that off in one verse. From Philippi to Amph...
Exodus 20:4; Exodus 32:4; Habakkuk 2:19; Habakkuk 2:20; Isaiah 40:12;
The Godhead [τ ο θ ε ι ο ν]. Lit., that which is divine. Like to gold, etc. These words must have impressed his hearers profoundly, as they looked at the multitude of statues of divinities which surr...
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,...
Observe here, 1. How our apostle quotes one of the heathen poets in his divine discourse. This poet was Aratus; what he attributes to Jupiter, St. Paul attributes to the true God; WE ARE HIS OFF-SPRIN...