Acts 17

Chap. XVII. ver. 1. — Amphipolis—Apollonia.] See the map of St. Paul’s travels.

— Thessalonica.] Thessalonica was the chief city of Macedonia, an excellent mart, and the most populous city of the country. It is at the present time called Salonichi, and is said to retain something of its ancient greatness and wealth, having a large safe haven in a bay which is called from its name. It is still an archbishop’s see of the Christian Church, having been first converted to Christianity by St. Paul, at this his coming there; and it is, and will through all ages be memorable, on account of the two Epistles written by St. Paul to the Thessalonians, generally allowed by learned men to be the two earliest of the Epistles written by him. Dr. Wells.

— him declare I unto you.] This beginning of St. Paul’s address completely refutes the charge they had brought against him of being “a setter forth of strange gods,” ver. 18, by shewing, even from their own altar, that he introduced no strange demon, but the ancient established God, whose right worship they had ignorantly debased by the wrong worship of a multitude of demons or false gods. Dr. Hales.

St. Paul’s judgment is manifest in his selection of topicks for this animated discourse. He does not address the Athenian philosophers as he had done the Jews, and infer that they ought to believe in Christ, because He had been foretold by the Prophets; for they knew nothing of the Prophets, or at least had no reverence for their writings, and as yet had no reason to believe them true. Brewster. To the Jew prophecy was the first proof, to the Gentiles it was the last. The Jew believed in Christ, because foretold by the Prophets; the Gentiles believed the Prophets, because they had so exactly foretold Jesus Christ. Both became firm believers, having each in his way a full view of all the dispensations of Providence towards mankind. Bp. Sherlock.

— every where to repent:] When the world was in ignorance, and had not such assurance of a future state of eternal rewards and punishments after this life, the

arguments to repentance were weak and feeble, in comparison of what they now are. For, now that God hath

assured us of a future judgment, exhortations to repentance have a commanding influence over men; so that

repentance, both as it is very earnestly inculcated in the

Gospel, and as it derives its chief motives and enforcements from the Gospel, may be said to be one of the

leading doctrines of Christ’s religion. Abp. Tillotson.

Acts 17:3

3. Opening and alledging, that Christ &c.] Clearly proving from the Scriptures that Christ was not to be a temporal Prince, nor a deliverer of Israel by worldly conquests, but the Saviour and Redeemer of mankind, by dying and suffering for their sins, who was to triumph over their spiritual enemies by His resurrection; and then demonstrating all those prophetic characters to be exactly fulfilled in Jesus Christ, whose doctrine and religion he was preaching. Pyle.

Acts 17:4

4. — and of the devout Greeks] Meaning those who were proselytes of the gate. Dr. Whitby.

Acts 17:5

5. — of Jason.] A Christian who had entertained and lodged Paul and Silas in his house, ver. 7. Bp. Pearce.

Acts 17:6

6. — have turned the world upside down] Have unsettled things, and brought them into confusion; for to this they conceived that the introduction of new gods tended. Dr. Whitby.

Acts 17:7

7. — do contrary to the decrees of Cesar.] This was contrary to the decrees of Cesar, because the senate first, and afterwards the emperor, suffered none to be called king in the provinces of the Roman empire, without their permission. Grotus.

Acts 17:10

10. — unto Berea.] A large and populous city of Macedonia, more towards the south. Dr. Wells.

Acts 17:11

11. These were more noble &c.] Of a better disposition. Bp. Pearce. More ingenuous. Dr. Hammond. More liberal-minded. Dr. Hales.

The wise conduct of the Bereans, in receiving the Christian religion with docility and readiness, yet not without due inquiry and consideration, is here recorded to their praise; to the end that, wheresoever the Gospel should be preached in the whole world, this also that they had done should be told for a memorial of them, and for an example to others. Dr. Jortin.

— received the word with all readiness of mind.] That is, they willingly and gladly gave ear to the doctrine of the Apostles, and were ready to embrace it, as soon as sufficient evidence of the truth of it should appear to them. In the mean time, they gave due attention, as became them, and as the weight and importance of the subject required; discovering no ill-will or hatred towards those who preached it to them, but hearing them candidly and favourably, without prejudice or prepossession, and with minds open to conviction. Dr. Balguy.

— searched the scriptures &c.] As by hearing and receiving the word readily, they shewed the honesty of their minds, so their thus searching the Scriptures is a proof of their wisdom and good understanding. How good in itself and acceptable soever the Apostles’ doctrine might be, it was certainly proper, before they embraced it, to satisfy themselves about the truth of it, that they might not expose themselves to delusion and disappointment. Without this, neither could their joy be reasonable, nor their faith well grounded. Though they readily heard the Apostles, and gave attention to their preaching, they knew it was not fitting to give their assent without previous satisfaction and proper evidence. And herein, likewise, their proceeding was manly and rational, and such as became the lovers of truth. Dr. Balguy.

— whether those things were so.] That is, whether the preaching of the Apostles was conformable to their Scriptures of the Old Testament, and how it agreed

Paul cometh to Athens, where the philosophers question his doctrines. Anno DOMINI 53.

Acts 17:14

14.—to go as it were to the sea:] “As if towards the sea;” that is, the better to elude the search of such as might follow to seize him, he set out from Berea with the appearance of going to some neighbouring seaport; but he changed his route, and went to Athens by land. Bp. Pearce, Grotina. Or, the words translated “to go as if towards the sea,” may only mean, “to go towards the sea;” and, as no planting of the Gospel is mentioned to have taken place between Berea or Thessalonica, and Athens, it is thought by some commentators, that he went by sea to the latter city. Dr. Benson.

Acts 17:16

16.—wholly given up to idolatry.] That is, full of idols and altars, and much given to the worship of them. That the Athenians were peculiarly devoted to the superstitious worship of false gods, appears sufficiently from the testimonies of heathen writers. In particular, Pausanias says of this city, that there was no place where so many idols were to be seen. Dr. Hammond.

Acts 17:17

17.—and in the market] This being a place of publick resort for business and discourse. Abp. Newcome.

In our country, the carrying on religious disputations in the markets would be thought improper, and the effect of intemperate seal: but it would, even now, not

Acts 17:18

18.—Epicureans,—Stoicks,] These were two celebrated sects of Grecian philosophers, both of whom held opinions very inconsistent with the doctrines of St. Paul. The Epicureans acknowledged no gods, except in name only, and absolutely denied that they exercised any providence over the world. The Stoicks professed to believe both the existence of the gods, and their providence in the world; but they attributed all human actions to fixed and unalterable fate, to which they conceived the gods themselves to be subject; and thus destroyed the foundation of all religion, as much as the atheistical Epicureans did. Bp. Pearce.

—a setter forth of strange gods:] That is, of gods unknown to them before, alluding to Jesus; the plural being put for the singular. Bp. Pearce.

Acts 17:19

19.—unto Areopagus,] The word Areopagus signifies “Mars’ hill,” ver. 22. The highest court of judicature was held on the hill at Athens, which bore this name; the court thence obtained the name of the court of the Areopagus, and the members of it were called Areopagites. It has been questioned whether St. Paul was brought to this Areopagus, that he might be tried before the judges of the court, or whether he was only brought here, as to a convenient place where those who were disposed might hear what his doctrine was. Bp. Pearce. It appears, from several instances recorded by heathen writers, that the affairs of religion were considered as peculiarly belonging to this court, and therefore St. Paul may have been brought before them on the present occasion, as the preacher and assertor of a new Deity whom they had not admitted. Dr. Hammond. What a glorious scene was here for the manifestation of the truth, before such a promiscuous and numerous assembly of citizens and strangers, of philosophers of all sects and people of all conditions; and with what singular skill and contrivance is every part and member of this discourse so framed and adapted, as to obviate some principal error or prejudice in some party or other of his hearers! Bp. Newton.

Acts 17:21

21.—either to tell, or to hear some new thing.] This character had long before been given of the Athenians. Demosthenes, the celebrated orator, represents the Athenian people as spending their time in inquiring

Anno DOMINI 54. Or, base folios. Or, Mars’ hill. It was the highest court in Athens. He preacheth the living God to the Athenians. Anno DOMINI 54.

Acts 17:23

23. — in all things ye are too superstitious.] The word, here translated, “superstitious,” is frequently used in a more favourable sense; and, if we attend to the spirit of St. Paul’s oration, which is everywhere mild and conciliating, we shall be induced to believe that nothing more is here intended, than to convey the acknowledged character of the Athenians for attention to religious worship, above all other nations. Dr. Stack.

24. — beheld your devotions,] Rather, ’the things which ye worship.’ Bp. Pearce. ‘The several objects of your worship.’ Dr. Hales.

— TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.] Respecting this altar at Athens, inscribed “to the unknown God,” the discussions of the learned have been ample, and their conjectures extremely various. One opinion, supported and embraced by many, is, that by “the unknown God,” the Athenians meant the God of the Jews. It is well known that this people always shewed great facility in admitting the objects of worship of other nations into the catalogue of their deities; and since, subsequently to the time of Alexander the Great, considerable intercourse had taken place between the Greeks and the Jews, it is highly probable that the former should have obtained some knowledge, indistinct and imperfect at least, of the religion of the latter. Nor is it difficult to explain why the Athenians should have given the name of “unknown” to the God of the Jews. For the Jews invariably abstained from uttering the name of God, and always spoke of Him, as unutterable and incomprehensible. Thus no foreigner could ever learn to distinguish Him by any peculiar name; and hence the Athenians might naturally describe Him by the title of the “unknown God.” Biscor. On the other hand, while Pausanias and other writers attest the fact of the erection of an altar at Athens to the unknown God, various causes of the erection of it have been assigned. St. Chrysostom ascribes it to the excessive superstition of the Athenians, who, fearing lest they should be punished for neglecting the worship of some god of whom they were ignorant, dedicated an altar to the unknown God, for the purpose of providing for any possible omission. Schleusner, Bp. Pearce.

A deceiver would, on such an occasion as this, have retracted his doctrine to save his life; an enthusiast would have lost his life without trying to save it by innocent means. St. Paul did neither the one nor the other; he availed himself of an altar, inscribed “to the unknown God,” and pleaded that he did not propose the worship of any new God, but only explained to the people the nature and attributes of that unknown Divinity whom their government had already received. Thus he eluded condemnation, without departing in the least from the truth of the Gospel, or violating the honour of his God; an admirable proof of the good sense with which he acted, and of there being no mixture of fanaticism in his religion. Lord Lyttelton.

It is peculiarly worthy of remark, that, in all the

Acts 17:24

24. God that made the world] This assertion, though agreeable to the general belief and opinion, was yet directly contrary to the doctrine of the followers both of Epicurus and Aristotle; the former of whom attributed the formation of the world to the accidental meeting of atoms, and the latter maintained that the world was not created at all, but had subsisted as it is from all eternity. Bp. Newton.

Acts 17:25

25. Neither is worshipped—as though he needed &c.] Neither, he says, can you rationally think that this all-sufficient Being is pleased and delighted with the offerings and external services of mankind, as if He either wanted or received any addition to His happiness by them. For how can He receive advantage from us, who live by His power, and enjoy all we have from His goodness? Pyle.

Acts 17:26

26. And hath made of one blood &c.] Hath created the race of men, all from Adam their first parent, whose posterity were by degrees dispersed over the several

Paul preacheth at Athens. Some mock, others believe. Anno DOMINI 54. face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation;

Acts 17:27

27. That they should seek the Lord.] The grand design of man’s creation, he informs them, was to be a

religious being, “to seek the Lord” so far as He is discoverable; “if haply they could feel after and find Him” by the glimmering light of reason; revelation assuring us, what reason could not discover, that “He is (subsisting) not far from every one of us,” as the universal Spirit and the Father of Spirits. Dr. Hales.

Acts 17:28

28. — certain also of your own poets] One poet, who said this, was Aratus, in a poem on the heavenly bodies; he was not an Athenian, but a native of Cilicia, St. Paul’s country. Bp. Pearce.

In the writings which we possess of St. Paul are quotations from the Greek poets in three different places,

Acts xvii. 28; 1 Cor. xv. 33; Tit. i. 12. In each of these instances he introduces the passages with propriety

and judgment, and in a manner which implies his intimacy with the Greek poets; for superficial readers,

who quote merely for a display of learning, are seldom happy in their application. Michaelis.

Acts 17:29

29. — we ought not to think &c.] He here plainly points at the gross idolatry of the lower people, who

thought the very idols themselves to be gods, and terminated their worship in them. Bp. Newton.

Acts 17:30

30. — the times of this ignorance &c.] The times of

this ignorance God hath hitherto suffered to pass without direct interposition, making no distinct revelation

of His will. — but now commandeth &c.] But, now that He intends, in great mercy, to vouchsafe to them all the free offers of pardon, and a full discovery of His divine will, He justly expects that they should repent of their past errors, and worship Him in a true and acceptable manner. And, (ver. 31,) it infinitely concerns them so to do; for, as He has now given them His only Son mandeth all men every where to repent:

Acts 17:31

31. — by that man whom he hath ordained:] The

human nature of our Lord, ever intimately and indissolubly united to the Divine, being, after His resurrection, taken up into heaven, was thereupon invested with

the glory and dominion of the Godhead, to be from thenceforth displayed and exercised in the government of His Church, until the final act of judgment shall

close the amazing scene, and put a period to the mediatorial kingdom: which, when the Son, the man Jesus

Christ, shall have delivered up to the Father, then God, or the Blessed Trinity, shall be all in all, reigning and ruling to eternity, as was the case from eternity, previous to the intervention of the Christian system. By whom indeed should God judge mankind, but by that man by whom they were redeemed? He, who took upon Him the form of a servant, was crowned the King of glory,

and crowned for that reason, because He became “obedient unto death.” Therefore by Himself hath God

sworn, that to Him, when sitting on the throne of

judgment, “every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that (the man) Christ Jesus is Lord, to the glory of

God the Father.” Bp. Horne.

Acts 17:32

32. — some mocked:] Probably the Epicureans, who disbelieved a resurrection and future judgment, here asserted by St. Paul. Dr. Whitby. Perhaps among the mockers we may conclude were other philosophers, both Epicureans and Stoicks, whose tenets, though opposite to each other, were equally adverse to the reception of the Gospel. Dr. Hales. — others said,] Perhaps the disciples of Plato and the graver part of the audience. Bp. Newton.

Acts 17:34

34. — Dionysius the Areopagite,] A member of that