Acts 17:25

25 neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he gives to all life and breath and all things

Acts 17:25 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 17:25

Neither is worshipped with men's hands
Or "served" with them; or "ministered unto" by them, as the Syriac version renders it: and the sense is, that men by worshipping God do not give anything to him, that can be of any use or service to him; he, being God all sufficient, stands in need of nothing; for external worship is not here intended by worshipping with men's hands, in distinction from, and opposition to, internal worship, or to the worship of God with the heart; but that whether it be with the one or with the other, or both, nothing is given to God, as adding any thing to his essential glory and happiness:

as though he needed anything;
for he does not, he is "El Shaddai", God all sufficient; nor can anything be given to him, he has not; or otherwise all perfection would not be in him: but that he cannot be indigent of anything, appears from hence,

seeing he giveth to all life and breath;
or "the breath of life", as the Ethiopic version renders it; this God breathed into man at first, and he became a living soul; and every animate creature, everyone that has life and breath, have them from God; he gives them to them, and continues them:

and all things;
that are enjoyed by them, and are necessary for their subsistence, and for the comfort of life, and for both their use and profit, and for their delight and pleasure; wherefore he that gives them all things, cannot want anything himself, nor receive anything at their hands. This clause is left out in the Syriac, Arabic, and Ethiopic versions.

Acts 17:25 In-Context

23 For as I passed by and beheld your sanctuaries, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him I declare unto you.
24 The God that made the world and all the things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands;
25 neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he gives to all life and breath and all things
26 and has made of one blood all the lineage of men to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined the seasons (which he has limited) and the bounds of their habitation;
27 that they should seek the Lord, if in any manner they might reach out to touch him and find him though he is not far from each one of us;
The Jubilee Bible (from the Scriptures of the Reformation), edited by Russell M. Stendal, Copyright © 2000, 2001, 2010