Acts 17:16

Paul in Athens

16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him [when he] observed the city was full of idols.

Acts 17:16 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 17:16

Now while Paul waited for them at Athens.
&c.] That is, for Silas and Timotheus:

his spirit was stirred in him;
not only his soul was troubled and his heart was grieved, but he was exasperated and provoked to the last degree: he was in a paroxysm; his heart was hot within him; he had a burning fire in his bones, and was weary with forbearing, and could not stay; his zeal wanted vent, and he gave it:

when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry;
or "full of idols", as the Syriac and Arabic versions render it. So Cicero says F24 that Athens was full of temples; and Xenophon F25 observes that they had double the feasts of other people; and Pausanias F26 affirms, that the Athenians far exceeded others in the worship of the gods, and care about religion; and he relates, that they had an altar for Mercy, another for Shame, another for Fame, and another for Desire, and expressed more religion to the gods than others did: they had an altar dedicated to twelve gods F1; and because they would be sure of all, they erected one to an unknown god; in short, they had so many of them, that one F2 jestingly said to them, our country is so full of deities, that one may more easily find a god than a man: so that with all their learning and wisdom they knew not God, ( 1 Corinthians 1:21 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F24 De responsis Aruspicum.
F25 De Athen. Polit.
F26 Attica, p. 29, 42.
F1 Thucydides Bell. Peloponness. l. 6.
F2 Petronius.

Acts 17:16 In-Context

14 So then the brothers sent Paul away at once to go to the sea, and both Silas and Timothy remained there.
15 And those who conducted Paul brought [him] as far as Athens, and [after] receiving an order for Silas and Timothy that they should come to him as soon as possible, they went away.
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him [when he] observed the city was full of idols.
17 So he was discussing in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing [Gentiles], and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there.
18 And even some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him, and some were saying, "What does this babbler want to say?" But [others said], "He appears to be a proclaimer of foreign deities," because he was proclaiming the good news [about] Jesus and the resurrection.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. *Here "[when]" is supplied as a component of the participle ("observed") which is understood as temporal
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