Acts 17:22

Paul’s Address in the Areopagus

22 Then Paul stood up in the meeting [a] of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious.

Acts 17:22 Meaning and 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 persons, in other places, which has been observed before on ( Acts 17:16 ) they had more gods, and more altars, and more festivals, and were more diligent and studious in the worship of the gods, than others. And this manner of addressing them, both as citizens of Athens, and as very religious persons, and who, as such, greatly exceeded all others, must greatly tend to engage their attention to him.

Acts 17:22 In-Context

20 For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
21 Now all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing more than hearing and articulating new ideas.
22 Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that in every way you are very religious.
23 For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
24 The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples made by human hands.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Literally in the middle
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