Acts 17:22

22 Sha'ul stood up in the Council meeting and said, "Men of Athens: I see how very religious you are in every way!

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 Some of the things we are hearing from you strike us as strange, and we would like to know what they mean."

21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners living there used to spend their spare time talking or hearing about the latest intellectual fads.)

22 Sha'ul stood up in the Council meeting and said, "Men of Athens: I see how very religious you are in every way!

23 For as I was walking around, looking at your shrines, I even found an altar which had been inscribed, 'To An Unknown God.' So, the one whom you are already worshipping in ignorance-this is the one I proclaim to you.

24 "The God who made the universe and everything in it, and who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in man-made temples;