Acts 17:22

Paul Speaks to the Areopagus

22 So Paul stood there in the middle of the Areopagus [and] said, "Men of Athens, I see you [are] very religious {in every respect}.

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 astonishing things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what {these things mean}."
21 (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who stayed there used to spend [their] time in nothing else than telling something or listening to something new.)
22 So Paul stood there in the middle of the Areopagus [and] said, "Men of Athens, I see you [are] very religious {in every respect}.
23 For [as I] was passing through and observing carefully your objects of worship, I even found an altar on which was inscribed, 'To an unknown God.' Therefore what you worship without knowing [it], this I proclaim to you--
24 the God who made the world and all the things in it. This one, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,

Footnotes 2

  • [a]. *Here "[and]" is supplied because the previous participle ("stood there") has been translated as a finite verb
  • [b]. Literally "with respect to all [things]"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.