Hechos 17:16

16 Y esperándolos Pablo en Atenas, su espíritu se deshacía en él viendo la ciudad dada á idolatría.

Hechos 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 ) .

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FOOTNOTES:

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

Hechos 17:16 In-Context

14 Empero luego los hermanos enviaron á Pablo que fuese como á la mar; y Silas y Timoteo se quedaron allí.

15 Y los que habían tomado á cargo á Pablo, le llevaron hasta Atenas; y tomando encargo para Silas y Timoteo, que viniesen á él lo más presto que pudiesen, partieron.

16 Y esperándolos Pablo en Atenas, su espíritu se deshacía en él viendo la ciudad dada á idolatría.

17 Así que, disputaba en la sinagoga con los Judíos y religiosos; y en la plaza cada día con los que le ocurrían.

18 Y algunos filósofos de los Epicúreos y de los Estóicos, disputaban con él; y unos decían: ¿Qué quiere decir este palabrero? Y otros: Parece que es predicador de nuevos dioses: porque les predicaba á Jesús y la resurrección.