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Texts -- Acts 17:1-28 (NET)

Context
Paul and Silas at Thessalonica
17:1 After they traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia , they came to Thessalonica , where there was a Jewish synagogue . 17:2 Paul went to the Jews in the synagogue , as he customarily did, and on three Sabbath days he addressed them from the scriptures , 17:3 explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead , saying , “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ .” 17:4 Some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas , along with a large group of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women . 17:5 But the Jews became jealous , and gathering together some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace , they formed a mob and set the city in an uproar . They attacked Jason’s house , trying to find Paul and Silas to bring them out to the assembly . 17:6 When they did not find them , they dragged Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials , screaming , “These people who have stirred up trouble throughout the world have come here too , 17:7 and Jason has welcomed them as guests! They are all acting against Caesar’s decrees , saying there is another king named Jesus !” 17:8 They caused confusion among the crowd and the city officials who heard these things . 17:9 After the city officials had received bail from Jason and the others , they released them .
Paul and Silas at Berea
17:10 The brothers sent Paul and Silas off to Berea at once , during the night . When they arrived , they went to the Jewish synagogue . 17:11 These Jews were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica , for they eagerly received the message , examining the scriptures carefully every day to see if these things were so . 17:12 Therefore many of them believed , along with quite a few prominent Greek women and men . 17:13 But when the Jews from Thessalonica heard that Paul had also proclaimed the word of God in Berea , they came there too , inciting and disturbing the crowds . 17:14 Then the brothers sent Paul away to the coast at once , but Silas and Timothy remained in Berea . 17:15 Those who accompanied Paul escorted him as far as Athens , and after receiving an order for Silas and Timothy to come to him as soon as possible , they left .
Paul at Athens
17:16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens , his spirit was greatly upset because he saw the city was full of idols . 17:17 So he was addressing the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles in the synagogue , and in the marketplace every day those who happened to be there . 17:18 Also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him , and some were asking , “What does this foolish babbler want to say?” Others said , “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign gods .” (They said this because he was proclaiming the good news about Jesus and the resurrection .) 17:19 So they took Paul and brought him to the Areopagus , saying , “May we know what this new teaching is that you are proclaiming ? 17:20 For you are bringing some surprising things to our ears , so we want to know what they mean .” 17:21 (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to something new .) 17:22 So Paul stood before the Areopagus and said , “Men of Athens , I see that you are very religious in all respects . 17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship , I even found an altar with this inscription : ‘To an unknown god .’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you . 17:24 The God who made the world and everything in it , who is Lord of heaven and earth , does not live in temples made by human hands , 17:25 nor is he served by human hands , as if he needed anything , because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone . 17:26 From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth , determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live , 17:27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us . 17:28 For in him we live and move about and exist , as even some of your own poets have said , ‘For we too are his offspring .’

Pericope

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Hymns

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  • [Act 17:26] For The Whole Wide World
  • [Act 17:28] I Know No Life Divided
  • [Act 17:28] Living For Jesus
  • [Act 17:28] O God, In Whom We Live And Move
  • [Act 17:28] Ye Humble Souls, Approach Your God

Questions

Sermon Illustrations

What Is Your Style of Evangelism?; How Paul Witnessed; Evangelistic Activities in Acts; It’s His Job to Forgive!; World (Kosmos); Search the Scriptures; Acts 17:6

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Expository Notes on the Bible (Constable)

  • This table shows that Yahweh created all peoples (cf. Deut. 32:8; Amos 9:7; Acts 17:26). As the genealogy in chapter 5, this one traces 10 main individuals, and the last one named had three sons."The table of nations is a hor...
  • The main emphasis in this section is not the building of the tower of Babel but the dispersion of the peoples. We can see this in the literary structure of the passage.361AAll the earth had one language (v. 1)Bthere (v. 2)C o...
  • 5:1-9 At Moses and Aaron's first audience with Pharaoh they simply presented God's command (v. 1). They did not perform miracles but asked for permission to leave Egypt.The Israelites could have worshipped the gods of Egypt i...
  • This commandment is a prohibition against making images or likenesses of Yahweh. God forbade idolatry itself in the first commandment.This commandment was necessary for at least three reasons.1. Any material representation of...
  • The events of this book took place between those recorded in Ezra 6 and 7. They have nothing to do with the people who returned from exile in Babylon. They deal with those who remained behind. Remember the dates of the three ...
  • This pericope repeats and refocuses the invitation just extended (vv. 1-3). The offer continues to be to come to God, but the focus shifts from receiving satisfaction to resting in faith and from salvation's freeness to its t...
  • The theme of discipleship training continues in this section of verses. The 70 disciples that Jesus sent out contrast with the three men Luke just finished presenting (9:57-62). This was a second mission on which Jesus sent a...
  • 17:22-23 Jesus next gave His disciples more instruction about the coming of the kingdom. One of the days of the Son of Man refers to one of the future days when the Son of Man will be reigning on the earth (cf. vv. 24-25, 30)...
  • Longenecker identified five phenomena about the structure of Acts that the reader needs to recognize to appreciate what Luke sought to communicate."1. It begins, like the [Third] Gospel, with an introductory section of distin...
  • I. The witness in Jerusalem 1:1-6:7A. The founding of the church 1:1-2:461. The resumptive preface to the book 1:1-52. The command to witness 1:6-83. The ascension of Jesus 1:9-114. Jesus' appointment of a twelfth apostle 1:1...
  • The key to the apostles' successful fulfillment of Jesus' commission was their baptism with and consequent indwelling by the Holy Spirit. Without this divine enablement they would only have been able to follow Jesus' example,...
  • 4:23-28 After hearing the apostle's report, the Christians sought the Lord (Gr. Despota, sovereign ruler) in prayer."Three movements may be discerned in this prayer of the early church: (1) God is sovereign (v. 24). (2) God's...
  • 9:10-12 Evidently Ananias was not a refugee from Jerusalem (22:12) but a resident of Damascus. He, too, received a vision of the Lord Jesus (v. 17) to whom he submitted willingly (cf. 1 Sam. 3:4, 10). Jesus gave Ananias speci...
  • 9:19b-20 How verses 19b-20 fit into the chronology of events in Saul's life is not perfectly clear. They could fit in any number of ways. We should probably understand "immediately"in a general sense. As soon as Saul became a...
  • Peter's sermon on this occasion is the first sermon in Acts addressed to a Gentile audience (cf. 14:15-17; 17:22-31). It is quite similar to the ones Peter preached in 2:14-40 and 3:11-26 except that this one has more informa...
  • Luke recorded the events of Paul's first missionary journey to document the extension of the church into new territory and to illustrate the principles and methods by which the church grew. He also did so to show God's supern...
  • Luke recorded three of Paul's evangelistic messages to unbelievers: here in Pisidian Antioch, in Lystra (14:15-17), and in Athens (17:22-31). This is the longest of the three, though Luke quite certainly condensed all of them...
  • 13:42-43 Paul's message created great interest in the hearts of many people who listened to him. He and Barnabas continued clarifying the gospel for their inquirers during the following week.565Here "the grace of God"refers t...
  • 14:8 Like Antioch of Pisidia, Lystra (modern Zoldera) was a Roman colony.580It was the most eastern of the fortified cities of Galatia. Lystra was about 20 miles south of Iconium.581Luke did not mention synagogue evangelism h...
  • 14:21b-22 The missionaries confined their labors to the Galatian province on this trip. They did not move farther east into the kingdom of Antiochus or the province Cilicia that Paul may have evangelized previously during his...
  • Luke devoted more space to Paul's evangelizing in Philippi than he did to the apostle's activities in any other city on the second and third journeys even though Paul was there only briefly. It was the first European city in ...
  • 17:1 Paul, Silas, Timothy, and perhaps others left Philippi and headed southwest on the Egnatian Road. Luke evidently stayed in Philippi since he again described Paul's party as "they"instead of "we"(cf. 20:5-6). Paul and Sil...
  • 17:10 For a second time Paul fled a city under cover of night (cf. 9:25; Matt. 10:23). He and Silas left the Via Egnatia at Thessalonica and took the eastern coastal road toward Athens. They headed for Berea (modern Verria) a...
  • 17:16 Athens stood five miles inland from its port of Piraeus, which was on the Saronic Gulf of the Aegean Sea. Athens had reached its prime 500 years before Paul visited it, in the time of Pericles (461-429 B.C.).705However ...
  • Luke probably recorded Paul's address (vv. 22-31) as a sample of his preaching to intellectual pagans (cf. 13:16-41; 14:15-18; 20:18-35).712In this speech Paul began with God as Creator and brought his hearers to God as Judge...
  • Most Greeks rejected the possibility of physical resurrection.721Many of them believed that the most desirable condition lay beyond the grave where the soul would finally be free of the body (e.g., Platonists). The response o...
  • 18:1 Corinth was the capital of the Roman province of Achaia and was a Roman colony. The Romans razed Corinth in 146 B.C., but it was rebuilt a century later in 46 B.C. Its site lay about 50 miles southwest of Athens at a ver...
  • 18:5 Maybe Paul was able to stop practicing his trade and give full time to teaching and evangelizing if Silas returned from Philippi with a monetary gift, as seems likely (cf. Phil. 4:14-16; 2 Cor. 11:9). Timothy had returne...
  • 18:12 An inscription found at Delphi in Central Greece has enabled scholars to date the beginning of Gallio's term as proconsul to July 1, 51 A.D.740Gallio was a remarkable Roman citizen from Spain. His brother, the Stoic phi...
  • Paul had attempted to reach the province of Asia earlier (16:6). Now the Lord permitted him to go there but from the west rather than from the east. Luke recorded his initial contact in Ephesus in this section to set the scen...
  • The following incident throws more light on the spiritual darkness that enveloped Ephesus as well as the power of Jesus Christ and the gospel.19:13 "But"introduces a contrast to the good miracles that "God was performing . . ...
  • This incident reveals more about the effects of the gospel on Ephesian society and religion (cf. vv. 13-20)."Luke's purpose in presenting this vignette is clearly apologetic, in line with his argument for the religio licitast...
  • "Paul's farewell address to the Ephesian elders is the nearest approximation to the Pauline letters in Acts. Its general content recalls how in his letters Paul encouraged, warned, and exhorted his converts. Moreover, its the...
  • 21:27-28 The Jews from Asia, possibly from Ephesus, were obviously unbelievers. They charged Paul with the same kind of crimes the unbelieving Jews had accused Stephen of committing (6:11, 13-14). The Jews permitted Gentiles ...
  • 23:12-15 Paul's adversaries (cf. 21:27-29) evidently agreed together not to taste food or drink again until Paul was dead. Their plan was to have the chief priests and elders of Israel ask the Roman commander to return Paul t...
  • Paul was not on trial here. When he had appealed to Caesar (25:11), he had guaranteed that his next trial would be before the emperor. This was just a hearing designed to acquaint Agrippa with Paul's case so Agrippa could giv...
  • Sermons and Speeches in Acts984SpeakersOccasions and or HearersCitiesReferencesPeter (1)Selection of successor to JudasJerusalem1:16-22Peter (2)Signs on the day of PentecostJerusalem2:14-36Peter (3)Healing of lame man in the ...
  • Sequence of Paul's ActivitiesDateEventReferenceBirth in TarsusActs 22:3Early life and theological education in Jerusalem under GamalielActs 22:334Participation in Stephen's stoning outside JerusalemActs 7:57-8:134Leadership i...
  • Albright, William Foxwell. The Archaeology of Palestine. 1949. Revised ed. Pelican Archaeology series. Harmondswroth, Middlesex, England: Penguin Books, 1956.Alexander, Joseph Addison. Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles. ...
  • Having now proven all people, Jews and Gentiles, under God's wrath Paul drove the final nail in mankind's spiritual coffin by citing Scriptural proof.3:9 The phrase "What then?"introduces a conclusion to the argument that all...
  • Paul had been somewhat critical of the strong and the weak in the Roman church (14:1-15:13). He now balanced those comments by pointing out other strengths in the church beside the faith of his Roman brethren (1:8).15:14 Paul...
  • The men whom Paul mentioned in verse 21 all seem to have been his fellow missionaries who were working with him in Corinth when he wrote this epistle. Lucius may have been Luke, the writer of Luke and Acts.414Jason (v. 21) ma...
  • Sequence of Paul's ActivitiesDateEventReferenceBirth in TarsusActs 22:3Early life and theological education in Jerusalem under GamalielActs 22:334Participation in Stephen's stoning outside JerusalemActs 7:57-8:134Leadership i...
  • Paul offered the example of his preaching among the Corinthians as a further illustration of what the wisdom of God can do in contrast to what the words that humans regard as wisdom can do."The matters of literary contextand ...
  • Having claimed singleness of purpose in his dealings with the Corinthians, Paul proceeded to help them appreciate the fact that his behavior had been consistent with his Spirit-led purposes."Long-range plans may need to be mo...
  • Paul was not only proud of the Corinthians but he also rejoiced over the Christians in Macedonia, the Corinthians' neighbors to the north. This joy connects the present section with the former one.8:1-2 Paul tactfully began h...
  • 3:8 Paul had regarded his advantages over other people as what put him in a specially good position with God. However, he had come to realize that absolutely nothing apart from Jesus Christ's work on the cross was of any valu...
  • Paul seems to have intended the references in these verses to previous gifts that the Philippians had sent him to dispel any doubts they may have had about the genuineness of his gratitude.4:15 The Philippians had been very t...
  • Paul revealed what his readers enjoyed in Christ in this pericope to encourage them to remain faithful to the true revelation they had received and believed."The apostle now makes his most direct attack against the Colossian ...
  • Thessalonica was an important city. Cassander, the Macedonian king, founded it in 315 B.C. and named it for his wife, who was a half-sister of Alexander the Great. It was the capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, and it...
  • 1:4-5 Paul's favorite appellation for the Thessalonians was "brothers."He used it 15 times in this epistle and seven times in 2 Thessalonians. It emphasizes the equality of Christians in the family of God, Jews and Gentiles. ...
  • Paul proceeded to rehearse the events of his ministry among his readers summarizing his motivation and actions. He did so to strengthen their confidence in him in view of questions that may have arisen in their minds and accu...
  • 1:3 In his earlier epistle to the Thessalonians Paul had urged them to grow in faith (1 Thess. 4:10) and to increase in love (1 Thess. 3:12). He now rejoiced that they were doing both of these things (v. 3).5Paul began each o...
  • 1:13 "Therefore"ties in with everything Peter had explained thus far (vv. 3-12). He said in effect, Now that you have focused your thinking positively you need to roll up your sleeves mentally and adopt some attitudes that wi...
  • Jesus Christ knew the afflictions (lit. pressures) these Christians were experiencing as a result of their testimony for Him including abject poverty. Evidently their persecutors were cutting off some of their incomes. Notwit...

Expositions Of Holy Scripture (Maclaren)

  • Now, when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews: 2. And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath-days reasoned with them out of the...
  • Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars-hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. 23. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, To the ...
  • It is always a mistake for the apostle of a new truth to begin by running a tilt at old errors. It is common sense to seek to find some point in the present beliefs of his hearers to which his message may attach itself. An or...
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