Acts 17:23

17:23 For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, ¹  I even found an altar with this inscription: ²  ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, ³  this I proclaim to you.

Galatians 4:8-9

Heirs of Promise Are Not to Return to Law

4:8 Formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to beings that by nature are not gods at all. ⁴  4:9 But now that you have come to know God (or rather to be known by God), how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless ⁵  basic forces? ⁶  Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? ⁷ 

Ephesians 2:12

2:12 that you were at that time without the Messiah, ⁸  alienated from the citizenship of Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, ⁹  having no hope and without God in the world.

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ¹⁰  dead ¹¹  in your transgressions and sins,

Ephesians 4:5

4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

[17:23]  ¹ tn Or “your sanctuaries.” L&N 53.54 gives “sanctuary” (place of worship) as an alternate meaning for the word σεβάσματα (sebasmata).

[17:23]  ² tn Grk “on which was written,” but since it would have been carved in stone, it is more common to speak of an “inscription” in English. To simplify the English the relative construction with a passive verb (“on which was inscribed”) was translated as a prepositional phrase with a substantive (“inscription”).

[17:23]  ³ tn BDAG 13 s.v. ἀγνοέω 1.b has “Abs. ὅ ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε what you worship without knowing it (on the subject matter Maximus Tyr. 11, 5e: all sorts of philosophers ἴσασιν οὐκ ἑκόντες καὶ λέγουσιν ἄκοντες sc. τὸ θεῖον = they know and name God without intending to do so) Ac 17:23.” Paul, in typical Jewish Christian style, informs them of the true God, of whom their idols are an ignorant reflection.

[4:8]  ⁴ tn Grk “those that by nature…” with the word “beings” implied. BDAG 1070 s.v. φύσις 2 sees this as referring to pagan worship: “Polytheists worship…beings that are by nature no gods at all Gal 4:8.”

[4:9]  ⁵ tn Or “useless.” See L&N 65.16.

[4:9]  ⁶ tn See the note on the phrase “basic forces” in 4:3.

[4:9]  ⁷ tn Grk “basic forces, to which you want to be enslaved…” Verse 9 is a single sentence in the Greek text, but has been divided into two in the translation because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence.

[2:12]  ⁸ tn Or “without Christ.” Both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.” Because the context refers to ancient Israel’s messianic expectation, “Messiah” was employed in the translation at this point rather than “Christ.”

[2:12]  ⁹ tn Or “covenants of the promise.”

[2:1]  ¹⁰ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ¹¹ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.