Acts 17:28-34

17:28 For in him we live and move about ¹  and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’ ²  17:29 So since we are God’s offspring, we should not think the deity ³  is like gold or silver or stone, an image ⁴  made by human ⁵  skill ⁶  and imagination. ⁷  17:30 Therefore, although God has overlooked ⁸  such times of ignorance, ⁹  he now commands all people ¹⁰  everywhere to repent, ¹¹  17:31 because he has set ¹²  a day on which he is going to judge the world ¹³  in righteousness, by a man whom he designated, ¹⁴  having provided proof to everyone by raising ¹⁵  him from the dead.”

17:32 Now when they heard about ¹⁶  the resurrection from the dead, some began to scoff, ¹⁷  but others said, “We will hear you again about this.” 17:33 So Paul left the Areopagus. ¹⁸  17:34 But some people ¹⁹  joined him ²⁰  and believed. Among them ²¹  were Dionysius, who was a member of the Areopagus, ²²  a woman ²³  named Damaris, and others with them.

[17:28]  ¹ tn According to L&N 15.1, “A strictly literal translation of κινέω in Ac 17:28 might imply merely moving from one place to another. The meaning, however, is generalized movement and activity; therefore, it may be possible to translate κινούμεθα as ‘we come and go’ or ‘we move about’’ or even ‘we do what we do.’”

[17:28]  ² sn This quotation is from Aratus (ca. 310-245 b.c.), Phaenomena 5. Paul asserted a general relationship and accountability to God for all humanity.

[17:29]  ³ tn Or “the divine being.” BDAG 446 s.v. θεῖος 1.b has “divine being, divinity” here.

[17:29]  ⁴ tn Or “a likeness.” Again idolatry is directly attacked as an affront to God and a devaluation of him.

[17:29]  ⁵ tn Grk “by the skill and imagination of man,” but ἀνθρώπου (anqrwpou) has been translated as an attributive genitive.

[17:29]  ⁶ tn Or “craftsmanship” (cf. BDAG 1001 s.v. τέχνη).

[17:29]  ⁷ tn Or “thought.” BDAG 336 s.v. ἐνθύμησις has “thought, reflection, idea” as the category of meaning here, but in terms of creativity (as in the context) the imaginative faculty is in view.

[17:30]  ⁸ tn Or “has deliberately paid no attention to.”

[17:30]  ⁹ tn Or “times when people did not know.”

[17:30]  ¹⁰ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

[17:30]  ¹¹ sn He now commands all people everywhere to repent. God was now asking all mankind to turn to him. No nation or race was excluded.

[17:31]  ¹² tn Or “fixed.”

[17:31]  ¹³ sn The world refers to the whole inhabited earth.

[17:31]  ¹⁴ tn Or “appointed.” BDAG 723 s.v. ὁρίζω 2.b has “of persons appoint, designate, declare: God judges the world ἐν ἀνδρὶ ᾧ ὥρισεν through a man whom he has appointed Ac 17:31.”

[17:31]  ¹⁵ tn The participle ἀναστήσας (anasthsa") indicates means here.

[17:32]  ¹⁶ tn The participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") has been taken temporally.

[17:32]  ¹⁷ tn L&N 33.408 has “some scoffed (at him) Ac 17:32” for ἐχλεύαζον (ecleuazon) here; the imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to scoff”).

[17:33]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “left out of their midst”; the referent (the Areopagus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[17:34]  ¹⁹ tn Although the Greek word here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which normally refers to males, husbands, etc., in this particular context it must have a generic force similar to that of ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo"), since “a woman named Damaris” is mentioned specifically as being part of this group (cf. BDAG 79 s.v. ἀνήρ 1.a).

[17:34]  ²⁰ tn Grk “joining him, believed.” The participle κολληθέντες (kollhqente") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. On the use of this verb in Acts, see 5:13; 8:29; 9:26; 10:28.

[17:34]  ²¹ tn Grk “among whom.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (“whom”) has been translated as a third person plural pronoun (“them”) and a new sentence begun in the translation.

[17:34]  ²² tn Grk “the Areopagite” (a member of the council of the Areopagus). The noun “Areopagite” is not in common usage today in English. It is clearer to use a descriptive phrase “a member of the Areopagus” (L&N 11.82). However, this phrase alone can be misleading in English: “Dionysius, a member of the Areopagus, and a woman named Damaris” could be understood to refer to three people (Dionysius, an unnamed member of the Areopagus, and Damaris) rather than only two. Converting the descriptive phrase to a relative clause in English (“who was a member of the Areopagus”) removes the ambiguity.

[17:34]  ²³ tn Grk “and a woman”; but this καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.