Acts 17:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: for “‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said, “‘For we are indeed his offspring.’

NIV: For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'

NASB: for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His descendants.’

CSB: For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are also his offspring.'

NLT: For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

KJV: For in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring.

NKJV: for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

Paul is in the Areopagus. There, he explains to Stoic and Epicurean philosophers that the Creator God of the universe is near enough to us to want a relationship, but magnificent enough that His likeness cannot be confined to a handmade idol. He has explained that God not only gives life and breath to everything, but He also established the times and places for people and nations to exist for the purpose of inviting them to seek Him (Acts 17:22–27, 29).

His first quote is by either Epimenides of Crete or an unknown Athenian poet. It is from the verse:

They fashioned a tomb for thee, O holy and high one— The Cretans, always liars, evil beasts, idle bellies!— But thou art not dead; thou livest and abidest for ever, For in thee we live and move and have our being.

It shows that the Creator must be "near" because He is our source of life and animation. The fact that He gives us life means He is greater and yet like us.

Paul's second quote is from the opening call to Zeus in the poem Phaenomena from the Cilician Stoic Aratus:

Let us begin with Zeus. Never, O men, let us leave him unmentioned. All the ways are full of Zeus, and all the market-places of human beings. The sea is full of him; so are the harbors. In every way we have all to do with Zeus, for we are truly his offspring.

The Stoics in Paul's audience so believe that all mankind are Zeus's offspring, they insist slaves are equal to citizens and freedmen.

If God is the source of our movement and being, and if we are His offspring, it's illogical to make images of Him by human hands (Acts 17:29). Paul shows that idols don't make sense even within the Athenian belief system.

Instead, Paul calls the Athenians to repent. They have disrespected God and need to acknowledge their sin of idolatry. Just as God set times for individuals and nations, He set a time for future judgment. He affirmed this by selecting the judge and identifying Him by raising Him from the dead (Acts 17:30–31).

This is a step too far for most of the philosophers. Epicureans and Stoics didn't believe in judgment or the resurrection of the dead. They mock Paul while he walks away (Acts 17:32–33).

Acts 17:22–34 contains the second of two sermons which Luke records from Paul. The more typical sermon explains to synagogues how Jesus is the Messiah (Acts 13:16–41). Here, however, Paul is speaking to a group of Athenian philosophers. Paul uses lines from classical poets to introduce the Creator God who cannot be represented by an idol. He calls his audience to repent of their idolatry lest they face judgment by the representative God has resurrected. But they don't believe in the resurrection of the dead or final judgment. The majority dismiss Paul as a fool and go on their way.

Acts 17 describes how Paul's ministry travels down the coast of Greece. In Thessalonica, some Jews and God-fearing Gentiles believe while other Jews start a riot (Acts 17:1–9). The Bereans study the veracity of Paul's statements—until the Thessalonian Jews arrive and threaten to start another riot (Acts 17:10–15). Paul flees to Athens where the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers accept Paul's argument when he uses Greek poets to introduce God as the creator of the world, but lose interest when he mentions the resurrection from the dead (Acts 17:16–34).

Acts 17 continues Paul and Silas' travels out of Macedonia and on to Greece. The two have been through modern-day Asia minor where they picked up Timothy in Lystra and Luke in Troas (Acts 16:1–10). They have established a strong church in Philippi but were forced to leave after being falsely imprisoned (Acts 16:11–40). They now skip down the coast to Thessalonica, Berea, and Athens. From here, they will spend a considerable amount of time in Corinth before heading back to Judea and Syrian Antioch (Acts 18:1–22).

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.