Passage

Acts 17.23

Book: Acts · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"21. (Now all the Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.) 22. And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things, I perceive that ye are very religious."

"23. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore ye worship in ignorance, this I set forth unto you."

"24. The God that made the world and all things therein, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25. neither is he served by men's hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;" (Acts 17:21-25, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"21. Now all the Athenians and the strangers living there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing. 22. Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus, and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things."

"23. For as I passed along, and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ What therefore you worship in ignorance, this I announce to you."

"24. The God who made the world and all things in it, he, being Lord of heaven and earth, doesn’t dwell in temples made with hands, 25. neither is he served by men’s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself gives to all life and breath, and all things." (Acts 17:21-25, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"21. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.) 22. 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. ^{Mars' hill: or, court of the Areopagites}"

"23. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship, him declare I unto you. ^{devotions: or, gods that ye worship}"

"24. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands; 25. Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;" (Acts 17:21-25, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"21. and all Athenians, and the strangers sojourning, for nothing else were at leisure but to say something, and to hear some newer thing. 22. And Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, said, 'Men, Athenians, in all things I perceive you as over-religious;"

"23. for passing through and contemplating your objects of worship, I found also an erection on which had been inscribed: To God, unknown; whom, therefore, not knowing, ye do worship, this One I announce to you."

"24. 'God, who did make the world, and all things in it, this One, of heaven and of earth being Lord, in temples made with hands doth not dwell, 25. neither by the hands of men is He served, needing anything, He giving to all life, and breath, and all things;" (Acts 17:21-25, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

TBD
TBD
TBD
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Quoted in

Agnostic Retreat Defeater

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.