Passage

Acts 17.24-25

"The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all people life and breath and all things." (Acts 17:24-25, NASB95)

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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;"

"26. and he made of one every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed seasons, and the bounds of their habitation; 27. that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us:" (Acts 17:22-27, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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."

"26. He made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the surface of the earth, having determined appointed seasons, and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27. that they should seek the Lord, if perhaps they might reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us." (Acts 17:22-27, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"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;"

"26. And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; 27. That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:" (Acts 17:22-27, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"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;"

"26. He made also of one blood every nation of men, to dwell upon all the face of the earth, having ordained times before appointed, and the bounds of their dwellings, 27. to seek the Lord, if perhaps they did feel after Him and find,, though, indeed, He is not far from each one of us," (Acts 17:22-27, YLT)

Synthesis

Acts 17:24-25 is the apostolic Christian doctrine of God packed into two sentences for a pagan philosophical audience. Paul the Apostle, standing on the Areopagus before Stoics and Epicureans, makes three moves at once: God is the world's Maker (creator), He is the world's Lord (sovereign over heaven and earth), and He is its sustainer (giving to all life and breath and all things). He is therefore not contained in temples and does not need human service. The verse is the locus classicus for Aseity, divine self-existence, and is the most-cited passage in ris3n's notes on the Cosmic Dictator Objection Defeater and the contrast between Classical Theism vs Theistic Personalism.

Setting

Speaker: Paul, addressing the Areopagus council
Audience: Athenian intellectuals, Stoics, Epicureans, and other philosophers who heard him in the agora and brought him up to the council to explain his teaching
Location: Athens, the Areopagus (Mars' Hill), the civic and philosophical court of the city
Time period: Paul's second missionary journey, c. AD 50-51

Theological reading

The two verses negate the two assumptions of Greco-Roman religion that Paul has been observing all morning: that the gods are localized in shrines (refuted: "does not dwell in temples made with hands") and that the gods need human offerings and care (refuted: "nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything"). Both negations follow from a single positive premise, God made the world and gives all things life and breath. A being who is the source of all existence cannot be housed by a piece of His own creation or fed by creatures whose very breath He supplies.

This is Aseity, God's a-se, "from-Himself", existence, preached not as abstract metaphysics but as the answer to natural theological confusion. The verse cuts in two directions apologetically. Against pagan polytheism, it asserts that the divine is not constituted by need-relations with creatures. Against the modern Cosmic Dictator Objection (that God's demand for worship is the demand of a needy tyrant), it asserts the exact opposite: God gains nothing from worship, because He gains nothing from anything. He gives; He does not receive. Worship is therefore for the creature's benefit and is fitting because of who God is, not transactionally earned.

The verse pairs with Paul's quotation of Aratus in Acts 17.28 ("in Him we live and move and exist") to give a complete creator-sustainer doctrine. It pairs with Romans 1.18-21 for natural-theology, what creation makes evident about the Creator. And it pairs with Suppression of God Thesis for Paul's diagnostic of pagan religion: not pure ignorance, but knowledge held under (Rom 1:18-21).

Key words

Kosmos (G2889), "the world"; Paul uses Greek philosophical vocabulary to claim every Greek philosopher's domain for the biblical God.
Kyrios (G2962), "Lord"; Paul applies it to the Maker of heaven and earth.
Cheiropoiētos (G5499), "made with hands"; LXX-pejorative for idolatry, here turned against the Greek temple system.

Theological themes

Aseity. God exists from Himself, depends on nothing, needs nothing. Worship adds to Him; He is not augmented by it.
Divine transcendence. God is not localized in shrines; He transcends every spatial container.
Creator-sustainer. The same God who made the world continues to give all things life and breath and all things.
Cosmic-Dictator defeater. A God who needs nothing cannot be a tyrant extracting tribute; His command of worship is for our good.
Natural-theology apologetic. Paul builds outward from creation-evidence to the identity of the unknown God the Athenians have already partially acknowledged.

Cross-references

Acts 17.28, "in Him we live and move and exist"; Paul's pagan-poet citation completes the creator-sustainer claim.
Acts 17, the full Areopagus address.
Romans 1.18-21, the parallel natural-theology and suppression argument.
Psalms 50.9-13, the OT root of "I will accept no bull from your house"; God does not need sacrifice.
1 Kings 8.27, Solomon at the temple dedication: heaven of heavens cannot contain You.
Isaiah 66:1-2, heaven is My throne, earth My footstool; what house will you build for Me?

Quoted in

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.