ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Acts 17.30-31

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

28. for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain even of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring. 29. Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and device of man.

30. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: 31. inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

  1. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again. 33. Thus Paul went out from among them. (Acts 17:28-33, ASV)
WEB

28. ‘For in him we live, and move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’ 29. Being then the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold, or silver, or stone, engraved by art and design of man.

30. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31. because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”

  1. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.” 33. Thus Paul went out from among them. (Acts 17:28-33, WEB)
KJV

28. 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. 29. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device.

30. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31. Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. hath given: or, offered faith

  1. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33. So Paul departed from among them. (Acts 17:28-33, KJV)
YLT

28. for in Him we live, and move, and are; as also certain of your poets have said: For of Him also we are offspring. 29. 'Being, therefore, offspring of God, we ought not to think the Godhead to be like to gold, or silver, or stone, graving of art and device of man;

30. the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform, 31. because He did set a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom He did ordain, having given assurance to all, having raised him out of the dead.'

  1. And having heard of a rising again of the dead, some, indeed, were mocking, but others said, 'We will hear thee again concerning this;' 33. and so Paul went forth from the midst of them, (Acts 17:28-33, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: Paul
  • Audience: the Areopagus council and the philosophers of Athens
  • Location: the Areopagus, Athens
  • Time period: c. AD 50 to 51

Theological reading

The conclusion of the Areopagus address, and the place where the accommodation stops.

The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent. Having granted the Athenians their altar, their poets, and their groping search, Paul now issues a command. The word is parangello, to charge or order, and it is addressed to all men everywhere, which in a city of local cults is a jurisdictional claim as much as a moral one.

Verse 31 gives the reason and it is entirely historical: God has appointed a day of judgment by a man whom he ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.

The word rendered assurance is pistis, the same term usually translated faith. Here it functions as the noun for evidence or proof offered, and the structure of the sentence is that the resurrection is the guarantee provided for a claim about the future. Paul does not ask the Athenians to believe on the grounds of the poets he has just cited. He rests the whole address on a public event.

The response in verse 32 is honest reporting: some mocked, some deferred, some believed, and Luke names two of them. A fabricated success story does not end with a mixed verdict and a short convert list. See Resurrection of Jesus and Minimal Facts Argument.

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.

Quoted in

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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.