ACTs 17:16 Parallel View

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The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Key: yellow:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him, seeing the city being full of idols.

UST In Athens, Paul waited for Silas and Timothy to come. In the meantime, he walked around in the city. He became very distressed because there were many idols in the city.

BSB § While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols.

BLB Now of Paul in Athens waiting for them, his spirit was provoked in him, seeing the city to be utterly idolatrous.

AICNT Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.

OEB ¶ While Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his heart was stirred at seeing the whole city full of idols.

WEB Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols.

NET While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was greatly upset because he saw the city was full of idols.

LSV and Paul waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, beholding the city wholly given to idolatry,

FBV While Paul was waiting for them in Athens he was very troubled to see all the idolatry in the city.

TCNT While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was full of idols.

T4T In Athens, Paul waited for Silas and Timothy to arrive. In the meantime, he walked around in the city. He became very distressed/disturbed because he saw that throughout [HYP] the city there were many idols.

LEB Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he[fn] observed the city was full of idols.

?:? *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“observed”) which is understood as temporal

BBE Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was troubled, for he saw all the town full of images of the gods.

MOF No MOF ACTs book available

ASV Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he beheld the city full of idols.

DRA Now whilst Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred within him, seeing the city wholly given to idolatry.

YLT and Paul waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, beholding the city wholly given to idolatry,

DBY But in Athens, while Paul was waiting for them, his spirit was painfully excited in him seeing the city given up to idolatry.

RV Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him, as he beheld the city full of idols.

WBS Now, while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

KJB ¶ Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.

BB Whyle Paul wayted for them at Athens, his spirite was moued in hym, when he sawe the citie geue to worshippyng of idoles.
(Whyle Paul wayted for them at Athens, his spirit was moved in him, when he saw the city give to worshippyng of idoles.)

GNV Nowe while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirite was stirred in him, when hee sawe the citie subiect to idolatrie.
(Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city subiect to idolatrie. )

CB But whyle Paul wayted for them at Athens, his sprete was moued in him, whan he sawe the cite geue so to the worshippinge of ymages.
(But while Paul wayted for them at Athens, his spirit was moved in him, when he saw the cite give so to the worshippinge of ymages.)

TNT Whyll Paul wayted for them at Attens his sprete was moved in him to se the cite geven to worshippinge of ymages.
(Whyll Paul wayted for them at Attens his spirit was moved in him to see the cite given to worshippinge of ymages. )

WYC And while Poul abood hem at Atenys, his spirit was moued in him, for he saiy the citee youun to ydolatrie.
(And while Poul abood them at Atenys, his spirit was moved in him, for he saiy the city given to ydolatrie.)

LUT Da aber Paulus ihrer zu Athen wartete, ergrimmete sein Geist in ihm, da er sah die Stadt so gar abgöttisch.
(So but Paulus ihrer to Athen wartete, ergrimmete his spirit in ihm, there he saw the city so even abgöttisch.)

CLV Paulus autem cum Athenis eos exspectaret, incitabatur spiritus ejus in ipso, videns idololatriæ deditam civitatem.
(Paulus however when/with Athenis them exspectaret, incitabatur spiritus his in ipso, videns idololatriæ he_gaveam civitatem. )

UGNT ἐν δὲ ταῖς Ἀθήναις, ἐκδεχομένου αὐτοὺς τοῦ Παύλου, παρωξύνετο τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ, θεωροῦντος κατείδωλον οὖσαν τὴν πόλιν.
(en de tais Athaʸnais, ekdeⱪomenou autous tou Paulou, parōxuneto to pneuma autou en autōi, theōrountos kateidōlon ousan taʸn polin.)

SBL-GNT Ἐν δὲ ταῖς Ἀθήναις ἐκδεχομένου αὐτοὺς τοῦ Παύλου, παρωξύνετο τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ ⸀θεωροῦντος κατείδωλον οὖσαν τὴν πόλιν.
(En de tais Athaʸnais ekdeⱪomenou autous tou Paulou, parōxuneto to pneuma autou en autōi ⸀theōrountos kateidōlon ousan taʸn polin. )

TC-GNT Ἐν δὲ ταῖς Ἀθήναις ἐκδεχομένου αὐτοὺς τοῦ Παύλου, παρωξύνετο τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ, [fn]θεωροῦντι κατείδωλον οὖσαν τὴν πόλιν.
(En de tais Athaʸnais ekdeⱪomenou autous tou Paulou, parōxuneto to pneuma autou en autōi, theōrounti kateidōlon ousan taʸn polin.)

17:16 θεωρουντι ¦ θεωρουντος CT

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

TTN Tyndale Theme Notes:

The Unknown God

When Paul spoke to the Areopagus, the “high council of the city” of Athens (Acts 17:19), he was speaking to people who did not share his faith in the God of Abraham and Moses who had revealed himself “many times and in many ways to [his] ancestors through the prophets” (Heb 1:1). The members of his audience had a very different definition of the divine. A host of divinities inhabited their world, and the common people retained much of their belief in the ancient gods. But many of the cultural elite of Athens no longer believed in the gods in any literal sense. Instead, they held to either a form of materialism (the physical is everything) or pantheism (the divine inhabits everything).

What they all shared in common was the absence of the idea that there is one true God who is Lord of all. Their myths told of the activities of various gods, but they did not have faith that the ultimate reality, God himself, could be known. Instead, they reasoned and discussed “the latest ideas,” hoping for a better understanding of the nature of things.

There were a wide variety of philosophical ideas current in Athens when Paul visited, but two main schools of thought dominated, Stoicism and Epicureanism (Acts 17:18).

Zeno of Citium (334~262 BC) founded Stoicism. Stoics studied nature’s laws and believed in the Logos, a pervasive organizing and sustaining force that gives all things their essential nature and so gives life and reason to humanity. The good life is one in which reason rules, and peace of mind and harmony with nature prevail. Many prominent statesmen were Stoics or influenced by Stoicism, including Cicero, Seneca, and Marcus Aurelius. Stoic ideas proved attractive to some Christians because of the similarities between the Stoic logos and the divine Logos (John 1:1-18), and between the idea of natural law and the law of God.

Those who followed Epicurus (341–270 BC) were empiricists; they relied upon sense experience (as opposed to reason) for knowledge. Epicureans were concerned with natural evidence and were unenthusiastic about mathematics. Their focus was ethics, the study of right behavior; they judged the value of an action or thing in terms of the pleasure or pain it brought. Epicurus saw belief in gods (meddling and powerful beings who terrified ordinary mortals) as a serious threat to tranquility. For him and his followers, neither the gods nor death (which is the end) should be feared.

When Paul spoke in that context, he used their own poets to proclaim things that they could barely comprehend: That the God who made everything is both personal and knowable; that he revealed himself clearly, historically, and definitively in Jesus Christ; that death is not followed by either the cessation of existence or the migration of the soul, but by judgment; and that the proof of all of this is the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

What was foolishness to most of the Greeks of Athens turns out to be the ultimate truth: God is knowable, and can be known through Jesus Christ.

Passages for Further Study

Ps 50:7-15; Isa 42:5-7; Acts 17:16-32; Rom 1:18-32; Col 1:15-23; 2:6-12; 1 Thes 1:9-10; Heb 1:1-4

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: writing-newevent

δὲ

and

Luke is using the word translated Now to introduce a new event in the story. Use a word, phrase, or other method in your language that is natural for introducing a new event.

Note 2 topic: writing-pronouns

αὐτοὺς

them

The pronoun them refers to Silas and Timothy. It may be helpful to clarify this for your readers. Alternate translation: “Silas and Timothy”

Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

παρωξύνετο τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ, θεωροῦντος κατείδωλον οὖσαν τὴν πόλιν

/was_being/_provoked the spirit ˱of˲_him in him ˱of˲_observing idolatrous being the city

If it would be more natural in your language, you could reverse the order of these phrases, since the second phrase gives the reason for the result that the first phrase describes. Alternate translation: “when he saw that the city was full of idols, his spirit was provoked within him”

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

παρωξύνετο τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ

/was_being/_provoked the spirit ˱of˲_him in him

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “this provoked his spirit within him”

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

παρωξύνετο τὸ πνεῦμα αὐτοῦ ἐν αὐτῷ

/was_being/_provoked the spirit ˱of˲_him in him

Here the spirit represents a person’s feelings and sensitivities, particularly of a spiritual nature. Alternate translation: “this offended his spiritual sensitivities”

Parallel ACTs 17:16