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parallelVerse INT GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOS JDG RUTH 1SA 2SA PSA AMOS HOS 1KI 2KI 1CH 2CH PRO ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL JOB YHN MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC GAL 1TH 2TH 1COR 2COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1TIM TIT 1PET 2PET 2TIM HEB YUD 1YHN 2YHN 3YHN REV
Acts Intro C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28
Acts 17 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V13 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28 V29 V30 V31 V32 V33 V34
Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. 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.
Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) It seems that you have some surprising ideas for our ears, so we want to hear what it’s all about.”
OET-LV For/Because you_are_carrying_in some_ surprising _messages to the ears of_us.
Therefore we_are_wishing to_know what_all is_wanting these things to_be.
SR-GNT Ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν. Βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι.” ‡
(Xenizonta gar tina eisfereis eis tas akoas haʸmōn. Boulometha oun gnōnai tina thelei tauta einai.”)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor.
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 For you are bringing some startling things into our ears. Therefore, we wish to know what these things want to be.”
UST You are teaching us some things that we do not understand. We want to know what they mean.”
BSB For you are bringing some strange notions to our ears, and we want to know what they mean.”
BLB For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. We resolve therefore to know what these things wish to be."
AICNT For you bring some strange things to our ears. We wish to know therefore what these things mean.”
OEB For you are bringing some strange things to our notice, and we should like to know what they mean.’
WEBBE For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.”
WMBB (Same as above)
NET For you are bringing some surprising things to our ears, so we want to know what they mean.”
LSV for you bring certain strange things to our ears? We resolve, then, to know what these things would wish to be”;
FBV We're hearing from you things that sound odd to us, so we'd like to know what they mean.”
TCNT For yoʋ are bringing some strange things to our ears, and we would like to know what they mean.”
T4T You are teaching some things that startle us (exc), so we want to know what they mean.”
LEB For you are bringing some astonishing things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean.”[fn]
17:20 Literally “these things want to be”
BBE For you seem to us to say strange things, and we have a desire to get the sense of them.
Moff No Moff ACTs book available
Wymth For the things you are saying sound strange to us. We should therefore like to be told exactly what they mean."
ASV For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
DRA For thou bringest in certain new things to our ears. We would know therefore what these things mean.
YLT for certain strange things thou dost bring to our ears? we wish, then, to know what these things would wish to be;'
Drby For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears. We wish therefore to know what these things may mean.
RV For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
Wbstr For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears; we would know therefore what these things mean.
KJB-1769 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
(For thou/you bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean. )
KJB-1611 For thou bringest certaine strange things to our eares: we would know therefore what these things meane.
(For thou/you bringest certain strange things to our eares: we would know therefore what these things meane.)
Bshps For thou bryngest certaine straunge thinges to our eares: We would knowe therfore what these thynges meane.
(For thou/you bryngest certain strange things to our eares: We would know therefore what these things meane.)
Gnva For thou bringest certaine strange thinges vnto our eares: we woulde knowe therefore, what these things meane.
(For thou/you bringest certain strange things unto our eares: we would know therefore, what these things meane. )
Cvdl For thou bryngest strauge tidinges to oure eares? We wolde knowe therfore, what this meaneth.
(For thou/you bryngest strauge tidinges to our eares? We would know therefore, what this meaneth.)
TNT For thou bringest straunge tydynges to oure eares. We wolde knowe therfore what these thinges meane.
(For thou/you bringest strange tidings/news to our ears. We would know therefore what these things meane. )
Wycl For thou bringist ynne summe newe thingis to oure eeris; therfor we wolen wite, what these thingis wolen be.
(For thou/you bringist ynne some new things to our eeris; therefore we wolen wite, what these things wolen be.)
Luth Denn du bringest etwas Neues vor unsere Ohren; so wollten wir gerne wissen, was das sei.
(Because you bringest etwas Neues before/in_front_of unsere Ohren; so wantedn we/us gerne wissen, what/which the sei.)
ClVg nova enim quædam infers auribus nostris: volumus ergo scire quidnam velint hæc esse.
(nova because quædam infers in_the_ears nostris: volumus therefore scire quidnam velint these_things esse. )
UGNT ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν. βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι.
(xenizonta gar tina eisfereis eis tas akoas haʸmōn. boulometha oun gnōnai tina thelei tauta einai.)
SBL-GNT ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν· βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι ⸂τίνα θέλει⸃ ταῦτα εἶναι.
(xenizonta gar tina eisfereis eis tas akoas haʸmōn; boulometha oun gnōnai ⸂tina thelei⸃ tauta einai.)
TC-GNT Ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν· βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι, [fn]τί ἂν θέλοι ταῦτα εἶναι—
(Xenizonta gar tina eisfereis eis tas akoas haʸmōn; boulometha oun gnōnai, ti an theloi tauta einai— )
17:20 τι αν θελοι ¦ τινα θελει CT
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
17:16-34 In this chapter, we see Paul presented as a model witness for Christ, engaging the thinkers of his day and challenging them with the Christian message. Paul quoted writers his audience would be familiar with and showed the relevance of the gospel by dialoguing with them, critiquing their assumptions, and offering Jesus as a constructive alternative (see Col 1:28). Paul reminded these proud intellectuals that there is a living God to whom all human beings are answerable; that they will be judged by him through Jesus, whom God raised from the dead; and that they should therefore repent and put their faith in Jesus.
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
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ξενίζοντα & τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν
surprising & some_‹words› ˱you˲_/are/_carrying_in to the ears ˱of˲_us
The philosophers are speaking of Paul’s teachings about Jesus and the resurrection as if they were objects that one person could bring to another person. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “you are saying some startling things”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy
ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν
surprising for some_‹words› ˱you˲_/are/_carrying_in to the ears ˱of˲_us
The philosophers are referring to hearing by association with the ears, which people use to hear. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use an equivalent expression or express the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “we are hearing you say some startling things”
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
ἡμῶν & βουλόμεθα
˱of˲_us & (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι)
By our and we, the philosophers mean themselves but not Paul, to whom they are speaking, so use the exclusive form of those words in your translation if your language marks that distinction.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι
what_all /is/_wanting these_‹things› to_be
The philosophers are using an idiom. Your language may have a similar idiom that you could use in your translation. Or, if it would be clearer in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: “what these things mean”