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OET OET-RV OET-LV ULT UST BSB BLB AICNT OEB WEBBE WMBB NET LSV FBV TCNT T4T LEB BBE Moff JPS Wymth ASV DRA YLT Drby RV Wbstr KJB-1769 KJB-1611 Bshps Gnva Cvdl TNT Wycl SR-GNT UHB BrLXX BrTr Related Topics Parallel Interlinear Reference Dictionary Search
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 V20 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) (Everyone in Athens and even visitors often took the opportunity either to explain or to listen to any new things.)
OET-LV (And all the_ones_from_Athaʸnai and the visiting strangers were_having_opportunity in not_one other thing, than to_be_telling something or to_be_hearing some newer thing.
)
SR-GNT (Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ οἱ ἐπιδημοῦντες ξένοι εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον ηὐκαίρουν, ἢ λέγειν τι ἢ ἀκούειν τι καινότερον.) ‡
((Athaʸnaioi de pantes kai hoi epidaʸmountes xenoi eis ouden heteron aʸukairoun, aʸ legein ti aʸ akouein ti kainoteron.))
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/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 all the Athenians and the sojourning foreigners were devoting their leisure to nothing other than either to say something or to hear something newer.)
UST The people of Athens and the people from other regions who had come to live there greatly enjoyed talking about new ideas.
BSB § Now all the Athenians and foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing more than hearing and articulating new ideas.
BLB Now all the Athenians and the visiting strangers spent their time in nothing else than to tell something and to hear something new.
AICNT Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new.
OEB (All Athenians and the foreigners staying in the city found no time for anything else but telling, or listening to, the last new thing.)
WEBBE 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.
WMBB (Same as above)
NET (All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling or listening to something new.)
LSV and all Athenians, and the strangers sojourning, for nothing else were at leisure but to say something, and to hear some newer thing.
FBV (All the Athenians, including foreigners who lived there, spent their whole time doing nothing except explaining or listening to something new.)
TCNT (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who dwelt there would spend their time in nothing else but talking about [fn]and listening to whatever the newest idea might be.)
17:21 and ¦ or ECM† NA SBL TH WH
T4T They said that, because the people of Athens and also the people from other regions who lived there continually talked about what was new to them, or they listened to others tell what was new.
LEB (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who stayed there used to spend their time in nothing else than telling something or listening to something new.)
¶
BBE (Now all the Athenians and the men from other lands who come there were giving all their time to talking or hearing of anything new.)
Moff No Moff ACTs book available
Wymth (For all the Athenians and their foreign visitors used to devote their whole leisure to telling or hearing about something new.)
ASV (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.)
DRA (Now all the Athenians, and strangers that were there, employed themselves in nothing else, but either in telling or in hearing some new thing.)
YLT and all Athenians, and the strangers sojourning, for nothing else were at leisure but to say something, and to hear some newer thing.
Drby Now all [the] Athenians and the strangers sojourning there spent their time in nothing else than to tell and to hear the news.
RV (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.)
Wbstr (For all the Athenians and strangers who were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing.)
KJB-1769 (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.)
KJB-1611 (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there, spent their time in nothing else, but either to tell or to heare some new thing.)
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above, apart from punctuation)
Bshps For all the Athenians and straungers which were there, gaue them selues to nothing els, but either to tell or to heare some newe thyng.
(For all the Athenians and strangers which were there, gave themselves to nothing else, but either to tell or to hear some new thing.)
Gnva For all the Athenians, and strangers which dwelt there, gaue them selues to nothing els, but either to tell, or to heare some newes.
(For all the Athenians, and strangers which dwelt there, gave themselves to nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some newes. )
Cvdl As for all they of Athens, and straungers & gestes, they gaue theselues to nothinge els, but either to tell, or to heare some newes.
(As for all they of Athens, and strangers and guestes, they gave theselues to nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some newes.)
TNT For all the Attenians and straungers which were there gave the selves to nothinge els but ether to tell or to heare newe tydynges.
(For all the Attenians and strangers which were there gave the selves to nothing else but ether to tell or to hear new tidings/news. )
Wycl For alle men of Athenys and comlingis herborid yauen tent to noon other thing, but ether to seie, ethir to here, sum newe thing.
(For all men of Athenys and comlingis herborid gave tent to noon other thing, but ether to say, ethir to here, sum new thing.)
Luth Die Athener aber alle, auch die Ausländer und Gäste, waren gerichtet auf nichts anderes, denn etwas Neues zu sagen oder zu hören.
(The Athener but all, also the Ausländer and Gäste, were gerichtet on nothing anderes, because etwas Neues to say or to listenn.)
ClVg (Athenienses autem omnes, et advenæ hospites, ad nihil aliud vacabant nisi aut dicere aut audire aliquid novi.)
((Athenienses however omnes, and advenæ hospites, to nihil something_else vacabant nisi aut dicere aut audire aliquid novi.) )
UGNT (Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ οἱ ἐπιδημοῦντες ξένοι εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον ηὐκαίρουν, ἢ λέγειν τι ἢ ἀκούειν τι καινότερον.)
((Athaʸnaioi de pantes kai hoi epidaʸmountes xenoi eis ouden heteron aʸukairoun, aʸ legein ti aʸ akouein ti kainoteron.))
SBL-GNT Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ οἱ ἐπιδημοῦντες ξένοι εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον ηὐκαίρουν ἢ λέγειν τι ⸀ἢ ἀκούειν ⸀τι καινότερον.
(Athaʸnaioi de pantes kai hoi epidaʸmountes xenoi eis ouden heteron aʸukairoun aʸ legein ti ⸀aʸ akouein ⸀ti kainoteron.)
TC-GNT Ἀθηναῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ οἱ ἐπιδημοῦντες ξένοι εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον [fn]εὐκαίρουν, ἢ λέγειν τι [fn]καὶ [fn]ἀκούειν καινότερον.
(Athaʸnaioi de pantes kai hoi epidaʸmountes xenoi eis ouden heteron eukairoun, aʸ legein ti kai akouein kainoteron. )
17:21 ευκαιρουν ¦ ηυκαιρουν CT
17:21 και ¦ η ECM† NA SBL TH WH
17:21 ακουειν ¦ ακουειν τι ECM† NA SBL TH WH
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: writing-background
δὲ
and
Luke is using the word translated Now to introduce background information about the people of Athens that will help readers understand what happens next in the story. In your translation, present this information in a way that would be natural in your own language and culture.
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole
Ἀθηναῖοι & πάντες καὶ οἱ ἐπιδημοῦντες ξένοι & ηὐκαίρουν
/the/_Athenians & all and the visiting strangers & /were/_having_opportunity
Luke says all here as a generalization for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different way to express the emphasis. Alternate translation: “the Athenians and the sojourning foreigners loved to devote their leisure”
Note 3 topic: translate-names
Ἀθηναῖοι
/the/_Athenians
The word Athenians is the name for people who live in or come from the city of Athens.
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole
εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον ηὐκαίρουν
in not_one other_‹thing› /were/_having_opportunity
Here, Luke says nothing other as a generalization for emphasis. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different way to express the emphasis. Alternate translation: “made it their favorite leisure activity”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τι καινότερον
something some newer_‹thing›
This could mean: (1) that the implication is that the Athenians were looking for something newer than the last new thing they had said or heard. You can include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: “something newer than the last new thing they had said or heard” (2) that Luke may be using the comparative form newer with simple positive meaning. Alternate translation: “something new”