ACTs 17:22 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) So Paul stood up in the middle of the gathering on the hill and spoke, “Men of Athens, I’ve noticed how you all are very religious,

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

ULT And Paul, having been stood in the middle of the Areopagus, was saying,
¶ “Men, Athenians, I see how you are more religious in everything.

UST The philosophers asked Paul to stand in the middle of their group. He did, and then he said, “People of Athens, I have seen many of the things you do, and I can tell how religious you are.

BSB Then Paul stood up in [the] meeting[fn] of the Areopagus [and] said,“Men [of] Athens, I see that in every way you [are] very religious.

BLB And Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, was saying, "Men, Athenians, I behold that in all things you are very religious.

AICNT So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

OEB So Paul took his stand in the middle of the Court, and said – ‘People of Athens, on every hand I see signs of your being very devout.

WEBBE Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “You men of Athens, I perceive that you are very religious in all things.

WMBB (Same as above)

NET So Paul stood before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects.

LSV And Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, said, “Men, Athenians, in all things I perceive you as over-religious;

FBV Paul stood up right in the middle of the Areopagus and said, “People of Athens, I notice you are very religious about everything.

TCNT Paul then stood before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see just how religious you are in every way.

T4T Then Paul stood up before the men of the city council and said, “Citizens of Athens, I see that you ◄are very religious/think that it is very important to worship many gods►.

LEB No LEB ACTs book available

BBE And Paul got to his feet on Mars' Hill and said, O men of Athens, I see that you are overmuch given to fear of the gods.

Moff No Moff ACTs book available

Wymth So Paul, taking his stand in the centre of the Areopagus, spoke as follows: "Men of Athens, I perceive that you are in every respect remarkably religious.

ASV 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.

DRA But Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are too superstitious.

YLT And Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, said, 'Men, Athenians, in all things I perceive you as over-religious;

Drby And Paul standing in the midst of Areopagus said, Athenians, in every way I see you given up to demon worship;

RV And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye are somewhat superstitious.
(And Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus, and said, Ye/You_all men of Athens, in all things I perceive that ye/you_all are somewhat superstitious. )

SLT And Paul having stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, said, Men, Athenians, I see that in all things ye have a superstitious fear of divinity.

Wbstr 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.

KJB-1769 ¶ 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.
(¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars’ hill, and said, Ye/You_all men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye/you_all are too superstitious. )

KJB-1611 ¶ Then Paul stood in the mids of [fn]Mars-hill, and said, Yee men of Athens, I perceiue that in all things yee are too superstitious.
(¶ Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars-hill, and said, Ye/You_all men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye/you_all are too superstitious.)

17:22 Or, court of the Areopagites.

Bshps No Bshps ACTs book available

Gnva Then Paul stoode in the mids of Mars streete, and sayde, Yee men of Athens, I perceiue that in all things yee are too superstitious.
(Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars street, and said, Ye/You_all men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye/you_all are too superstitious. )

Cvdl No Cvdl ACTs book available

TNT Paul stode in the myddes of Marse strete and sayde: ye men of Attens I perceave that in all thinges ye are to supersticious.
(Paul stood in the myddes of Marse street and said: ye/you_all men of Attens I perceave that in all things ye/you_all are to supersticious. )

Wycl No Wycl ACTs book available

Luth No Luth ACTs book available

ClVg Stans autem Paulus in medio Areopagi, ait: Viri Athenienses, per omnia quasi superstitiosiores vos video.[fn]
(Stans however Paulus in/into/on in_the_middle Areopagi, he_said: Men Athenienses, through everything as_if superstitiosiores you seeo. )

17.22 Viri Atheniensis, etc. Quod ignorantes colitis, hoc annuntio. Respondet ad hoc quod dixerant vel præmiserant: Nova quædam infers, quasi dicat: Nova quæ infero inter vetera vestra habetis. Hoc autem dicit ad persuadendum, ne quasi nova refutent sua verba. Ignoto Deo. RAB. Id est, vero Deo, quem nemo novit ut est, etc., usque ad quod tacetur, vel simpliciter scriptum erat: Ignoto Deo.

17.22 Men Atheniensis, etc. That ignorantes colitis, this annuntio. Respondet to this that dixerant or beforemiserant: Nova some infers, as_if let_him_say: Nova which infero between old your hasis. This however he_says to persuadendum, not as_if new refutent his_own words. Ignoto to_God. RAB. That it_is, indeed/however to_God, which nemo he_knows as it_is, etc., until to that tacetur, or simpliciter written was: Ignoto to_God.

UGNT σταθεὶς δὲ Παῦλος ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἀρείου Πάγου ἔφη, ἄνδρες, Ἀθηναῖοι, κατὰ πάντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ;
(statheis de Paulos en mesōi tou Areiou Pagou efaʸ, andres, Athaʸnaioi, kata panta hōs deisidaimonesterous humas theōrō;)

SBL-GNT Σταθεὶς ⸀δὲ Παῦλος ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἀρείου Πάγου ἔφη· Ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατὰ πάντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ·
(Statheis ⸀de Paulos en mesōi tou Areiou Pagou efaʸ; Andres Athaʸnaioi, kata panta hōs deisidaimonesterous humas theōrō;)

RP-GNT Σταθεὶς δὲ ὁ Παῦλος ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἀρείου πάγου ἔφη, Ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατὰ πάντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ.
(Statheis de ho Paulos en mesōi tou Areiou pagou efaʸ, Andres Athaʸnaioi, kata panta hōs deisidaimonesterous humas theōrō.)

TC-GNT Σταθεὶς δὲ [fn]ὁ Παῦλος ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἀρείου πάγου ἔφη, Ἄνδρες Ἀθηναῖοι, κατὰ πάντα ὡς δεισιδαιμονεστέρους ὑμᾶς θεωρῶ.
(Statheis de ho Paulos en mesōi tou Areiou pagou efaʸ, Andres Athaʸnaioi, kata panta hōs deisidaimonesterous humas theōrō. )

17:22 ο ¦ — SBL TH WH

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: figures-of-speech / activepassive

σταθεὶς δὲ Παῦλος ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἀρείου Πάγου ἔφη

˓having_been˒_stood and Paul in ˓the˒_midst ˱of˲_the Aries Hill ˓was˒_saying

If your language does not use the passive form having been stood, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: [Once the philosophers had stood Paul in the middle of the Areopagus, he was saying]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metonymy

ἐν μέσῳ τοῦ Ἀρείου Πάγου

in ˓the˒_midst ˱of˲_the Aries Hill

As in [17:19](../17/19.md), Luke uses the word Areopagus by association to mean the philosophers who gathered there. He does not mean that the philosophers placed Paul in the middle of the hill known as the Areopagus. Alternate translation: [in the middle of the group of philosophers who met on the Areopagus] or [in the middle of the group of philosophers who met on Mars Hill]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom

ἄνδρες, Ἀθηναῖοι

men Athenians

This is an idiomatic form of address. Use a way that is natural in your language to refer to a particular group of people. Alternate translation: [You Athenians]

δεισιδαιμονεστέρους

more_superstitious

Paul is using the comparative form more religious for emphasis. Your language may use comparative forms in the same way. If not, you could convey the emphasis in another way. Alternate translation: [very religious]

Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / hyperbole

κατὰ πάντα

in all_‹things›

Paul says everything here as a generalization for emphasis. He is referring to the Athenians’ public display of honoring the gods through prayers, building altars, and offering sacrifices. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a different way to express the emphasis. Alternate translation: [in many different ways]

Parallel ACTs 17:22