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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 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 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) because
⇔ ‘We live in him and are moved by him and exist through him.’
§ Even some of your own poets wrote,
⇔ ‘We are all descended from just one.’
OET-LV For/Because we_are_living in him and are_being_moved and are, as also some of_the among you_all of_the_poets have_said:
For/Because we_are also of_the one descent.
SR-GNT Ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν, ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθʼ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν, ‘Τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν.’ ‡
(En autōi gar zōmen kai kinoumetha kai esmen, hōs kai tines tōn kathʼ humas poiaʸtōn eiraʸkasin, ‘Tou gar kai genos esmen.’)
Key: khaki: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 For ‘in him we live and are moved and are,’ and as some of your own poets have said,
¶ ‘For we too are his offspring.’
UST It is because of God that we live, move, and exist, as one of you has said, ‘Because we are his children.’
BSB ‘For in Him we live and move and have our being.’[fn] As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are His offspring.’[fn]
17:28 This is probably a quote from the Cretan philosopher Epimenides of Knossos.
17:28 This is probably a quote from the poem “Phainomena” by the Cilician philosopher Aratus.
BLB For in Him we live and move and are.' As also some of the poets among you have said, 'For we are also His offspring.'
AICNT For ‘in him we live and move and have our being’, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
OEB for in him we live and move and are. To use the words of some of your own poets –
⇔ “His offspring, too, are we.”
WEBBE ‘For in him we live, move, and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also his offspring.’
WMBB (Same as above)
NET For in him we live and move about and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’
LSV for in Him we live, and move, and are; as certain of your poets have also said: For we are also His offspring.
FBV In him we live, move, and exist. Just as one of your own poets wrote, ‘We are his family.’
TCNT For in him we live and move and have our being, as even some of your own poets have said:
⇔ ‘For we also are his offspring.’
T4T As someone has said, ‘It is only because he enables us that we (inc) live and move and do what we do.’ And, as some of your own poets have said, ‘We (inc) are God’s children.’
LEB for in him we live and move and exist,[fn] as even some of your own[fn] poets have said: ‘For we also are his[fn] offspring.’[fn]
17:28 Some interpreters hold that the phrase “in him we live and move and exist” is a quotation from Epimenides of Crete, but more likely it is a traditional Greek formula
17:28 Literally “with respect to you”
17:28 Literally “of him”
17:28 A quotation from Aratus, Phaenomena 5
BBE For in him we have life and motion and existence; as certain of your verse writers have said, For we are his offspring.
Moff No Moff ACTs book available
Wymth For it is in closest union with Him that we live and move and have our being; as in fact some of the poets in repute among yourselves have said, `For we are also His offspring.'
ASV 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.
DRA For in him we live, and move, and are; as some also of your own poets said: For we are also his offspring.
YLT for in Him we live, and move, and are; as also certain of your poets have said: For of Him also we are offspring.
Drby for in him we live and move and exist; as also some of the poets amongst you have said, For we are also his offspring.
RV 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.
Wbstr 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.
KJB-1769 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.
KJB-1611 For in him we liue, and mooue, and haue our being, as certaine also of your owne Poets haue said, For we are also his offspring.
(For in him we live, and mooue, and have our being, as certain also of your own Poets have said, For we are also his offspring.)
Bshps For in hym we liue, and moue, & haue our beyng, as certaine of your owne poetes sayde: for we are also his offpryng.
(For in him we live, and moue, and have our beyng, as certain of your own poetes said: for we are also his offpryng.)
Gnva For in him we liue, and mooue, and haue our being, as also certaine of your owne Poets haue sayd, for we are also his generation.
(For in him we live, and mooue, and have our being, as also certain of your own Poets have said, for we are also his generation. )
Cvdl For in him we lyue, moue, and haue oure beynge, as certayne of youre awne Poetes also haue sayde: We are his generacion.
(For in him we live, moue, and have our beynge, as certain of your(pl) own Poetes also have said: We are his generation.)
TNT For in him we lyve move and have oure beynge as certayne of youre awne Poetes sayde. For we are also his generacion.
(For in him we lyve move and have our being as certain of your(pl) own Poetes said. For we are also his generation. )
Wyc For in hym we lyuen, and mouen, and ben. As also summe of youre poetis seiden, And we ben also the kynde of hym.
(For in him we lyuen, and mouen, and ben. As also some of your(pl) poetis said, And we been also the kind of him.)
Luth denn in ihm leben, weben und sind wir, als auch etliche Poeten bei euch gesagt haben: Wir sind seines Geschlechts.
(denn in him life, weben and are wir, als also several Poeten at you said have: We are seines Geschlechts.)
ClVg In ipso enim vivimus, et movemur, et sumus: sicut et quidam vestrorum poëtarum dixerunt: Ipsius enim et genus sumus.[fn]
(In ipso because vivimus, and movemur, and sumus: like and quidam vestrorum poëtarum dixerunt: Ipsius because and genus sumus. )
17.28 In ipso enim vivimus. AUG. Quia id operatur in nobis, quod vivimus, movemur et sumus, etc., usque ad quia quid non ex ipso de quo dicitur: Ex ipso, et per ipsum, et in ipso sunt omnia Rom. 2.? Sicut et quidam vestrorum pœtarum. His qui prophetas non recipiebant, non Moysi, non Isaiæ, vel alicujus prophetarum, sed auctorum suorum loquitur testimonium, versum Arati ponens, et de falsis eorum quibus contradicere non poterant, suam veritatem conservat et confirmat. Ipsius enim, etc. De Arato pœta hoc sumptum est testimonium, non de divina pagina, ne nova videatur inferre.
17.28 In ipso because vivimus. AUG. Because id operatur in nobis, that vivimus, movemur and sumus, etc., until to because quid not/no from ipso about quo it_is_said: From ipso, and through ipsum, and in ipso are omnia Rom. 2.? Sicut and quidam vestrorum pœtarum. His who prophetas not/no recipiebant, not/no of_Moses, not/no Isaiæ, or alicuyus prophetarum, but auctorum suorum loquitur testimony, versum Arati ponens, and about falsis their to_whom contradicere not/no poterant, his_own words conservat and confirmat. Ipsius because, etc. De Arato pœta this sumptum it_is testimony, not/no about divina pagina, not nova videatur inferre.
UGNT ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν; ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθ’ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν, τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν.
(en autōi gar zōmen kai kinoumetha kai esmen; hōs kai tines tōn kath’ humas poiaʸtōn eiraʸkasin, tou gar kai genos esmen.)
SBL-GNT ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν, ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθʼ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν· Τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν.
(en autōi gar zōmen kai kinoumetha kai esmen, hōs kai tines tōn kathʼ humas poiaʸtōn eiraʸkasin; Tou gar kai genos esmen.)
TC-GNT Ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ [fn]κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν· ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθ᾽ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασι,
⇔ Τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν.
(En autōi gar zōmen kai kinoumetha kai esmen; hōs kai tines tōn kath humas poiaʸtōn eiraʸkasi,
⇔ Tou gar kai genos esmen. )
17:28 κινουμεθα ¦ κεινουμεθα TH
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-pronouns
αὐτῷ & γένος
him & descent
The pronouns him and his refer to God. It may be helpful to clarify this for your readers. Alternate translation: “in God … God’s offspring”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / exclusive
ζῶμεν & ἐσμέν
˱we˲_/are/_living & are
Paul is using the pronoun we to refer to himself and his listeners, so use the inclusive form of that word if your language marks that distinction.
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / quotesinquotes
ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν; ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθ’ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν, τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν.
in him for ˱we˲_/are/_living and /are_being/_moved and are as also some ˱of˲_the among you_all ˱of˲_/the/_poets /have/_said ˱of˲_the_‹one› for also descent ˱we˲_are
Here Paul is quoting from the Greek philosopher-poet Epimenides and from the Greek poets Aratus and Cleanthes. While it would be preferable to present these two quotations as direct quotations (See: next note), you could translate them as indirect quotations so that there are not direct quotations within a direct quotation. Alternate translation: “For some of your own poets have said that in him we live and are moved and are and that we too are his offspring”
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / quotemarks
ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν; ὡς καί τινες τῶν καθ’ ὑμᾶς ποιητῶν εἰρήκασιν, τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν
in him for ˱we˲_/are/_living and /are_being/_moved and are as also some ˱of˲_the among you_all ˱of˲_/the/_poets /have/_said ˱of˲_the_‹one› for also descent ˱we˲_are
Even if your language does not customarily put one direct quotation inside another, it would be good to present these two quotations as direct quotations if possible, since that would show that Paul is quoting Greek poets as he speaks to the philosophers in Athens. You may be able to enclose these quotations within second-level quotation marks or use some other punctuation or convention that is available in your language to indicate second-level quotations.
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet
ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν
in him for ˱we˲_/are/_living and /are_being/_moved and are
The expressions live and are moved and are mean similar things. Epimenides is using the three terms together for poetic effect. It would be good to preserve that effect if possible, but it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the same idea with a single phrase. Alternate translation: “For he is the source of our entire existence”
Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἐν αὐτῷ γὰρ ζῶμεν καὶ κινούμεθα καὶ ἐσμέν
in him for ˱we˲_/are/_living and /are_being/_moved and are
If your language does not use the passive form are moved, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. Alternate translation: “For ‘he is the one in whom we live and who moves us and in whom we exist’”
Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν.
˱of˲_the_‹one› for also descent ˱we˲_are
Aratus and Cleanthes do not mean that people are literally God’s offspring or children. They are speaking and poetically. It would be good to preserve the poetic effect if possible, but it would be clearer for your readers, you could express this metaphor as a simile. Alternate translation: “For it is as if we too are his offspring”