Acts 17:24

Act_17:24

God.

All the Indo-European equivalents for God are the same in their ultimate root as the word day, and signify the brightness of the sky. The Latin Deus, the Greek Theos, the Sanskrit Dyaus, the Welsh Duw, and even the English God, all come from the same root, signifying the brightness of the sky. This thought has been fixed in the term Jupiter, one of the oldest appellations by which God is known in Europe. Jupiter--what is it? The first syllable Ju is the same as the Welsh Duw, and means the bright sky. The remaining two syllables mean father. Jupiter is the Latin synonym for the Saxon Sky-Father. As one of our Aryan ancestors stood on the open plain gazing upward, and meditating on the Being behind all phenomena, the Reality at the back of all appearances, he gave expression, to the deepest instinct of his nature when he pronounced in articulate language the solemn word Sky-Father. (J. C. Jones, D. D.)

That made the world.--

God and the universe

1. God that made the world and all things therein. Here is an emphatic denial of all polytheistic and dualistic notions as to the origin and government of the world.

2. God made the world. Here is an emphatic assertion that God is distinct from Nature: it is a product of His plastic hand.

3. God is Lord of heaven and earth; so that the lords many, amongst whom the Greeks believed that the presidency and control of the universe are distributed, were but the idle creations of fancy. By these few words the apostle boldly pushed aside a whole host of errors to which the Athenians had given place in their minds, and by which they had been bewildered and injured. (W. L. Alexander, D. D.)

The religious use of Nature

This must be distinguished from--

1. The mere scientific use, which stops with nature. He who handles it as so much matter to be torn apart with analysis and scrutinised with microscope or telescope, often makes the most irreligious use of it, forgetting the Artist in the work of art.

2. The mere sentimental use, which makes nature a nose of wax to be twisted into a mirror of human fancies, feelings, and passions.

3. The commercial use, which sees in nature but so many acres of woodland, or capacities for grain or grazing. Yet there is--

(1) A true science, which leads the way for religion to follow and adore.

(2) A pure sentiment, which penetrates the rare though hidden analogies with which God has crowded the natural and spiritual woods; there religion enters to admire and enjoy.

(3) And wherever the eye that measures value pursues its calculations the grateful heart may follow, saying, Fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. The religious use of Nature, therefore, is something beyond science, or sentiment, or material value, but utilising everything that is real and true in each. There is scarcely a greater need than the realisation that God is everywhere.

I. The foundation for this realisation is in the teaching of the text concerning Gods relation to nature. He is Lord of all things. God is over Nature because He was before it and is in it. You cannot touch Nature without touching God. The right use of Nature so related to God must be a religious use.

II. The duty and privilege of this use is seen in the fact that the Scriptures teach that nature is designed to be a perpetual witness to the wisdom and power of God. Nature is Gods perpetual demonstration of Himself. The crime of idolatry was its first rejection of God in Nature and then debasing His character.

III. This duty and privilege becomes plainer when we remember that man was so created as to be the interpreter of nature. For this he was--

1. Placed at the apex of the pyramid, last and greatest master work.

2. Given intellectual faculties competent to understand Nature and its relations.

3. Endowed with a moral character capable of resemblance to the God revealed in Nature.

4. Made a spiritual being capable of communion with God,

5. It must therefore be his mission to be a reflecting surface for the glory of God in Nature.

IV. This duty, etc., is seen to be rational because nature is so much more to us with God than without him. Without God it is a congeries of vast and uncontrollable forces before which we shudder; with God an ordered system no less majestic, but under the control of a beneficent will. Without Him Nature is senseless; with Him it has a meaning even where we cannot fathom it.

V. Plainer yet seems the duty, etc., when we consider the appeals which God in nature makes to all that is best in us.

1. To our reverence. Best ideas of omnipotence are from Gods rule over Nature.

2. God seeks to elevate us by exhibiting in Nature the nobler types of life. Who can be thoughtless in a world packed with thought, careless when everything is replete with arrangement, idle where everything is busy, or frivolous where all is serious?

3. God appeals to the spirit of praise everywhere in Nature, which is again designed to fill us with gladness in and by our gratitude.

4. Even growth in grace is possible by Nature.

VI. A religious use of Nature is essential to a symmetrical Christian faith and life. (S. T. Scovel, D. D.)

Dwelleth not in temples made with hands.--

Gods temples

I. Heaven, where the spirits made perfect are before His throne.

II. The visible creation, in which He has never left Himself without a witness to His power, wisdom, and goodness.

III. The Church, in which the unknown God is a revealed God in the gospel of His Son.

IV. My heart, in which He desires to dwell by His Holy Spirit. (K. Gerok.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 17:24-26. God that made the world — Thus is demonstrated, even to reason, the one, true, good God; absolutely different from the creatures, from every part of the visible creation. Seeing he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands — God hath no need of temples to dwell in, seeing he hath made the world, and is the Lord, or possessor, of the universe. Ye, therefore, greatly err in thinking, that by erecting magnificent temples and images, and by consecrating them, ye draw God down into them, and prevail with him to reside among you in an especial manner. That vulgar notion is unworthy of men whose minds are improved by science, and who, from God’s having made the world, ought to know that his presence is not confined to temples made by men. Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing — Or, person, the word τινος equally taking in both: that is, Neither is the true God worshipped with sacrifices and meats prepared by men’s hands, if these things are offered to him, as though he needed to be fed with the fruits of the earth, and with the flesh of beasts, and refreshed with the steams of sacrifices and incense: seeing he giveth to all — That live and breathe, whether men or beasts; life — For in him we live; and breath — In him we move; and all things — For in him we are: whence it is evident that men can contribute nothing to his life or happiness. And hath made of one blood all nations of men — Hath from one man and woman multiplied the human race, so as to form those different nations which cover the face of the whole earth; and hath everywhere made a liberal provision for them, of all the necessaries of life. How then can ye fancy that he himself needs to be lodged, and clothed, and fed by men! By speaking thus, the apostle also showed them, in the most unaffected manner, that though he was a Jew, he was not enslaved to any narrow views, but looked on all mankind as his brethren. And hath determined the times before appointed — Hath also assigned to each of these nations their times of existence; and the bounds of their habitations — By mountains, seas, rivers, and the like; that is, the particular countries they were or are to inhabit, according as he had before appointed these things. By all which he shows, that he governs the world by a most wise providence, contrary to what you Epicureans teach, and also that his government is most free, contrary to the doctrine of the Stoics.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 17:24. Ὁ ποιήσας, who hath made) So He is demonstrated to be One God, true, good, different from His creatures, and manifested by creation.—κόσμον, the world) Presently after, the heaven and the earth.—Κύροις, Lord) Psa 50:9-10.—χειροποιήτοις, made with hands) There follows, Act 17:25, by men’s hands.—κατοικεῖ, dwells) The antithesis concerning men is twice stated in Act 17:26.

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act_17:24-25. Comp. Act_7:48; Psa_50:10 ff.; also the similar expressions from profane writers in Grotius and Wetstein, Kypke, II. 89, and the passages cited from Porphyr. by Ullmann in the Stud. u. Krit. 1872, p. 388; likewise Philo, leg. alleg. II. p. 1087.

θεραπεύεται] is served (by offerings, etc.), namely, as regards the actual objective state of the case.

προσδεόμ. τινός] as one, who needed anything in addition,[67] i.e. to what He Himself is and has. Erasmus, Paraphr.: cum … nullius boni desideret accessionem. Comp. 2Ma_14:35, and Grimm in loc., p. 199. See on this meaning of the verb especially, Dem. xiv. 22; Plat. Phil. p. 20 E; and on the distinction of προσδεῖσθαί τινος and τι, Stallb. ad Plat. Rep. p. 342 A.

αὐτὸς διδοὺς κ.τ.λ.] a confirmatory definition to οὐδὲ … τινός: seeing that He Himself gives, etc.

πᾶσι] to all men, which is evident from the relation of αὐτὸς … πάντα to the preceding οὐδὲ … τινός.

ζωὴν κ. πνοήν] The former denotes life in itself, the latter the continuance of life, which is conditioned by breathing. Ἔμπνους ἔτʼ εἰμὶ κ. πνοὰς θερμὰς πνέω, Eur. Herc. f. 1092. The dying man φρίσσει πνοάς (Pind. Nem. x. 140) ἐκπνεῖ. Erasmus correctly remarks the jucundus concentus of the two words. Comp. Lobeck, Paral. p. 58; Winer, p. 591 [E.T. 793]. Others assume a hendiadys, which, as regards analysis (life, and indeed breath) and form (namely, that the second substantive is subordinate, and must be converted into the adjective), Calvin has correctly apprehended: vitam animalem. But how tame and enfeebling!

καὶ τὰ πάντα] and (generally) all things, namely, which they use.

Chrysostom has already remarked how far this very first point of the discourse (Act_17:24-25) transcends not only heathenism in general, but also the philosophies of heathenism, which could not rise to the idea of an absolute Creator. Observe the threefold contents of the speech: Theology, Act_17:24 f; Anthropology, Act_17:26-29; Christology, Act_17:30 f.

[67] Luther takes τινός as masculine, which likewise excellently corresponds with what precedes, as with the following πᾶσι. But the neuter rendering is yet to be preferred, as affecting everything except God (in the τί there is also every τίς). Comp. Clem. ad Cor. I. 52.

Act_17:24-29. Paul now makes that unknown divinity known in concreto, and in such a manner that his description at the same time exposes the nullity of the polytheism deifying the powers of nature, with which he contrasts the divine affinity of man. Comp. Rom_1:18 ff.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Act 17:24 . ὁ Θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας : “the God Who made all,” R.V., the definiteness of the words and the revelation of God as Creator stand in marked contrast to the imperfect conception of the divine nature grasped by the Athenian populace, or even by the philosophers: ἐφθέγξατο φωνὴν μίαν , διʼ ἧς πάντα κατέστρεψε τὰ τῶν φιλοσόφων . οἱ μὲν γὰρ Ἐπικούρειοι αὐτόματά φασιν εἶναι τὰ πάντα , καὶ ἀπὸ ἀτόμων συνεστάναι · οἱ δὲ Στωϊκοὶ σῶμα καὶ ἐκπύρωσιν · ὁ δὲ ἔργον Θεοῦ λέγει κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ . Ὁρᾷς συντομίαν , καὶ ἐν συντομίᾳ σαφήνειαν . St. Paul’s language is that of a Jew, a Monotheist, and is based upon Gen 1:1 , Exo 20:11 , Isa 45:7 , Neh 9:6 , etc., but his use of the word κόσμος (only here in Acts, only three times in St. Luke’s Gospel) is observable. The word is evidently not used in the moral sense, or in the sense of moral separation from God, which is so common in St. John, and which is sometimes employed by the Synoptists, and it may well have been chosen by Paul as a word familiar to his hearers. Both by Aristotle and Plato it had been used as including the orderly disposition of the heaven and the earth (according to some, Pythagoras had first used the word of the orderly system of the universe), and in this passage οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς may perhaps both be taken or included in the κόσμος , cf. Act 4:24 , Act 14:15 . In the LXX κόσμος is never used as a synonym of the world, i.e. , the universe (but cf. Pro 17:6 , Grimm, sub v. ), except in the Apocryphal books, where it is frequently used of the created universe, Wis 7:17 ; Wis 9:3 ; 2Ma 7:23 ; 2Ma 8:18 ; 4Ma 5:25 (24), etc., Grimm, sub v. , and Cremer, Wörterbuch . οὗτος : “He being Lord of heaven and earth,” R.V., more emphatic and less ambiguous than A.V., “seeing that”. ὑπάρχων “being the natural Lord” (Farrar), “He, Lord as He is, of heaven and earth” (Ramsay); see Plummer’s note on Luk 8:41 ; the word is Lucan, see above on οὐρ . καὶ γῆς κ ., cf. Isa 45:7 , Jer 10:16 , and 1Co 10:26 . οὐκ ἐν χειροποιήτοις ναοῖς κ .: as the Maker of all things, and Lord of heaven and earth, He is contrasted with the gods whose dwelling was in temples made with hands, and limited to a small portion of space, cf. 1Ki 8:27 ; Jos., Ant. , viii., 4, 2, and St. Stephen’s words, Act 7:48 , of which St. Paul here as elsewhere may be expressing his reminiscence, cf. for the thought Cicero, Leg. , ii., 10, and in early Christian writers Arnobius and Minucius Felix (Wetstein), see also Mr. Page’s note.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

It is a most foolish and vain thing to compare the Creator with the creature, to limit him within a place, which can be comprehended in no place, and to think to allure him with gifts, of whom all men have received all things whatsoever they have: And these are the fountains of all idolatry.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

God that made the world and all . . . therein--The most profound philosophers of Greece were unable to conceive any real distinction between God and the universe. Thick darkness, therefore, behooved to rest on all their religious conceptions. To dissipate this, the apostle sets out with a sharp statement of the fact of creation as the central principle of all true religion--not less needed now, against the transcendental idealism of our day.

seeing he is Lord--or Sovereign.

of heaven and earth--holding in free and absolute subjection all the works of His hands; presiding in august royalty over them, as well as pervading them all as the principle of their being. How different this from the blind Force or Fate to which all creatures were regarded as in bondage!

dwelleth not in temples made with hands--This thought, so familiar to Jewish ears (Kg1 8:27; Isa 66:1-2; Act 7:48), and so elementary to Christians, would serve only more sharply to define to his heathen audience the spirituality of that living, personal God, whom he "announced" to them.

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 24. God that made the world, c.] Though the Epicureans held that the world was not made by God, but was the effect of a fortuitous concourse of atoms, yet this opinion was not popular and the Stoics held the contrary:

1. St. Paul assumes, as an acknowledged truth, that there was a God who made the world and all things.

2. That this God could not be confined within temples made with hands, as he was the Lord or governor of heaven and earth.

3. That, by fair consequence, the gods whom they worshipped, which were shut up in their temples could not be this God; and they must be less than the places in which they were contained. This was a strong, decisive stroke against the whole system of the Grecian idolatry.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. God, who hath made the world. Paul’s drift is to teach what God is. Furthermore, because he hath to deal with profane men, he draweth proofs from nature itself; for in vain should he have cited testimonies of Scripture. I said that this was the holy man’s purpose, to bring the men of Athens unto the true God. For they were persuaded that there was some divinity; only their preposterous religion was to be reformed. Whence we gather, that the world doth go astray through bending crooks and boughts, yea, that it is in a mere labyrinth, so long as there remaineth a confused opinion concerning the nature of God. For this is the true rule of godliness, distinctly and plainly to know who that God whom we worship is. If any man will intreat generally of religion, this must be the first point, that there is some divine power or godhead which men ought to worship. But because that was out of question, Paul descendeth unto the second point, that true God must be distinguished from all vain inventions. So that he beginneth with the definition of God, that he may thence prove how he ought to be worshipped; because the one dependeth upon the other. For whence came so many false worshippings, and such rashness to increase the same oftentimes, save only because all men forged to themselves a God at their pleasure? And nothing is more easy than to corrupt the pure worship of God, when men esteem God after their sense and wit.

Wherefore, there is nothing more fit to destroy all corrupt worshippings, than to make this beginning, and to show of what sort the nature of God is. Also our Savior Christ reasoneth thus, John 4:24, “God is a Spirit.” Therefore he alloweth no other worshippers but such as worship him spiritually. And surely he doth not subtilely dispute of the secret substance [essence] of God; but by his works he declareth which is the profitable knowledge of him. And what doth Paul gather thence, because God is the creator, framer, and Lord of the world? to wit, that he dwelleth not in temples made with hands. For, seeing that it appeareth plainly by the creation of the world, that the righteousness, wisdom, goodness, and power of God doth reach beyond the bounds of heaven and earth; it followeth, that he can be included and shut up within no space of place.

Notwithstanding this demonstration seemeth to have been in vain, because they might readily have said, that images and pictures were placed in temples to testify God’s presence; and that none was so gross but that he knew that God did fulfill [fill] all things. I answer, that that is true which I said a little before, that idolatry is contrary to itself. The unbelievers said, that they worshipped the gods before their images; but unless they had tied the Godhead and power of God to images, and had hoped to be holpen thereby, would they have directed their prayers thither? Hereby it came also to pass, that one temple was more holy than another. They ran to Delphos that they might fet [fetch] the oracles of Apollo thence. Minerva had her seat and mansion at Athens. Now we see that Paul doth touch that false opinion, whereby men have always been deceived; because they feigned to themselves a carnal God.

This is the first entrance into the true knowledge of God, if we go without ourselves, and do not measure him by the capacity of our mind; yea, if we imagine nothing of him according to the understanding of our flesh, but place him above the world, and distinguish him from creatures. From which sobriety the whole world was always far; because this wickedness is in men, naturally to deform God’s glory with their inventions. For as they be carnal and earthy, they will have one that shall be answerable to their nature. Secondly, after their boldness they fashion him so as they may comprehend him. By such inventions is the sincere and plain knowledge of God corrupt; yea, his truth, as saith Paul, is turned into a lie, (Romans 1:25.) For whosoever doth not ascend high above the world, he apprehendeth vain shadows and ghosts instead of God. Again, unless we be carried up into heaven with the wings of faith, we must needs vanish away in our own cogitations. And no marvel if the Gentiles were so grossly deluded and deceived, to include God in the elements of the world, after that they had pulled him out of his heavenly throne; seeing that the same befell the Jews, to whom notwithstanding the Lord had showed his spiritual glory. For it is not without cause that Isaiah doth chide them for including God within the walls of the temple, (Isaiah 66:1.) And we gather out of Stephen’s sermon, that this vice was common to all ages; which sermon is set down by Luke in the 7th chapter and 49th verse.

If any man asked the Jews whose grossness the Holy Ghost reproveth, if they thought that God was included in their temple, they would stoutly have denied that they were in any such gross error. But because they did only behold the temple, and did rise no higher in their minds, and trusting the temple, and did boast that God was as it were bound to them, the Spirit doth for good causes reprehend them, for tying him to the temple as If he were a mortal man. For this is true which I said even now, that superstition is contrary to itself, and that it doth vanish away into divers imaginations. Neither have the Papists at this day any defense, saying that wherewith their errors after a sort. In some, superstition doth feign that God dwelleth in temples made with hands, not that it will shut him up as it were in a prison; but because it doth dream of a carnal (or fleshly) God, and doth attribute a certain power to idols, and doth translate the glory of God unto external shows.

But if God do not dwell in temples made with hands, (2 Kings 19:15,) why doth he testify in so many places of Scripture, that he sitteth between the cherubims, and that the temple is his eternal rest? (Psalm 80:1; 132:14.) I answer, As he was not tied to any place, so he meant nothing less than to tie his people to earthly signs, but rather he cometh down to them that he might lift them up unto himself. Therefore, those men did wickedly abuse the temple and the ark, who did so behold those things that they stayed still upon the earth, and did depart from the spiritual worship of God. Hereby we see that there was great difference between those tokens of God’s presence which men invented to themselves unadvisedly, and those which were ordained by God, because men do always incline downward, that they may lay hold upon [apprehend] God after a carnal manner; but God by the leading of his word doth lift them upward. Only he useth middle signs and tokens, whereby he doth insinuate himself with slow men, until they may ascend into heaven by degrees (and steps.)

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(24) God that made the world . . .—The masculine form of the pronoun and participles throughout the sentence presents an emphatic contrast to the neuter pronoun of the previous verse.

Seeing that he is Lord.—Better, He, being Lord.

Dwelleth not in temples made with hands.—We note with special interest the reproduction of the thought which the then persecutor had heard from the lips of the martyr Stephen. (See Note on Act_7:48.) As asserted of the Temple at Jerusalem, it had at that time, even though it was quoted from a Jewish prophet, driven the Pharisee Saul into the frenzy of fanaticism. Now, having learnt the lesson as regards that Temple, he proclaims the truth as applicable à fortiori to all temples raised by human hands. It is obvious that this truth places the sacredness of Christian churches on a ground entirely different from that which influenced the minds of Jew or Greek in regard to their respective temples. Churches are holy, not because God dwells in them, but because they are set apart for the highest acts of the collective life of the congregation of His people. In those acts men hold communion with God, and so the Church is for them all, and more than all, that the Tabernacle of Meeting (this, as meaning the place where man met God, rather than Tabernacle of the Congregation, being the true rendering of the Hebrew term; comp. Exo_29:42) was to the Israelites of old. Romish theory and practice, in presenting the consecrated wafer in pyx or monstrance, or carrying it in procession, as an object of adoration, revives the old Pagan view which St. Paul disclaims.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24. God that made the world, &c.] Better, The God, &c., which is specially needed when the neuter pronouns are read in the previous verse.

This was no Epicurean god, who dwelt apart and in constant repose; nor was the world a thing of chance as those philosophers taught, but God’s own handiwork, and all things in it were of His creation.

seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth] And therefore supreme possessor and disposer of all that is therein.

dwelleth not in temples made with hands] Of which Athens had some of the most renowned in the world. A special interest attaches to these words as being so like those of Stephen (Act_7:48). If true of the temple at Jerusalem, a fortiori, it is true of all Christian churches.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God that made the world, and all things therein,.... In this account of the divine Being, as the Creator of the world, and all things in it, as the apostle agrees with Moses, and the rest of the sacred Scriptures; so he condemns both the notion of the Epicurean philosophers, who denied that the world was made by God, but said that it owed its being to a fortuitous concourse of atoms; and the notion of the Peripatetics, or Aristotelians, who asserted the eternity of the world; and some of both sects were doubtless present.

Seeing that he is the Lord of heaven and earth; as appears by his being the Creator of both; hence he supports them in their being, and governs all creatures in them by his providence.

Dwelleth not in temples made with hands; such as were the idol temples at Athens; nor in any other edifices built by man, so as to be there fixed and limited; no, not in the temple at Jerusalem: but he dwells in temples that are not made with hands, as in the temple of Christ's human nature, in which the fulness of the Godhead dwells bodily, and in the hearts of his people, who are the temples of the Holy Ghost. This strikes at a notion of the Athenians, as if God was limited, and circumscribed, and included within the bounds of a shrine, or temple, though it is not at all contrary to his promises, or the hopes of his own people, of his presence in places appointed for divine worship, but is expressive of the infinity and immensity of God.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

24 God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands;

Ver. 24. Dwelleth not in temples] {See Trapp on "Act 7:48"}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God that made the world - The main object of this discourse of Paul is to convince them of the folly of idolatry Act 17:29, and thus to lead them to repentance. For this purpose he commences with a statement of the true doctrine respecting God as the Creator of all things. We may observe here:

(1) That he speaks here of God as the Creator of the world, thus opposing indirectly their opinions that there were many gods.

(2) He speaks of him as the Creator of the world, and thus opposes the opinion that matter was eternal; that all things were controlled by Fate; and that God could be confined to temples. The Epicureans held that matter was eternal, and that the world was formed by a fortuitous concourse of atoms. To this opinion Paul opposed the doctrine that all things were made by one God. Compare Act 14:15.

Seeing that ... - Greek: “He being Lord of heaven and earth.”

Lord of heaven and earth - Proprietor and Ruler of heaven and earth. It is highly absurd, therefore, to suppose that he who is present in heaven and in earth at the same time, and who rules over all, should be confined to a temple of an earthly structure, or dependent on man for anything.

Dwelleth not ... - See the notes on Act 7:48.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

God...dwelleth not in temples. He who is infinite cannot be confined to space; nor stand in need of what human hands can furnish. Temples are not for God, but for man. It is the latter who derives assistance from them. The same may be observed of all exterior acts of worship. They are serviceable, inasmuch as they proceed from, or powerfully assist, interior devotion, by the impressions which exterior objects leave upon the soul. The reciprocal action of one upon the other, in our present state of existence, is great and inevitable. (Haydock) See chap. vii. above, ver. 48. --- God, indeed, dwelleth in the temple, yes, and in the soul of the just man, but his is not confined there, as the idols were to their temples. Hence the prayer of Solomon at the consecration of the temple: if heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thy immensity, how much less this house, which I have erected? God dwelleth there, then, to receive the prayers and sacrifices of the faithful, but not as though he needed any thing. See ver. 25. --- God is not contained in temples; so as to need them for his dwelling, or any other uses, as the heathens imagined. Yet by his omnipresence, he is bother there and every where. (Challoner)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

God that made the world; this seems to be directed against the Epicureans, who held, that the world was without beginning.

Dwelleth not in temples made with hands; as if he could be tied to them, or circumcised by them: yet God did in some respect dwell in his temple, where he did manifest himself more clearly than in other places; but that was a type of heaven, the throne of God.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

24. God—A personal being; not a blind force or law of nature; not the sum total of nature’s laws personified; but One who exists independently of nature.

Made the world—The world not being a part of Him. nor emanating necessarily from him, nor he from the world; but he being the voluntary Creator of the world.

Dwelleth not in temples—He is limitless, though a person; and, therefore, can be circumscribed within no temples.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The God for God, A.V. (surely a change for the worse); he being Lord for seeing that he is Lord, A.V. Made with hands (ceiropoihtoiv); see the same phrase in Mar_14:5, 8; Act_7:48; Heb_9:11. St. Paul applies it, too, to the circumcision made with the knife, as distinguished from that wrought by the Holy Spirit. (Eph_3:11) It is frequent in the LXX It is a striking instance of St. Paul"s unflinching boldness and fidelity to the truth, that he should expose the hollowness of heathen worship, standing within a stone"s throw of the Parthenon and the temple of Theseus and the countless other temples of gods and goddesses, which were the pride and glory of the Athenian people. Note how he begins his catechetical instruction to the Athenians with the first article of the Creed: "I believe in God the Father almighty, Maker of heaven and earth."

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God who made the world - Thus is demonstrated even to reason, the one true, good God; absolutely different from the creatures, from every part of the visible creation.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

Here begins St. Paul’s famous sermon to the men of Athens; in which the first thing that occurs to our observation is, how the preacher doth adapt and accommodate his discourse to the capacity of his hearers, as also to their sentiments and opinions. His auditory consisted of philosophers, particularly of Epicureans and Stoics; the former instead of a God and a wise Providence to make and govern the world, brought in Fortune or blind Chance, to bear all the sway. The latter though they acknowledged a God, yet introduced a rigid fatality, as superior to the Deity, denying to man all freedom and liberty of choice.

Accordingly, St. Paul addresses himself, first to prove a God and a Providence, to the exclusion both of Fate and Fortune; and then, secondly, from the very nature and notion of God, he infers the folly and absurdity of their Pagan superstition.

Observe next, The apostle’s arguments to prove the being of a God, and a Providence:

1. From the work of creation: He made the world and all things therein; he giveth life, and breath, and all things. The whole universe is his work, and he planted the earth, and replenished it with inhabitants. The invisible God is more visible in his creatures, and the being of God demonstrated from the formation of a world of creatures.

2. From the formation of man in particular: In him we live, and move, &c.

Here are three great benefits enjoyed by human nature; life, motion, and being, all derived from God, and demonstrating the being of God.

1. Life: this is valuable above all blessings, because it renders us capable of enjoying all blessings.

2. Motion: a great mercy, but little considered. How uncomfortable would life be without it! Were we staked down to the earth as trees, or did we move by a constant law of nature, as the sun and moon do move, it had been a favour beyond our desert; but to move as we do at pleasure, with choice and ease, to help ourselves, and to assist others, is at once a demonstration of God’s being, and an evidence of his bounty.

3. Being: this is essential and necessary to none but God. To us it is an act of divine favour, and this being is a mercy; then being what we are, is a double mercy, that we do not creep and crawl upon the earth, as worms and toads, but are built high upon the earth, with wonderful wisdom and care; and that a soul, which is an immortal and an eternal being, inhabits within us; a being which shall continue when heaven and earth shall be consumed.

Observe next, The apostle having proved the being of a God, next demonstrates the certainty of a divine Providence: He hath determined the times that are fore-appointed, and the bounds of their habitation.

That is, God has, as it were, chalked out, and drawn a line, where the bounds and habitations, whither the dominions or possessions of men should be extended, and where they shall be confined. The common blessings of God are not dispensed without a special providence; and the special providence of God, in upholding, disposing, and governing the world, doth as much prove the being of a God, as the general creation of it. Every hour’s preservation is virtually a new creation, and both of them sufficient demonstrations of the divine being and bounty.

Observe, lastly, The duty which the apostle infers on man’s part, for all this goodness and bounty demonstrated on God’s part; That they shall seek the Lord, who shall find him, who is not far from every one of us. It is the duty of all men to follow after God; that God hath made man, should draw men after God; inasmuch as we are his offspring, (ver. 29) our hearts should spring and rise up to him in love and thankfulness; as the rivers, because they come from the sea, go back thither, so we being the offspring of God, and derived from him, should be always returning to him.

And if it be the duty of all men to follow after God, because they have natural life, breath, and motion from him, how much more should the new creature, who has a spiritual life breathed into him and bestowed upon him, follow hard after God, in the enjoyment of whom his present happiness and future felicity doth consist? To follow God in his way, and to propose God as our end, contains the sum of all duty.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

See notes on verse 22

J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

the world

In the most general sense, the "world" refers to the heavens and the earth and everything in them.

since he is Lord

"because he is the Lord." Here "he" is referring to the unknown god mentioned in Acts 17:23 that Paul is explaining is the Lord God.

of heaven and earth

The words "heaven" and "earth" are used together to mean all beings and things in heaven and earth. (See: Merism)

built with hands

Here "hands" stands for people. AT: "built by the hands of people" or "that people built" (See: Synecdoche)

Neither is he served by men's hands

Here "served" has the sense of a doctor treating a patient to make the patient well again. AT: "Neither do men's hands take care of him" (See: Active or Passive)

by men's hands

Here "hands" stands for the whole person. AT: "by humans" (See: Synecdoche)

since he himself

"because he himself." The word "himself" is added for emphasis. (See: Reflexive Pronouns)

translationWords

God

world

lord

heaven

earth

temple

hand

life

breath

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

24. ὑπάρχων κύριος, with אABE. Vulg. ‘cum sit dominus.’

24. ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν κόσμον, the God that made the world. He whom the Apostle set forth was no Epicurean divinity, dwelling apart and in constant repose. Nor was the world a thing of chance, as those philosophers taught, but the handiwork of God, and so were all things in it.

οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ὑπάρχων κύριος, being Lord of heaven and earth, and having for this reason the supreme disposal of all things.

οὐκ ἐν χειροποιήτοις ναοῖς κατοικεῖ, dwelleth not in temples made with hands, of which Athens held some of the most renowned in the world. A special interest attaches to these words as being so like to those of Stephen (Act 7:48). Paul has taken up the work of him whose martyrdom he formerly abetted.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

24.] ‘No wonder, that the devil, in order to diffuse idolatry, has blotted out among all heathen nations the recognition of Creation. The true doctrine of Creation is the proper refutation of all idolatry.’ Roos. Einl. in die bibl. Geschicht., cited by Stier, Red. der Apost. ii. 140, who remarks, ‘Only on the firm foundation of the Old Testament doctrine of Creation can we rightly build the New Testament doctrine of redemption: and only he, who scripturally believes and apprehends by faith the earliest words of Revelation, concerning a Creator of all things, can also apprehend, know, and scripturally worship, the man, in whom God’s word, down to its latest canonical Revelation, gathers together all things.’

οὐκ ἐν χειρ.] A remarkable reminiscence of the dying speech of Stephen: see ch. 7:48.

Mr. Humphry notices the similarity, but difference in its conclusion, of the argument attributed to Xerxes in Cicero, Leg. ii. 10: ‘Xerxes inflammasse templa Græciæ dicitur, quod parietibus includerent deos, quibus omnia deberent esse patentia et libera, quorumque hic mundus omnis templum esset et domus.’

Where Paul stood, he might see the celebrated colossal statue of Athena Polias, known by the Athenians as ἡ Θεά, standing and keeping guard with spear and shield in the enclosure of the Acropolis.

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

God. With the article : "the God."

The world [τον κοσμον] . Originally, order, and hence the order of the world; the ordered universe. So in classical Greek. In the Septuagint, never the world, but the ordered total of the heavenly bodies; the host of heaven (Deu 4:19; Deu 17:3; Isa 24:21; Isa 40:26). Compare, also, Pro 17:6, and see note on Jas 3:6. In the apocryphal books, of the universe, and mainly in the relation between God and it arising out of the creation. Thus, the king of the world (2 Macc. 7 9); the creator or founder of the world (2 Maec. 7 23); the great potentate of the world (2 Macc. 12 15). In the New Testament : 1. In the classical and physical sense, the universe (Joh 17:5; Joh 21:25; Rom 1:20; Eph 1:4, etc.). 2. As the order of things of which man is the center (Mt 13:38; Mr 16:15; Luk 9:25; Joh 16:21; Eph 2:12; 1Ti 6:7). 3. Humanity as it manifests itself in and through this order (Mt 18:7; 2Pe 2:5; 2Pe 3:6; Rom 3:19). Then, as sin has entered and disturbed the order of things, and made a breach between the heavenly and the earthly order, which are one in the divine ideal - 4. The order of things which is alienated from God, as manifested in and by the human race : humanity as alienated from God, and acting in opposition to him (Joh 1:10; Joh 12:31; Joh 14:18, 19; 1Co 1:21; 1Jo 2:15, etc.). The word is used here in the classical sense of the visible creation, which would appeal to the Athenians. Stanley, speaking of the name by which the Deity is known in the patriarchal age, the plural Elohim, notes that Abraham, in perceiving that all the Elohim worshipped by the numerous clans of his race meant one God, anticipated the declaration of Paul in this passage (" Jewish Church, "1, 25). Paul 's statement strikes at the belief of the Epicureans, that the world was made by" a fortuitous concourse of atoms, " and of the Stoics, who denied the creation of the world by God, holding either that God animated the world, or that the world itself was God.

Made with hands [χειροποιητοις] . Probably pointing to the magnificent temples above and around him. Paul 's epistles abound in architectural metaphors. He here employs the very words of Stephen, in his address to the Sanhedrim; which he very probably heard. See ch. Act 7:48.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.