Coke's Commentary on the Holy Bible · Acts Chapter 17

Acts 17:1. Amphipolis and Apollonia— Were two cities of Macedonia; the first was built by Cimon the Athenian, who sent 10,000 Athenians as a colony thither. It stood in an island of the river Strymon, and had the name of Amphipolis, from the river's running on both sides of the city. The latter was a colony of Corinthians and Corcyreans, near the sea-side. St. Luke seems to have gone no further than Philippi with the apostle at this time; but Silas and Timothy still accompanied him; and passing through these two cities, they came to Thessalonica, another celebrated city, and the metropolis of that part of Macedonia; very famous for its origin, situation, and amplitude: it was a maritime town remarkable for its trade and commerce, in which many Jews had settled. It stood upon the Termaian bay, and was anciently called Thermae; but being rebuilt and enlarged by Philip the father of Alexander the Great, upon his victory over the Thessalians, it was in memory of the fact called Thessalonica, which signifies, "The victory of Thessalia." It is now, by a corrupt pronunciation, called Saloniki, and is a maritime trading town inthe possession of the Turks. Where was a synagogue of the Jews, might perhaps be rendered more properly, where was the synagogue of the Jews; the only synagogue, possibly, which they had in Macedonia.

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Acts 17:2. Three sabbath days reasoned with them, &c.— It has been hence concluded, that St. Paul continued but threeweeks at Thessalonica: but as it evidently appears, that while he was in this city he not only wrought with his own hands to procure subsistence, (1 Thessalonians 2:9; 1 Thessalonians 2:0; 1 Thessalonians 2:0. Thess. Acts 3:8.) but also received supplies more than once from Philippi, (comp. Philippians 4:16.) it seems much more probable, that after the Jews appeared so obstinate in their infidelity, as most of them did, he desisted from disputing or teaching in their synagogue after the third sabbath; and then preached for some time among the Gentiles, before the assault mentioned, Act 17:5 which drove him from this city. It appears that, during his stay here, great numbers of Gentile idolaters received the gospel with remarkable zeal and affection: 1Th 1:9-10 so that in the midst of their persecutions a church was founded which became famous in all Macedonia and Achaia; (1 Thessalonians 1:5-8.) and though the apostle after having treated the new converts with extraordinary tenderness during his abode with them, was quickly forced to leave them, (1Th 2:7; 1 Thessalonians 2:20.) and they about the same time lost some Christian brethren by death, who were dear to them, and might have been remarkably useful; (1 Thessalonians 4:13; 1 Thessalonians 4:18.) yet they continued to behave so well, that St. Paul received a comfortable accountof them by Timothy, and they afterwards advanced in faith, love, and courage, amid their growing trials. See 2 Thessalonians 1:0.

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Acts 17:3. Alledging,— Evidently shewing. The proper import of the word παρατιθεμενος is, "laying a thing open before the eyes of spectators." Grotius and Elsner think, that the last words of the preceding verse should be joined to the beginning of this; thus, opening and evincing from the scriptures, &c.

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Acts 17:5. Jason,— It seems from Rom 16:21 that Jason was a relation of St. Paul's, and probably an Hellenistic Jew. Instead of certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, Doddridge and others render it well, some mean and profligate fellows.

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Acts 17:6. That have turned the world upside down— "Have caused great confusion and disturbance in every place through which they have passed."

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Acts 17:7. Contrary to the decrees of Cesar, &c.— Though the Roman emperor did not pretend to be the only king or monarch, yet, in the conquered provinces or dependant states, there could be no king established without his consent; and it is not improbable that the title of Lord, so frequently and so justly given by Christians to their great Master, might be used as a handle of accusation on such an occasion as this.

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Acts 17:13. And stirred up the people.— The word σαλευοντες, rendered stirred up, signifies primarilyraising a storm. It expresses a violent agitation of the sea, and admirably illustrates the rage and fury of a seditious multitude. Comp. Psalms 90:3-4.Isaiah 17:12-13; Isaiah 17:12-13.Jeremiah 46:7-8; Jeremiah 46:7-8.

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Acts 17:14. To go as it were to the sea— Grotius supposes that St. Paul was brought down to the sea-coast, as one about to sail, and that the rumour thereof was spread; but that in reality he hastened by land to Athens. However, Raphelius has clearly and abundantly proved, that the proper translation is, to go towards or unto the sea; and as there is nothing said of his going by land, the propriety of Grotius's interpretation seems more than doubtful.

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Acts 17:15. Athens:— This celebrated city, whether we consider the antiquity, valour, power, or learning of its inhabitants, has had few to rival it. It is situated in the middle of a large plain, on the gulph of the AEgean sea, which comesup to the isthmus of the Peloponnese or Morea. It is about twenty-five miles distant from Thebes to the south-east; twenty-eight from Negro-point to the south; thirty-five from the Isthmus of Corinth to the east; and about as many south-west, from Cape Raphti, the most eastern land of Achaia. It was and is still the capital of Attica. The people of Athens, proud of their antiquity, owned no original but the earth they dwelt upon, and pretended that they were coeval with the sun. They planted no less than forty colonies, to which they gave names and laws: they were masters of the AEgean sea, and the greater part of the isles in it; and carrying their conquests as far as the borders of Egypt, they had no less than 1000 cities subject to them. This city was, in its most flourishing state, a day's journey, or something more than twenty-two Roman miles in circumference. Its buildings were finished with the highest elegance, of which the temples of Jupiter-Olympus, and Minerva, which is now called Parthenion, are a standing proof to this very day. It might justly be stiled "the university of the whole world." Royal personages resorted hither for education from all parts of the world; and it was celebrated no less for the inviolable fidelity of its citizens, than for being the nursery of the greatest scholars, orators, and philosophers, and for having produced the greater number of heroes of all the other cities in the world. It has suffered great vicissitudes, and is now in the possession of the Turks; who have made a mosque of the Parthenion, which was very much damaged in the Venetian wars. The number of its inhabitants is said to be about 1000, of which three parts are Christians, who have a great number of churches and oratories, and a Greek bishop residing among them, who is a metropolitan: the other inhabitants are Turks, who have five mosques. Few cities in Turkey have preserved themselves so well as this, or enjoy greater privileges under the Turkish tyranny. Their misfortunes have not been able to deprive them of their subtilty and wit, which has been ascribed to the serenity and goodness of the air. It is peculiarly remarkable, that when the plague rages round about it, it seldom reaches there. St. Paul, expecting perhaps that some considerable success would attend his labours in this city, ordered Silas and Timothy to attend him there, as desirous to engage their assistance. Nevertheless, God did not see fit to answer those expectations; and though they came to him as he had ordered, or at least one of them, (that is to say, Timothy,) he was quickly obliged to send him away, especially as he was so solicitous about his friends at Thessalonica. See 1 Thessalonians 3:1-2.

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Acts 17:16. His Spirit was stirred in him,— The word παρωξυνετο signifies that a sharp edge was as it were set upon his spirit, and that he was wrought up to a great eagerness of zeal. Yet it is observable, that it did not throw him into any sallies of rage, either in words or actions; but only engaged him courageously to attempt stopping the torrent of popular superstition, by the most serious and affectionate, yet at the same time manly and rational remonstrances. The character of being wholly enslaved to idolatry, [κατειδωλον, full of idols,] is supported by the whole current of antiquity. Athens was therefore called by AElian "the altar of Greece;" and Xenophon observes that it had twice as many sacred festivals as any other city. Pausanias tells us, it had more images than all the rest of Greece; and Petronius humorously says, "It is easier to find a god than a man there." The full inscription of the altar, Act 17:23 was, "To the gods of Asia, Europe, and Lybia: to the unknown and stranger God." Whence Theophylact concludes, that they received all the strange idol gods of the world,—of Asia, Europe, and Africa; and moreover one, whom they knew not who or where he was. Mr. Biscoe mentions, that a fool had been capitally condemned at Athens for killing one of Esculapius's sparrows; and that a little child, accidentallytaking up a piece of gold which fell from Diana's crown, wasput to death for sacrilege. The prevalence of such a variety of senseless superstitions in this most learned and polite city, which all its neighbours beheld with so much veneration, gives us a most lively and affecting idea of the need we have, in the most improved state of human reason, to be taught by a divine revelation. If the admirers of Grecian wisdom would seriously consider this, they would find almost every one of their classics an advocate for the gospel.

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Acts 17:17. The market— The forum. Heylin.

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Acts 17:18. The Epicureans and—Stoics,— The Epicureans, whose sect was founded by Epicurus, are said to have ascribed neither creation nor providence to God; but held that the world was made by a conflux of atoms: that the gods, if there were any, were of human shape, wholived in voluptuous ease and indolence in heaven, entirely unconcerned about human affairs. They likewise held, that, in the present state, pleasure is the chief good; that man's existence was limited to the present being; and that consequently no resurrection from the dead, nor any future state of rewards and punishments, was to be expected. The founder of the Stoic sect was Zeno; but the name of it was derived from the place in which they assembled, the Στοα, Stoa, or famous portico at Athens, which was adorned with the designs of the greater masters in Greece. They held, that there were two general substances in nature, God and matter; and that both were eternal. Some of them indeed maintained, that God was a corporeal substance; that either God was the world, or the world itself God. They looked upon all things, even the Deity himself, as subject to an irresistible fatality; and as they held that the gods could neither be angry, nor hurt anyone, they took away one main prop of the rewards and punishments of a future state: and as a further weakening of this necessary superstructure, they held a conflagration and renovation, by which the present system would be periodically and alternately destroyed and renewed; so that the same persons would be brought on earth again, to do and suffer the same things as the former generations had done; or other persons like them, who would bear the same names, be placed in similar circumstances, and perform similar actions. But what heightened the malignity of their opinions was this, that they held the soul to be originally a discerped part of God; and that immediately after death it was reunited again to the Deity, by which it was exempted from all sense of misery, and lost its personal identity. As the souls of the bad, as well as the good, were held to undergo this reunion or refusion, and as all personal identity waslost, it is evident that a future state of rewards and punishments must be excluded from their creed. Their morality, though so highly cried up, was of a piece with their metaphysics, and led to the very same conclusion; for they held that all crimes were equal: and so far were they from any proper ideas of religion, that they denied that their wise man was any way inferior to the supreme Deity; that he was not at all indebted to him for his wisdom; that the supreme Deity could not bemore than a wise man; that virtue in this life was its own and sufficient reward: and to conclude these outlines of their character, they denied, in common with the other sects, the resurrection of the body. From this sketch of the opinions of these two sects, the reader may see how opposite the genius of each of them was to the pure and humble spirit of Christianity; and how happily the apostle points his discourse at some of the most distinguishing and important errors of each; while, without expressly attacking either, he seems only intent upongiving a plain summary of his own religious principles; in which he appears an excellent model of the true way of teaching and reforming mankind. It cannot be wondered, that such men as the Epicureans and Stoics should give St. Paul the contemptuous appellation of Σπερμολογος, babbler: the word literally signifies "a contemptible creature, which picks up scattered seeds in the market, or elsewhere." It might be rendered a retailer of scraps, "A trifling fellow, who has somewhere or other picked up some scattered notions, with which he is vain enoughto think he may make a figure here." The word strongly expresses the contempt they had for an unknown foreigner, who pretended to teach all the several professors of their learned and illustrious body of philosophers. Chrysostom, whom Dr. Hammond and several other learned interpreters follow, supposes that the Athenians understood St. Paul, as setting forth the Αναστασις, or resurrection, as a goddess. Stupid as this mistake seems, it is the less to be wondered at, since the resurrection might as well be counted a deity among the Athenians, as modesty, fame, desire; or as the fever, and some other things too scandalous here to name, were among the Romans. In deference, however, to such great names, I cannot help thinking that the Athenians must have understood the meaning of the word Αναστασις too well, to have taken it for a goddess: and indeed it appears to me evident from Act 17:32 that they did understand the word as we commonly do, of men's rising from the dead.

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Acts 17:19. They brought him unto Areopagus,— The original word is the same with that rendered Mars-hill, Acts 17:22. The name of this senate was taken from the place in which it was assembled, being a hill not far distant from the city; for the word παγος, pagos, in composition, signifies a rock, hill, or eminence. With respect to the first part of the name, authors are not so well agreed: some derive it from the Greek word 'Αρης, which signifies Mars, because he is supposed to have been the first person who was arraigned in this court. But others, with more probability, derive it from the same name, as Mars was the god of war and bloodshed, and as all wilful murders fell under the cognizance of this court; and the word Αρης itself is used to signifymurders. When this court was first instituted, is uncertain, some making it as ancient as Cecrops, and others bringing it down as low as Solon. It has indeed been objected to the latter opinion, that one of Solon's laws makes mention of the Areopagus as already existing. The difficulty is how to reconcile these accounts. The case might have been this: Solon, we know, was employed by the Athenians to new-model their commonwealth, by reforming the illconstitutions, and supplying such as were defective; so that, in the number of his regulations, was that against the admission of foreign gods without a licence from the Areopagus; and having thus enlarged its jurisdiction, he was afterwards regarded as the founder. The number of persons that composed this assembly, is variously represented. By some it is restrained to nine, by others enlarged to thirty-one, by others to fifty-one; but when Socrates was condemned by this court, there were no less than two hundred and eighty one giving their votes against him. Aristides observes, that this court was the most sacred and venerable tribunal in all Greece: so impartial and exact were their proceedings in all matters of law, that, as Demosthenes informs us, there never had been in his time, so much as one of their determinations, which either plaintiff or defendant had reason to complain of. They had three meetings in the Areopagus every month. They sat in the open air, which was customary in such courts as took cognizance of murder; that the judges might not contract any pollutionfrom conversing with men so profane: and they heard all causes at night, and in the dark, that they might not be influenced by seeing either the plaintiff or defendant. There are some remains of the place wherein this assembly met,still visible in the foundations, which form a semicircle, built with square stones of a prodigious size. See on Acts 17:34

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Acts 17:21. (For all the Athenians and strangers which were there, &c.)— Who sojourn there. It is well known that the young nobility and gentry of Italy, and most of the neighbouring countries, generally studied some time at Athens; where there were the most celebrated professors in all the liberal arts and sciences. It appears from the testimony of many ancient writers of the first credit, that the Athenians were most remarkable for their love of novelty, agreeable to the character here given of them by St. Luke.

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Acts 17:22. Ye are too superstitious.— Dr. Doddridge renders the original, Ye are exceedingly addicted to the worship of invisible powers; which, he observes, is very agreeable to the etymology of the word Δεισιδαιμονεστεροι, and has, what a version of scripture in such a case should always have, if possible, the ambiguity of the original; which learned writers have proved to be capable of a good as well as a bad sense: (Comp. ch. Acts 25:19.) whereas neither superstitious nor religious has that ambiguity. This sense too seems preferable to that in our version on another account; as the giving the original the worst signification of which it is capable, does not well suit the peculiar delicacy with which St. Paul addresses himself to the assembly throughout the whole of his speech; whereas, on this interpretation, his discourse opens not only in an inoffensivebut in a very obliging manner. See the note on Acts 17:34.

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Acts 17:23. And beheld your devotions,— Σεβασματα ;—the objects, and instruments of your worship. This is the proper signification of the original, which has no English word exactly corresponding to it. (Comp. 2 Thessalonians 2:4.) Diogenes Laertius, in his life of Epimenides, gives us the following account of the inscription. He tells us, "that in the time of that philosopher, about 600 years before Christ, there was a terrible pestilence at Athens; and when none of the deities to whom they sacrificed, appeared able or willing to avert it, Epimenides advised them to bring some sheep to the Areopagus, and, letting them loose from thence, to follow them till they lay down; and then to sacrifice them to the god, near whose temple or altar they then were." Now it might have happened that, Athens not being then so full of these monuments of superstition and idolatry as afterwards, these sheep lay down in places where none of them were erected, and so occasioned the rearing what the historian calls anonymous altars, or altars each of which had the inscription, "To the unknown God;" meaning thereby, the god that had sent the plague, whoever he were; one of which altars, at least, however it might have been repaired, remained till St. Paul's time, and long after. Now, as the God whom St. Paul preached was indeed the Deity who sent and removed this pestilence, the apostle might, on supposition of the truth of the above account, with great propriety tell the Athenians, He declared to them Him, whom, without knowing him, they worshipped; as the latter clause of this verse should be read. It may be proper just to observe, that Witsius, with Hensius, &c. understands this inscription of Jehovah, whose name not being pronounced by the Jews themselves, might, they think, give occasion to this appellation; and to this sense Biscoe inclines. Dr. Wellwood, in the introduction to his translation of "The Banquet of Xenophon," observes, "Iknow there are different opinions about this altar, and upon what occasion it came to be erected; but it is very probable, and I have several ancient historians and divines for vouchers, that it was done by Socrates. It seems, instead of raising an altar, as was the custom, to any of the fictitious gods of Greece, he took this way, as the safest, to express his devotion to the one true God; of whom the Athenians had no notion, and whose incomprehensible being, he insinuated by this inscription, was far beyond the reach of their, or of his own understanding: and it is very reasonable to think, that it was owing to the veneration they had for the memory of its founder, that it came to be preserved so many ages after, though they understood not the sense of the inscription." To these observations we may add, that though the heathens held Jupiter to be the one supreme god, yet their Jupiter was not the true God, but a being whom they supposed to be attended with many imperfections, and to whom they ascribed several enormities; and whether that altar was erected by Socrates, or by whatever other person, or upon whatever occasion, it appears highly probable that it was designed in honour of the true God; that is to say, the God of the Jews. For as the Jews neither erected any image to the true God, nor were willing to discover his name to strangers, he had therefore neither image nor name at Athens; though there was an altar dedicated to him, at once to express the Athenians' reverence for, and ignorance of him.

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Acts 17:25. Neither is worshipped with men's hands,— Neither is served θεραπευεται . This refers to the foolish notion among the heathens, that the gods fed on the fumes of sacrifices. Their votaries also clothed their images with splendid garments, and waited upon them in other services, ill becoming the majesty and purity essential to the Divine Nature.

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Acts 17:26. And hath made of one blood all nations, &c.— Παν εθνος ανθρωπων, the whole generation of men. By this expression the apostle shewed 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 in one sense as his brethren. This and the two following verses may be thus paraphrased: "And he hath made of one blood, and caused to descend from one original pair, the immediate work of his own almighty power and goodness, the whole nation and species of men, now by his providential care so propagated, as to inhabit and cover all the face of the earth, having marked or ordained all the seasons as they roll, to change and return according to fixed laws for the regulation of their time, and appointed the several boundaries of their different habitations—all things in the disposition of his providence centring in this one great end, that they might be excited to seek after the Lord their maker; and that, amidst all the darkness which their own degeneracy and prejudice have brought upon their minds, theymight feel after him, and be so happy as to find him out, in the knowledge of whom their supreme happiness consists; who indeed, though he be so little known and regarded by the generality of mankind, yet is not far from every one of us: for in him we perpetually live, and are moved, and do exist; the continuance of all our active powers, and even of our being, is ever owing to his steady and uninterrupted agency upon us, according to those stated laws of operation which he hath wisely been pleased to lay down for himself; as some also of your own poets have in effect said, 'For we his offspring are'."

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Acts 17:27. That they should seek the Lord,— Dr. Heylin renders this verse, That they should seek God so as to feel and find him: who is indeed already not far from any of us. The word 'Ει, here, says he, is the same as the word οτι. See ch. Acts 26:8. The word Ψηλαφησειαν, imports, actually feeling. So it is rendered handle me, Luke 24:39. The same word is used Jdg 16:26 where Samson says, suffer me that I may feel the pillars. I have been particular, says Dr. Heylin, in my remarks upon this verse, because I am very desirous to draw the reader's attention to it.

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Acts 17:28. For in him we live, and move, &c.— No words can better express that continued and necessary dependance of all derived beings, in their existence, and all their operations, on their first and almighty Cause, which the truest philosophy as well as theology teaches. The thought, in words just like these is found in an old Greek poet:—but St. Paul not mentioning it as a quotation, the reader perhaps may be inclined to think with Le Clerc, that the poet borrowed it from this passage. The last words, for we are also his offspring, are well known to be found in Aratus, a poet of Cilicia, St. Paul's own country, who lived almost 300 years before this time. They are also to be found in the hymn of Cleanthes, which is one of the purest and finest pieces of natural religion, of its length, extant in the whole world of Pagan antiquity. As these words are found in two different poets, this possibly may be the reason why St. Paul speaks in the plural number, certain of your own poets have said; though some have thought this refers to the first clause.

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Acts 17:29. We ought not to think, &c.— For the observations proposed on this verse, and referred to chap. Acts 14:15. See the Inferences at the end of this chapter.

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Acts 17:30. The times of this ignorance God winked at;— The original 'Υπεριδαν, signifies overlooked; that is, he did not appear to take notice of them, by sending express messages to them, as he did to the Jews, and now also to the Gentiles;—as it follows, but now commandeth: and the reader will easily perceive that there is a dignityin this latter expression, becoming one who was conscious to himself that he was indeed an ambassador from the king of heaven. This universal demand of repentance, declared in the strongest terms universal guilt, and admirably confronted the pride of the haughtiest Stoic of them all; and at the same time it bore down all the idle plea of fatality: for who could repent of doing what he apprehended he could not but have done.

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Acts 17:32. When they heard of the resurrection— St. Paul, from the article of the one true God in a general point of view, was sliding gently into the other grand article of the Christian faith, namely, that Jesus of Nazareth in particular, was the Lord, Saviour, and Judge of all; one principal proof whereof was his resurrection from the dead. But the vain and conceited auditory would hear no more. Upon the mention of the resurrection from the dead, some mocked, and laughed out—very probably the Epicureans, who believed no resurrection, nor any future state, or judgment to come; while others said, We shall be glad to hear you again upon this subject. Most likely these were the Stoics, who had some notions of a judgment to come, and of the conflagration and renovation of the world, as well as of a future state of rewards and punishments; though with respect to the doctrine of the resurrection of the body, every sect of philosophers was no less ignorant of it, than highly contemptuous respecting it, when revealed to them. See Acts 17:18.

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