Acts 17:24

Acts 17:24 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)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;
• New International Version (NIV)“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man,
• New King James Version (NKJV)“God, who made the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands.

Context of Acts 17:24

22So Paul, standing in the center of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I observe [with every turn I make throughout the city] that you are very religious and devout in all respects. 23Now as I was going along and carefully looking at your objects of worship, I came to an altar with this inscription: ‘TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you already worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who created the world and everything in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; 25nor is He served by human hands, as though He needed anything, because it is He who gives to all [people] life and breath and all things. 26And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories.

Acts 17:24 word by word

ὁ θεὸς ὁ ποιήσας τὸν κόσμον καὶ πάντα τὰ ἐν αὐτῷ, οὗτος οὐρανοῦ καὶ γῆς ὑπάρχων κύριος οὐκ ἐν χειροποιήτοις ναοῖς κατοικεῖ,Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• that madeποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
• the worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• all thingsπᾶςpas · allG3956
• ·ἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• thereinαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
• seeing that heοὗτοςhoutos houtoi hautē hautai · this/he/she/itG3778
• isὑπάρχωhuparchō · be alreadyG5225
• Lordκύριοςkurios · lord: GodG2962
• of heavenοὐρανόςouranos · heavenG3772
• earthγῆgē · earth: planetG1093
• dwellethκατοικέωkatoikeō · to dwellG2730
• notοὐou · noG3756
• templesναόςnaos · templeG3485
• made with handsχειροποίητοςcheiropoiētos · hand-madeG5499

Cross-references for Acts 17:24

• Acts 17:26And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands and territories.
• Acts 4:24And when they heard it, they raised their voices together to God and said, “O Sovereign Lord [having complete power and authority], it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them,
• Acts 14:15“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are only men of the same nature as you, bringing the good news to you, so that you turn from these useless and meaningless things to the living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and everything that is in them.
• Psalms 146:5How blessed and graciously favored is he whose help is the God of Jacob (Israel), Whose hope is in the Lord his God,
• Isaiah 40:12Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, And marked off the heavens with a span [of the hand], And calculated the dust of the earth with a measure, And weighed the mountains in a balance And the hills in a pair of scales?
• Isaiah 45:18For the Lord, who created the heavens (He is God, who formed the earth and made it; He established it and did not create it to be a wasteland, but formed it to be inhabited) says this, “I am the Lord, and there is no one else.
• Jeremiah 10:11In this manner you shall say to them, “The gods that did not make the heavens and the earth will perish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
• Jeremiah 32:17‘Ah Lord God! Behold, You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and by Your outstretched arm! There is nothing too difficult or too wonderful for You—
• Zechariah 12:1The oracle (a burdensome message) of the word of the Lord concerning Israel. Thus declares the Lord who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundation of the earth and forms the spirit of man within him:
• John 1:1In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.
• Hebrews 1:2has in these last days spoken [with finality] to us in [the person of One who is by His character and nature] His Son [namely Jesus], whom He appointed heir and lawful owner of all things, through whom also He created the universe [that is, the universe as a space-time-matter continuum].
• Hebrews 3:4For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
• Genesis 14:19And Melchizedek blessed Abram and said, “Blessed (joyful, favored) be Abram by God Most High, Creator and Possessor of heaven and earth;
• 2 Kings 19:15Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said, “O Lord, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim [of the ark in the temple], You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made the heavens and the earth.
• Psalms 24:1The earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness of it, The world, and those who dwell in it.
• Psalms 115:16The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, But the earth He has given to the children of men.

Commentaries on Acts 17:24

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 24God that made the world, etc. - 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: St. Paul assumes, as an acknowledged truth, that there was a God who made the world and all things. 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…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 24God that made the world - The main object of this discourse of Paul is to convince them of the folly of idolatry Acts 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…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 22-31Verses 22-31 Here we have a sermon to heathens, who worshipped false gods, and were without the true God in the world; and to them the scope of the discourse was different from what the apostle preached to the Jews. In the latter case, his business was to lead his hearers by prophecies and miracles to the knowledge of the Redeemer, and faith in him; in the former, it was to lead them, by the common works of providence, to know the Creator, and worship…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 22-31Paul’s sermon in Athens shows how well he could adapt his preaching of the good news (Romans 11:14; 1 Corinthians 9:19–23; 10:33; compare Acts 16:3; 17:2–3; 21:20–26). His Greek audience did not know the Scriptures or believe in one God like the Jews. However, they had a strong intellectual background. Paul connected with them using an Athenian inscription on an altar TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. He then explained God’s nature as the Creator (17:22–29), followed by…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 24-2524-25. 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…Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 17:24

• Athens
• Gentiles
• God
• God Continued...
• Paul
• Readings, Select
• Religion
• Worship
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• God
• god, false god, goddess, idol, idolater, idolatrous, idolatry
• Appoint
• Areopagus
• Assurance
• Blood
• Determine
• Heaven
• Ignorantly
• James

Commentaries on Acts 17

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• The Fourfold Gospel and Commentary on Acts
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings