Acts 17:29

Acts 17:29 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
• New International Version (NIV)“Therefore since we are God’s offspring, we should not think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone—an image made by human design and skill.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Therefore, since we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine Nature is like gold or silver or stone, something shaped by art and man’s devising.

Context of Acts 17:29

27that they may seek God; if indeed they might feel after him and find him, although he is not far from each one of us: 28for in him we live and move and exist; as also some of the poets amongst you have said, For we are also his offspring. Being therefore [the] offspring of God, we ought not to think that which is divine to be like gold or silver or stone, [the] graven form of man's art and imagination. 30God therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now enjoins men that they shall all everywhere repent, 31because he has set a day in which he is going to judge the habitable earth in righteousness by [the] man whom he has appointed, giving the proof [of it] to all [in] having raised him from among [the] dead.

Acts 17:29 word by word

γένος οὖν ὑπάρχοντες τοῦ θεοῦ οὐκ ὀφείλομεν νομίζειν χρυσῷ ἢ ἀργύρῳ ἢ λίθῳ, χαράγματι τέχνης καὶ ἐνθυμήσεως ἀνθρώπου, τὸ θεῖον εἶναι ὅμοιον.Read the interlinear

• Beingεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• thereforeοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• offspringγένοςgenos · family: descendantG1085
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• oughtὀφείλωopheilō opheileō · to oweG3784
• thinkνομίζωnomizō · to thinkG3543
• divineθεῖοςtheios · divineG2304
• goldχρυσόςchrusos · goldG5557
• silverἄργυροςarguros · silverG696
• stoneλίθοςlithos · stoneG3037

Cross-references for Acts 17:29

• Psalms 94:7And say, Jah will not see, neither will the God of Jacob regard [it].
• Psalms 106:20And they changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass.
• Psalms 115:4Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands:
• Isaiah 40:12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out the heavens with [his] span, and grasped the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in a balance, and the hills in scales?
• Isaiah 44:9They that form a graven image are all of them vanity, and their delectable things are of no profit; and they are their own witnesses: they see not, nor know; — that they may be ashamed.
• Habakkuk 2:19Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake! to the dumb stone, Arise! Shall it teach? Behold it is overlaid with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
• Romans 1:20— for from [the] world's creation the invisible things of him are perceived, being apprehended by the mind through the things that are made, both his eternal power and divinity, — so as to render them inexcusable.
• Exodus 20:4Thou shalt not make thyself any graven image, or any form of what is in the heavens above, or what is in the earth beneath, or what is in the waters under the earth:
• Exodus 32:4And he took [them] out of their hand, and fashioned it with a chisel and made of it a molten calf: and they said, This is thy god, Israel, who has brought thee up out of the land of Egypt!
• Isaiah 46:5To whom will ye liken me and make me equal, or compare me, that we may be like?
• Jeremiah 10:4they deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not.

Commentaries on Acts 17:29

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 29Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, etc. - This inference of the apostle was very strong and conclusive; and his argument runs thus: "If we are the offspring of God, he cannot be like those images of gold, silver, and stone, which are formed by the art and device of man; for the parent must resemble his offspring. Seeing, therefore, that we are living and intelligent beings, He from whom we have derived that being must be living and…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 29Forasmuch then - Admitting or assuming this to be true. The argument which follows is drawn from the concessions of their own writers. We ought not to think - It is absurd to suppose. The argument of the apostle is this: “Since we are formed by God; since we are like him, living and intelligent beings; since we are more excellent in our nature than the most precious and ingenious works of art, it is absurd to suppose that the original source of our…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. 2929. Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think--The courtesy of this language is worthy of notice. that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man's device--("graven by the art or device of man"). One can hardly doubt that the apostle would here point to those matchless monuments of the plastic art, in gold and silver and costliest stone, which lay so profusely beneath and around him. The more…Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 17:29

• Athens
• God
• Idolatry
• Paul
• Readings, Select
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

• God
• Appoint
• Areopagus
• Assurance
• Blood
• Determine
• Godhead
• Ignorantly
• James
• Manner

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