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 stood up in front of the important officers of the city. He said to them, ‘People of Athens. I see that you have many gods. 23I have walked in the streets of your city. I see that you have built many special places where you worship your gods. I saw one altar with a notice on it. The notice said, “To the god that we do not know.” This shows that you want to worship a god that you do not know. Now I will tell you clearly about who this God is. The true God made the earth and everything that is in it. He rules everything in the earth and in heaven. He does not live in any buildings that people have made for him. 25People make things to give to God. But God does not need anything like that. It is God himself who causes everyone to live. He gives them everything that they need. 26God first made one man. From that one man he made all the different groups of people. He caused them to live in different places all over the world. He decided where each group of people should live. He also decided how long they should live in each place.

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 17:26God first made one man. From that one man he made all the different groups of people. He caused them to live in different places all over the world. He decided where each group of people should live. He also decided how long they should live in each place.
• Acts 4:24The believers listened to what Peter and John told them. Then they all prayed together. They said to God, ‘You are the Lord who rules over everything. You made the sky, the earth and the sea. You also made everything that is in them.
• Acts 14:15and they shouted, ‘Stop! You people should not do this. We are only men like you. We are not gods. We came here to tell you some good news about the great God. You must stop worshipping these gods who are really nothing. Instead worship the God who lives. He made the sky, the earth and the sea. He also made everything that is in them.
• Psalms 146:5The person who knows that the God of Jacob will help him is a happy person! If he trusts in the Lord as his God, he is happy.
• Isaiah 40:12Nobody has done what God has done! He measured all the water of the seas in one hand. He used his hand to measure the whole sky. He carefully weighed the soil of the earth. He carefully weighed the mountains in his scales, and the hills too.
• Isaiah 45:18The Lord created the heavens. He is the true God. He created the earth and he put it in its place. He built it to be strong. He did not create it as an empty place. He made it for people to live there. He says, ‘I am the Lord. There is nobody else who is like me.
• Jeremiah 10:11Tell the nations this: ‘Your gods did not make the earth or the sky. They will disappear completely from everywhere on earth and everywhere in the sky.’
• Jeremiah 32:17I said, ‘Lord God, you used your great power and strength to make the earth and the sky. Nothing is too difficult for you to do.
• Zechariah 12:1This is the Lord's message about Israel. The Lord made the skies and the whole wide earth. He makes men and women.
• John 1:1In the beginning, the Word was already there. The Word was with God. The Word was God.
• Hebrews 1:2But in these last days, he has spoken to us in his Son. In the beginning, God worked through his Son to make the whole universe. He decided that everything should belong to his Son.
• Hebrews 3:4Every house has someone who built it. But God is the one who has built all things.
• Genesis 14:19He blessed Abram. He said, ‘I pray that the Most High God who made heaven and earth will bless Abram.
• 2 Kings 19:15Hezekiah prayed to the Lord. He said, ‘Lord, you are Israel's God. You sit on your throne between the cherubs. Only you are the God who rules all the kingdoms in the world. You have made the heavens and the earth.
• Psalms 24:1The whole earth belongs to the Lord. Everybody who lives in the world and all the things in it belong to him.
• Psalms 115:16The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to us people.

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