Acts 17:30

Acts 17:30 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:
• New International Version (NIV)In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
• English Standard Version (ESV)The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,
• New King James Version (NKJV)Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

Context of Acts 17:30

28Someone said this: “Because God gives us life, we are alive. Because of him, we can move about. Because of him we can be who we are.” One of your writers has also said, “We too are God's children.” 29So, because we are God's children, we should not think that he is a thing like an idol. Clever people use gold or silver or stone to make images of gods. But God is not like these things that people choose to make for themselves. In past times people did not know the true things about God. Because of this, God did not punish them. But now God tells people everywhere, “Stop doing bad things and turn to me!” 31God has already chosen one special day. On that day he will judge everyone in the world in a completely right way. He has chosen a man who will do this for him. He has shown clearly to everyone who that man is. He showed it like this: People killed that man. But God caused him to live again.’ 32Paul had said, ‘God caused that man to live again.’ When the people heard this, some of them laughed at him. But other people said to Paul, ‘We want you to tell us more about this on another day.’

Acts 17:30 word by word

τοὺς μὲν οὖν χρόνους τῆς ἀγνοίας ὑπεριδὼν ὁ θεὸς τὰ νῦν παραγγέλλει τοῖς ἀνθρώποις πάντας πανταχοῦ μετανοεῖν·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• ·ὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• Andοὖνoun · therefore/thenG3767
• ·μένmen · on the other handG3303
• the timesχρόνοςchronos · timeG5550
• of this ignoranceἄγνοιαagnoia · ignoranceG52
• Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
• winked atὑπερείδωhupereidō · to overlookG5237
• nowνῦνnun · nowG3568
• commandethπαραγγέλλωparaggellō · to orderG3853
• allπᾶςpas · allG3956
• menἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
• every whereπανταχοῦpantachou · everywhereG3837
• to repentμετανοέωmetanoeō · to repentG3340

Cross-references for Acts 17:30

• Acts 14:16In past times, God let people everywhere do what they wanted to do.
• Psalms 50:21You did all these things, and I said nothing. So you thought that I was as bad as you are. But now I am warning you! I will tell you clearly what you have done wrong.
• Romans 1:28Those people decided that they did not need to know anything about God. So God let their minds become spoiled. As a result, they do bad things that people ought not to do.
• Romans 3:23All people have done wrong things. Nobody can be good and great, as God wanted them to be.
• Acts 3:19So you must stop doing wrong things. Change how you live and turn to God. Then God will forgive you for all the wrong things that you have done.
• Acts 11:18The Jewish believers heard what Peter said. They could not say anything more against him. Instead, they praised God and they said, ‘We now see that God has also let Gentiles have life with him. He will accept them if they stop doing bad things and turn to him.’
• Acts 20:21I have taught the same things both to Jewish people and to Gentiles. I have said clearly to them all, “You must stop doing wrong things. Change the way that you live and turn to God. Believe in our Lord Jesus.”
• Acts 26:17I will send you to speak about me to Jews and to Gentiles. Some of them will want to hurt you. But I will keep you safe.
• Matthew 3:2He told people, ‘You have done many wrong things. You must turn away from them and change how you live. Do this now, because the kingdom of heaven has come very near.’
• Matthew 4:17Then Jesus began to speak God's message to people. He said, ‘You have done many wrong things. You must turn away from them and change how you live. Do this now, because the kingdom of heaven has come very near.’
• Mark 6:12So the 12 apostles went out. They told people that they must change the way that they live. They must stop doing wrong things.
• Luke 13:5But I tell you, no, they had not. All of you have also done many bad things. So you must change how you live and you must turn to God. If you do not, you will also die as they did.’
• Luke 15:10When one person stops doing wrong things, it is like that. It makes God's angels and everyone in heaven very happy.’
• Luke 24:47People in every country of the world must hear God's message. They must stop doing wrong things and change how they live. When they do this, God will forgive them. He will forgive all the bad things that they have done. People need to tell this message about the Messiah in Jerusalem first, then tell people in other countries.
• Romans 2:4Remember that God is very kind and patient with us. He waits a long time before he punishes us. Do you not think that that is important? You should understand that God is giving you a chance to change. He waits patiently, so that you may turn away from wrong things.
• 2 Corinthians 7:10People need to become sad in the way that God wants. When they are sad like that, it causes them to turn away from wrong things. Then God saves them from their sins. They will never be sorry about that! But when people become sad in the way that the world wants, it does not help them. They do not turn to God and they die in their spirits.

Commentaries on Acts 17:30

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 30The times of this ignorance God winked at - He who has an indisputable right to demand the worship of all his creatures has mercifully overlooked those acts of idolatry which have disgraced the world and debased man; but now, as he has condescended to give a revelation of himself, he commands, as the sovereign, all men every where, over every part of his dominions, to repent, , to change their views, designs, and practices; because he hath appointed a day…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 30And the times of this ignorance - The long period when people were ignorant of the true God, and when they worshipped stocks and stones. Paul here refers to the times preceding the gospel. God winked at - ̔̀ huperidōnOverlooked; connived at; did not come forth to punish. In Acts 14:16 it is expressed thus: “Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways” The sense is, he passed over those times without punishing them, as if he did not…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. 30The idea of people’s ignorance is carefully discussed both in the Old Testament law (Leviticus 4:2, 22, 27; 5:15, 17; Numbers 15:25, 27). It is also present in the New Testament (Ephesians 4:18; 1 Peter 1:14; 2:15; 2 Peter 3:5, 8). Paul was especially eager to correct ignorance (see Romans 10:13–15; 11:25; 1 Corinthians 10:1; 12:1; 2 Corinthians 1:8; 1 Thessalonians 4:13). The message of the gospel overcomes ignorance and calls all people to repent "and…Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 3030. the times of this ignorance God winked at--literally (and far better), "overlooked," that is, bore with, without interposing to punish it, otherwise than suffering the debasing tendency of such worship to develop itself (compare Ac 14:16, and see on Ro 1:24, &c.). but now--that a new light was risen upon the world. commandeth--"That duty--all along lying upon man estranged from his Creator, but hitherto only silently recommending itself and little…Read the comment

Topics related to Acts 17:30

• Athens
• God Continued...
• Ignorance
• Paul
• Readings, Select
• Repentance
• Responsibility
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

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