English Standard Version
Acts 17:25
25nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
Acts 17:25 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
- New International Version (NIV)And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.
- New King James Version (NKJV)Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things.
- New Living Translation (NLT)and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.
Context of Acts 17:25
23For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: 'To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. 24The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. 26And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, 27that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,
Read all of Acts 17Acts 17:25 word by word
οὐδὲ ὑπὸ χειρῶν ἀνθρωπίνων θεραπεύεται προσδεόμενός τινος, αὐτὸς διδοὺς πᾶσιν ζωὴν καὶ πνοὴν καὶ τὰ πάντα·Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Neitherοὐδέoude · norG3761
- is worshippedθεραπεύωtherapeuō · to serve/healG2323
- withὑπόhupo · by/under: byG5259
- men’sἄνθρωποςanthrōpos · a humanG444
- handsχείρcheir · handG5495
- as though he neededπροσδέωprosdeomai · to needG4326
- any thingτιςtis · oneG5100
- seeing heαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- givethδίδωμιdidōmi · to giveG1325
- to allπᾶςpas · allG3956
- lifeζωήzōē · lifeG2222
- andκαίkai · andG2532
- breathπνοήpnoē · wind/breathG4157
- all thingsὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
Cross-references for Acts 17:25
- Job 22:2"Can a man be profitable to God? Surely he who is wise is profitable to himself.
- Job 35:6If you have sinned, what do you accomplish against him? And if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to him?
- Psalms 16:2I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord; I have no good apart from you."
- Psalms 50:8Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me.
- Jeremiah 7:20Therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, my anger and my wrath will be poured out on this place, upon man and beast, upon the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground; it will burn and not be quenched."
- Amos 5:21"I hate, I despise your feasts, and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
- Matthew 9:13Go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.' For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners."
- Acts 17:28for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, "'For we are indeed his offspring.'
- Acts 14:17Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness."
- Genesis 2:7then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
- Numbers 16:22And they fell on their faces and said, "O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and will you be angry with all the congregation?"
- Numbers 27:16"Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, appoint a man over the congregation
- Job 12:10In his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind.
- Job 27:3as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils,
- Job 33:4The Spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.
- Job 34:14If he should set his heart to it and gather to himself his spirit and his breath,
Commentaries on Acts 17:25
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 25Neither is worshiped with men's hands - This is an indirect stroke against making of images, and offering of sacrifices: he is not worshipped with human hands, as if he needed any thing, or required to be represented under a particular form or attitude; nor has he required victims for his support; for it is impossible that he should need any thing who himself gives being, form, and life, to all creatures. Giveth - life, and breath, and all things - These…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 25Neither is worshipped with men‘s hands - The word here rendered “worshipped” ( ́ therapeuetai) denotes to “serve”; to wait upon; and then to render religious service or homage. There is reference here, undoubtedly, to a notion prevalent among the pagan, that the gods were fed or nourished by the offerings made to them. The idea is prevalent among the Hindus that the sacrifices which are made, and which are offered in the temples, are consumed by the gods…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 17:25
In the dictionaries
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
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Commentaries