New English Translation
Acts 17:24
24The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands,
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 before the Areopagus and said, “Men of Athens, I see that you are very religious in all respects. 23For as I went around and observed closely your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: ‘To an unknown god.’ Therefore what you worship without knowing it, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by human hands, 25nor is he served by human hands, as if he needed anything, because he himself gives life and breath and everything to everyone. 26From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,
Read all of Acts 17Acts 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 17:26From one man he made every nation of the human race to inhabit the entire earth, determining their set times and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,
- Acts 4:24When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said, “Master of all, you who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them,
- Acts 14:15“Men, why are you doing these things? We too are men, with human natures just like you! We are proclaiming the good news to you, so that you should turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and everything that is in them.
- Psalms 146:5How blessed is the one whose helper is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God,
- Isaiah 40:12Who has measured out the waters in the hollow of his hand, or carefully measured the sky, or carefully weighed the soil of the earth, or weighed the mountains in a balance, or the hills on scales?
- Isaiah 45:18For this is what the Lord says, the one who created the sky – he is the true God, the one who formed the earth and made it; he established it, he did not create it without order, he formed it to be inhabited – “I am the Lord, I have no peer.
- Jeremiah 10:11You people of Israel should tell those nations this: ‘These gods did not make heaven and earth. They will disappear from the earth and from under the heavens.’
- Jeremiah 32:17‘Oh, Lord God, you did indeed make heaven and earth by your mighty power and great strength. Nothing is too hard for you!
- Zechariah 12:1The revelation of the word of the Lord concerning Israel: The Lord – he who stretches out the heavens and lays the foundations of the earth, who forms the human spirit within a person – says,
- John 1:1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God.
- Hebrews 1:2in these last days he has spoken to us in a son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he created the world.
- Hebrews 3:4For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.
- Genesis 14:19He blessed Abram, saying, “Blessed be Abram by the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth.
- 2 Kings 19:15Hezekiah prayed before the Lord: “Lord God of Israel, who is enthroned on the cherubs! You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the sky and the earth.
- Psalms 24:1The Lord owns the earth and all it contains, the world and all who live in it.
- Psalms 115:16The heavens belong to the Lord, but the earth he has given to mankind.
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
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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