Acts 17:25

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.
• English Standard Version (ESV)nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
• 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 was passing through and considering the objects of your worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore, the One whom you worship without knowing, Him I proclaim to you: 24“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. Nor is He worshiped with men’s hands, as though He needed anything, since He gives to all life, breath, and all things. 26And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their preappointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, 27so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us;

Acts 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, Though he who is wise may be profitable to himself?
• Job 35:6If you sin, what do you accomplish against Him? Or, if your transgressions are multiplied, what do you do to Him?
• Psalms 16:2O my soul, you have said to the Lord, “You are my Lord, My goodness is nothing apart from You.”
• Psalms 50:8I will not rebuke you for your sacrifices Or your burnt offerings, Which are continually before Me.
• Jeremiah 7:20Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Behold, My anger and My fury will be poured out on this place—on man and on beast, on the trees of the field and on the fruit of the ground. And it will burn and not be quenched.”
• Amos 5:21“I hate, I despise your feast days, And I do not savor your sacred assemblies.
• Matthew 9:13But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy and not sacrifice.’ For I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.”
• Acts 17:28for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’
• Acts 14:17Nevertheless He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good, gave us rain from heaven and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.”
• Genesis 2:7And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.
• Numbers 16:22Then they fell on their faces, and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and You be angry with all the congregation?”
• Numbers 27:16“Let the Lord, the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
• Job 12:10In whose 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 breath of God 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 on it, If He should 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

• Athens
• Breath
• Gentiles
• God
• Life
• Paul
• Readings, Select
• Religion
• Worship
• Zeal, Religious

In the dictionaries

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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