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, standing before the council, addressed them as follows: “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, 23for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines. And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’ This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about. “He is the God who made the world and everything in it. Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, 25and 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. 26From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.

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 17:26From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth. He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.
• Acts 4:24When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them—
• Acts 14:15“Friends, why are you doing this? We are merely human beings—just like you! We have come to bring you the Good News that you should turn from these worthless things and turn to the living God, who made heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them.
• Psalms 146:5But joyful are those who have the God of Israel as their helper, whose hope is in the Lord their God.
• Isaiah 40:12Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale?
• Isaiah 45:18For the Lord is God, and he created the heavens and earth and put everything in place. He made the world to be lived in, not to be a place of empty chaos. “I am the Lord,” he says, “and there is no other.
• Jeremiah 10:11Say this to those who worship other gods: “Your so-called gods, who did not make the heavens and earth, will vanish from the earth and from under the heavens.”
• Jeremiah 32:17“O Sovereign Lord! You made the heavens and earth by your strong hand and powerful arm. Nothing is too hard for you!
• Zechariah 12:1This message concerning the fate of Israel came from the Lord: “This message is from the Lord, who stretched out the heavens, laid the foundations of the earth, and formed the human spirit.
• John 1:1In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God.
• Hebrews 1:2And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.
• Hebrews 3:4For every house has a builder, but the one who built everything is God.
• Genesis 14:19Melchizedek blessed Abram with this blessing: “Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
• 2 Kings 19:15And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the Lord: “O Lord, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth.
• Psalms 24:1The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it. The world and all its people belong to him.
• Psalms 115:16The heavens belong to the Lord, but he has given the earth to all humanity.

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