1: Now
when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia they came to Thessalonica
where was a synagogue of the Jews 2: And Paul as his manner was went in to
them and three Sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures 3:
Opening and alleging that Christ must needs have suffered and risen again from
the dead and that this Iesous whom I preach to you is Christos
4: And some of them believed and consorted with Paul and Silas and of
the devout Greeks a great multitude and of the chief women not a few 5:
But the Jews which believed not moved with envy took to them certain lewd
fellows of the baser sort and gathered a company and set all the city in an
uproar and assaulted the house of Jason and sought to bring them out to the
people 6: And when they found them not they drew Jason and certain
brethren unto the rulers of the city crying These that have turned the world
upside down are come hither also 7: Whom Jason has received and these
all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar saying that there is another king one
Jesus 8: And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city when
they heard these things 9: And when they had taken security of Jason and
of the other they let them go 10: And the brethren immediately sent away
Paul and Silas by night to Berea who coming there went into the synagogue of
the Jews 11: These were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that
they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures
daily whether those things were so[1] 12:
Therefore many of them believed also of honorable women who were Greeks and of
men not a few[2]
13: But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God
was preached of Paul at Berea they came there also and stirred up the people 14:
And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea
but Silas and Timotheus abode there still 15: And they that conducted
Paul brought him to Athens and receiving a commandment to Silas and Timotheus
for to come to him with all speed they departed 16: Now while Paul
waited for them at Athens his spirit was stirred in him when he saw the city
wholly given to idolatry 17: Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with
the Jews and with the devout persons and in the market daily with them that met
with him 18: Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans and of the
Stoicks encountered him And some said What will this babbler say other some He
seems to be a setter forth of strange gods because he preached to them Jesus
and the resurrection 19: And they took him and brought him to Areopagus
saying May we know what this new doctrine whereof you speak is 20: For you
bring certain strange things to our ears we would know therefore what these
things mean 21: For all the Athenians and strangers which were there
spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing 22:
Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill[3]
and said You people of Athens I perceive that in all things ye are very superstitious
23: For as I passed by and beheld your devotions I found an altar with
this inscription TO THE UNKNOWN GOD Whom therefore you worship in ignorance him
declare I to you 24: God that made the world and all things therein
seeing that he is Lord of Heaven and earth dwells not in temples made with
hands 25: Neither is worshipped with audawm’s
hands as though he needed anything seeing he gives to all life and breath and
all things[4] 26:
And has made of one blood all nations of awdawm
for to dwell on all the face of the earth and has determined the times before
appointed Acts 1:7 and the bounds of their habitation 27:
That they should seek the Lord if perhaps they might reach for him and find him
though he be not far from every one of us 28: For in him we live and
move and have our beings as certain also of your own poets have said For we are
also his offspring. 29: Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God we
ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold or silver or stone engraved
by art and audawm’s device 30: And
the times of this ignorance God winked at but now commands all people everywhere
to repent 31: Because he has appointed a day Acts 1:7 in the
which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he has ordained
Revelation 20:11-15 whereof he has given assurance to all people in
that he has raised him from the dead 32: And when they heard of the
resurrection of the dead some mocked and others said We will hear you again of
this matter 33: So Paul departed from among them 34: Howbeit
certain ones clung to him, and believed among the which was Dionysius the
Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them
[1] The scriptures they searched were the
scriptures of the Law and the Prophets and the Psalms—what we know today as the
Old Testament. The Old Covenant is not obsolete. All of the Law, all of the
Prophets, speak of the redeeming work of the Messiah in the redemption of our
souls, bodies, the earth, and entire universe (time, space, [all] matter, and
energy). It is wrong for Christians to neglect the study of the Old Covenant.
It is impossible to understand the New Covenant without the Old. When the New
Testament Apostle penned the words, “Study to show yourself approved…,” He was
referring to the Old Testament scriptures.
[2] The writer of the Book of Acts was a
Roman physician. The Roman Empire was based on Greek culture, which was
entirely androcentric (male-centered). Women were essentially invisible in that
culture. Even in court cases, a woman’s name was rarely mentioned unless she
was very notorious. So, it is noteworthy that this is the second mention in
this chapter of the honorable “women.” In this last remark, the order is
reversed with the women noted first and the men last. It is extraordinary for
women to mentioned all in writings from any ancient culture, much less to be
referenced before the men.
[3] Mar’s Hill was dedicated to idolatry
and any and every strange god and doctrine that anyone wanted to set forth. It
was a platform that Paul used to preach Christ, but it was certain he never
lent his approval to Christians to model its over-all purpose.
[4] Headship is the ability to give life
and breath to everything. Only Christ
can claim Headship. No human can create and sustain life. Therefore, no human
can claim Headship over anyone or anything.
Additional commentary pending for this
chapter. Questions and comments are welcome.
No comments:
Post a Comment