1 Cum autem perambulassent Amphipolim et Apolloniam, venerunt Thessalonicam, ubi erat synagoga Judæorum. 2 Secundum consuetudinem autem Paulus introivit ad eos, et per sabbata tria disserebat eis de Scripturis, 3 adaperiens et insinuans quia Christum oportuit pati, et resurgere a mortuis: et quia hic est Jesus Christus, quem ego annuntio vobis. 4 Et quidam ex eis crediderunt et adjuncti sunt Paulo et Silæ: et de colentibus gentilibusque multitudo magna, et mulieres nobiles non paucæ. 5 Zelantes autem Judæi, assumentesque de vulgo viros quosdam malos, et turba facta, concitaverunt civitatem: et assistentes domui Jasonis quærebant eos producere in populum. 6 Et cum non invenissent eos, trahebant Jasonem et quosdam fratres ad principes civitatis, clamantes: Quoniam hi qui urbem concitant, et huc venerunt, 7 quos suscepit Jason, et hi omnes contra decreta Cæsaris faciunt, regem alium dicentes esse, Jesum. 8 Concitaverunt autem plebem et principes civitatis audientes hæc. 9 Et accepta satisfactione a Jasone et a ceteris, dimiserunt eos. 10 Fratres vero confestim per noctem dimiserunt Paulum et Silam in Berœam. Qui cum venissent, in synagogam Judæorum introierunt. 11 Hi autem erant nobiliores eorum qui sunt Thessalonicæ, qui susceperunt verbum cum omni aviditate, quotidie scrutantes Scripturas, si hæc ita se haberent. 12 Et multi quidem crediderunt ex eis, et mulierum gentilium honestarum, et viri non pauci. 13 Cum autem cognovissent in Thessalonica Judæi quia et Berœæ prædicatum est a Paulo verbum Dei, venerunt et illuc commoventes, et turbantes multitudinem. 14 Statimque tunc Paulum dimiserunt fratres, ut iret usque ad mare: Silas autem et Timotheus remanserunt ibi. 15 Qui autem deducebant Paulum, perduxerunt eum usque Athenas, et accepto mandato ab eo ad Silam et Timotheum ut quam celeriter venirent ad illum, profecti sunt. 16 Paulus autem cum Athenis eos exspectaret, incitabatur spiritus ejus in ipso, videns idololatriæ deditam civitatem. 17 Disputabat igitur in synagoga cum Judæis et colentibus, et in foro, per omnes dies ad eos qui aderant. 18 Quidam autem epicurei et stoici philosophi disserebant cum eo, et quidam dicebant: Quid vult seminiverbius hic dicere? Alii vero: Novorum dæmoniorum videtur annuntiator esse: quia Jesum et resurrectionem annuntiabat eis. 19 Et apprehensum eum ad Areopagum duxerunt, dicentes: Possumus scire quæ est hæc nova, quæ a te dicitur, doctrina? 20 nova enim quædam infers auribus nostris: volumus ergo scire quidnam velint hæc esse. 21 (Athenienses autem omnes, et advenæ hospites, ad nihil aliud vacabant nisi aut dicere aut audire aliquid novi.) 22 Stans autem Paulus in medio Areopagi, ait: Viri Athenienses, per omnia quasi superstitiosiores vos video. 23 Præteriens enim, et videns simulacra vestra, inveni et aram in qua scriptum erat: Ignoto Deo. Quod ergo ignorantes colitis, hoc ego annuntio vobis. 24 Deus, qui fecit mundum, et omnia quæ in eo sunt, hic cæli et terræ cum sit Dominus, non in manufactis templis habitat, 25 nec manibus humanis colitur indigens aliquo, cum ipse det omnibus vitam, et inspirationem, et omnia: 26 fecitque ex uno omne genus hominum inhabitare super universam faciem terræ, definiens statuta tempora, et terminos habitationis eorum, 27 quærere Deum si forte attrectent eum, aut inveniant, quamvis non longe sit ab unoquoque nostrum. 28 In ipso enim vivimus, et movemur, et sumus: sicut et quidam vestrorum poëtarum dixerunt: Ipsius enim et genus sumus. 29 Genus ergo cum simus Dei, non debemus æstimare auro, aut argento, aut lapidi, sculpturæ artis, et cogitationis hominis, divinum esse simile. 30 Et tempora quidem hujus ignorantiæ despiciens Deus, nunc annuntiat hominibus ut omnes ubique pœnitentiam agant, 31 eo quod statuit diem in quo judicaturus est orbem in æquitate, in viro in quo statuit, fidem præbens omnibus, suscitans eum a mortuis. 32 Cum audissent autem resurrectionem mortuorum, quidam quidem irridebant, quidam vero dixerunt: Audiemus te de hoc iterum. 33 Sic Paulus exivit de medio eorum. 34 Quidam vero viri adhærentes ei, crediderunt: in quibus et Dionysius Areopagita, et mulier nomine Damaris, et alii cum eis.
Acts 17 Clementine Vulgate
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Damaris
A woman who believed after Paul's speech at Athens.
Cited in the guide: Acts 17:34
Dionysius
A member of the Areopagus council who believed after Paul's speech at Athens.
Cited in the guide: Acts 17:34
Jason
Hosted Paul and Silas at Thessalonica and was dragged before the city authorities by a mob; he is probably the Jason whom Paul calls his kinsman in Romans.
Cited in the guide: Acts 17:5; Acts 17:7; Acts 17:9
Places
Antioch (Syrian)
The empire's third-largest city and the first major Gentile church — the launching base for Paul's journeys. (Distinct from Pisidian Antioch.)
Cited in the guide: Acts 11:26; Acts 13:1-3; Galatians 2:11
Athens
The philosophical center of the Greco-Roman world. Paul engaged Stoic and Epicurean thinkers on Mars Hill (the Areopagus), reasoning toward the resurrection.
Cited in the guide: Acts 17:16; Acts 17:22
Corinth
Corinth straddled the isthmus linking mainland Greece to the Peloponnese — a hub of commerce and immorality. Paul founded the church here; a Roman bema traditionally linked to his hearing before…
Cited in the guide: Acts 18:1; 1 Corinthians 1:2; 2 Corinthians 1:1
Ephesus
The chief city of Roman Asia, famed for the temple of Artemis. Paul's long ministry sparked the silversmiths' riot; the city is also the first addressed in Revelation.
Cited in the guide: Acts 19:1; Acts 19:28; Revelation 2:1
Philippi
A Roman colony on the Via Egnatia and the site of Paul's first European converts — a beloved church to which he later wrote from prison.
Cited in the guide: Acts 16:12; Acts 16:25; Philippians 1:1
Thessalonica
Capital of the Roman province of Macedonia and a key stop on the Via Egnatia. Paul's brief ministry produced a strong church and two of his earliest letters.
Cited in the guide: Acts 17:1; 1 Thessalonians 1:1; Acts 17:6
Cross references (33)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Thessalonians 1:1; Philippians 4:16; Acts 20:4; 2 Thessalonians 1:1; 2 Timothy 4:10
- 2 Acts 18:4; Acts 9:20; Isaiah 1:18; Acts 17:10; Luke 4:16
- 3 Acts 18:28; Acts 9:22; Luke 24:32; 1 Thessalonians 1:5–6; Acts 3:18
- 4 Acts 17:12; Acts 13:43; Acts 14:4; Acts 15:22; Acts 13:50
- 5 Galatians 5:26; Acts 17:13; Acts 14:2; Galatians 5:21; 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16
- 6 Acts 24:5; Acts 16:19–21; Acts 28:22; Luke 23:5; Acts 21:28–31
- 7 Luke 23:2; John 19:12; Acts 16:21; Daniel 3:12; 1 Peter 2:15
- 8 John 11:48; Matthew 2:3
- 9 Acts 17:5
- 10 Acts 17:13–14; 1 Thessalonians 2:2; Acts 17:2; Acts 20:4; Acts 9:25
- 11 Isaiah 34:16; Proverbs 2:1–5; John 5:39; 1 Thessalonians 2:13; Matthew 13:23
- 12 Ephesians 5:14; Acts 14:1; Acts 13:50; Acts 17:2–4; 1 Corinthians 1:26
- 13 1 Thessalonians 2:14–16; Acts 17:5; Acts 21:27; Acts 14:2; Acts 6:12
- 14 Acts 17:10; Matthew 10:23; Acts 16:1; Acts 9:25; Acts 9:30
- 15 Acts 18:5; 1 Thessalonians 3:1; Acts 18:1; 2 Timothy 4:10–11; Titus 3:12
- 16 Psalm 119:158; Psalm 119:136; Exodus 32:19–20; 2 Peter 2:7; Job 32:18–20
- 17 Acts 13:16; Acts 14:1–4; Acts 17:2–4; Acts 9:20; Matthew 5:1–2
- 18 1 Corinthians 1:20–21; Luke 11:53; 1 Corinthians 3:18; Colossians 2:8; Acts 4:2
- 19 Mark 1:27; Acts 17:22; Acts 24:24; Acts 25:22; Acts 26:1
- 20 Hosea 8:12; 1 Corinthians 1:23; 1 Corinthians 2:14; 1 Corinthians 1:18; 1 Peter 4:4
- 21 2 Timothy 2:16–17; Colossians 4:5; Ephesians 5:16; 2 Thessalonians 3:11–12; 1 Timothy 5:13
- 22 Acts 25:19; Acts 17:16; Acts 19:35; Jeremiah 10:2–3; Jeremiah 50:38
- 23 John 4:22; Galatians 4:8–9; John 17:3; John 17:25; Acts 17:30
- 24 1 Kings 8:27; Deuteronomy 10:14; Acts 7:48; Isaiah 66:1; 2 Chronicles 6:18
- 25 Psalm 50:8–13; Isaiah 42:5; Genesis 2:7; Acts 17:28; Romans 11:35
- 26 Deuteronomy 32:7–8; Genesis 3:20; Malachi 2:10; Romans 5:12–19; 1 Corinthians 15:22
- 27 Jeremiah 23:23–24; Deuteronomy 4:7; Romans 1:20; Acts 14:17; Psalm 19:1–6
- 28 Job 12:10; Colossians 1:17; Hebrews 1:3; Psalm 36:9; Luke 20:38
- 29 Isaiah 40:25; Isaiah 46:5–6; Exodus 20:4; Psalm 115:4–8; Habakkuk 2:19–20
- 30 Acts 14:16; Titus 2:11–12; Luke 24:47; Romans 3:25; Ephesians 4:17–32
- 31 Romans 2:16; 2 Peter 3:7; Matthew 25:31–46; Psalm 9:8; Psalm 98:9
- 32 Acts 17:18; Acts 26:8; 2 Corinthians 6:2; 1 Corinthians 4:10; Acts 2:13
- 34 Acts 17:19; Romans 11:5–6; Acts 13:48; Acts 17:4; Philippians 4:22
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
Again they haste past the small cities, and press on to the greater ones, since from those the word was to flow as from a fountain into the neighboring cities. "And Paul, as his manner was, went into the synagogue of the Jews." Although he had said, "We turn to the Gentiles" (ch. xiii.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 11 (1889)
And to the Athenians Thou saidst by Thy apostle, that in Thee "we live, and move, and have our being;" as one of their own poets has said. And verily these books came from thence.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
For "They," it is said, "that have turned the world upside down, are come hither also;" and again, "They preach things contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that Jesus Christ is king." And everywhere the courts of justice were preoccupied by such suspicions, and much influence from above was needed, for their showing both the truth of the doctrine …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
For in Him we live and move and have our being, according to the double power of that Breathing into us; for we were all inspired by Him with breath, and as many of us as were capable of it, and in so far as we open the mouth of our mind, with God the Holy Ghost.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… of the expected appearance of the Lord from heaven the Holy Spirit will not, as some suppose, have no functions to discharge: on the contrary, even in the day of His revelation, in which the blessed and only potentate will judge the world in righteousness, the Holy Spirit will be present with Him.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 8 (1895)