12. of the honourable women. R.V., "Greek women of honourable estate." See n. on xvi. 13. of the men. The name of one of these is known to us-Sopater, son of Pyrrhus (xx. 4).

13. and stirred up the people. R.V., " stirring up and troubling the multitudes.'

14. to go as it were to the sea. R.V., " to go as far as to the sea.' Paul was probably undecided as to his future plans. His friends conducted him to the coast, where an opportunity would be afforded of getting beyond the reach of his enemies. The fact that a boat was available probably decided him to sail for Athens.

abode there still. Silas and Timothy were less prominent than Paul, and so did not arouse so much opposition.

Acts xvii. 16–21.

PAUL AT ATHENS.

16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to 17 idolatry. Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with

the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market 18 daily with them that met with him. Then certain philo

sophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection. 19 And they took him, and brought him unto Areopagus,

saying, May we know what this new doctrine, whereof 20 thou speakest, is? For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these

21 things mean.

(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.)

Paul commenced work at Athens in his usual way by preaching in the Jewish synagogue. His addresses in the market-place seem to have attracted great public interest. The curiosity of certain Stoic and Epicurean philosophers was aroused, and they brought him to the Areopagus and urged him to explain his views.

16. waited for them at Athens. This seems to indicate that Paul did not contemplate undertaking serious work in Athens. He was simply waiting for Silas and Timothy to join him. He was too distracted by his anxiety about the work at Thessalonica to settle down peacefully in any other place. When Timothy arrived (he seems to have come to Athens alone), Paul despatched him at once to Thessalonica "to establish and comfort" the brethren (1 Thess. iii. 1-4).

wholly given to idolatry. R. V., " full of idols." Athens was a stronghold of paganism, and its temples were, as Luke says, "full of idols."

17. in the market-place. The market-place at Athens is famous in history for the philosophical discussions which took place in it. It was to Athens what Hyde Park is to London, and every phase of thought was advocated in it.

18. The Epicureans and Stoicks. The Epicureans and Stoics were the two great rival schools of philosophy at the time. Epicureanism (so called from its founder Epicurus, 342-270 B.C.) represented what we now term Materialism. Its advocates maintained (1) that the world was created by the fortuitous combination of indestructible atoms;

(2) that the aim of life is pleasure, which, however, the Epicureans defined as mental repose and freedom from passions; (3) that the soul perishes with the body; (4) that the gods-if gods there arelive apart and care nothing about the world or its inhabitants. The Stoics (the name is derived from the fact that their founder Zeno (360-260 B.C.) lectured in the Stoa or Porch) more nearly resembled what we now term Pantheists. They maintained (1) that God was a force immanent in nature, and that the Universe is simply the expression of this force; (2) that virtue was the one thing desirable, and that this consisted in living "conformably to nature." All other things, e.g. pain, pleasure, health, riches, etc., were "things indifferent," and ought not to be reckoned of any account. Paul had probably been brought into intimate relationship with Stoicism at Tarsus, which at this time was one of its great strongholds, and so was able to meet the philosophers on their own ground.

this babbler. The literal meaning of the Greek word is "picker up of trifles"—a man who hangs about the market-place to pick up scraps of gossip or scandal. It seems to have been used in a sense almost equivalent to the English "charlatan."

19. brought him unto Areopagus. There are two interpretations of this phrase. (1) "They brought him to the hill called Areopagus" (Mars' Hill). This hill is situated on the west of the Acropolis, the site of the principal temples and public buildings of Athens. It afforded an excellent opportunity for quiet discourse. (2) Sir W. Ramsay thinks, however, that the word "Areopagus" in the present passage signifies not so much the

hill itself, but the famous court of Areopagus which met on the hill. Paul was brought before the court to have his credentials examined and his qualifications to lecture tested.

Acts xvii. 22-34.

PAUL'S SPEECH AT ATHENS.

22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that in all things ye are 23 too superstitious. For as I passed by, and beheld your devotions, I found an altar with this inscription, TO Whom therefore ye ignorantly

THE UNKNOWN GOD.

24 worship, him declare I unto you. God that made the world and all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with 25 hands; neither is worshipped with men's hands, as

though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth to all life, 26 and breath, and all things; and hath made of one blood

all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the 27 bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the

Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, 28 though he be not far from every one of us for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his 29 offspring. 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, graven by art and man's 30 device. And the times of this ignorance God winked at ; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31 because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all 32 men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. And

when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked and others said, We will hear thee again 33 of this matter. So Paul departed from among them. 34 Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

Paul's speech at Athens is marked by the same breadth of view which characterised his address at Lystra (xiv. 15-18). Basing his remarks on an inscription which he had noticed on one of the altars, "To an unknown God," Paul dwells upon the Universality of the Divine Revelation and appeals to the convictions of the Stoics themselves in proof of his assertions, quoting from one of their poets. He then proceeds to attack idolatry and to urge upon his hearers the necessity of repentance in view of the final judgment. An allusion to the Resurrection of Christ leads to an interruption which brings the speech to an abrupt conclusion. 22. too superstitious. R.V., somewhat superstitious.' The word, however, may be translated "religious." This is probably the right rendering, as Paul evidently started with the intention of conciliating his audience.

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23. beheld your devotions. The R.V. gives the explanation of this expression: "observed the objects of your worship."

To the unknown God. The Greek has no article, and so it is better to translate, with the R.V., “To an unknown God." We have plenty of testimony that such altars existed at Athens. Pausanias, for instance, tells us that there were at Athens "altars to gods styled unknown." These altars were built as an act of homage, though the worshipper was uncertain to which of the gods the