Bible Commentary

Acts 17:17

The Pulpit Commentary on Acts 17:17

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

So he reasoned for therefore disputed he, A.V.; and the devout for and with the devout, A.V.; market-place every day for market daily, A.V. Reasoned ( διελέγετο, as in ; and ).

"Disputed" gives the force of διαλέγεσθαι better than "reasoned," because the word in Plato, Thucydides, Xenophon, AElian, etc., is especially used of discussions and arguments in which two persons or more take part.

διάλεκτος is "discussion;" ἡ διαλεκτίκη is the art of drawing answers from your opponent to prove your conclusion; διάλαγος is a "dialogue" (see, however, ). The market-place. "The celebrated ἀγορά, … not far from the Pnyx, the Acropolis, and the Amopagus,… rich in noble statues, the central seat of commercial, forensic, and philosophic intercourse, as well as of the busy idleness of the loungers" (Meyer, in loc.

).

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