The Pulpit Commentary on Acts 17:29

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

Being then for forasmuch then as we are, A.V.; device of man for man's device, A.V. Graven by art, etc. In the Greek the substantive χαράγματα, graven images, things engraven, is in apposition with the gold, silver, and stone, and a further description of them.

Art, τέχνη, is the manual skill, the device; ἐνθύμησις is the genius and mental power which plans the splendid temple, or exquisite sculpture, or the statue which is to receive the adoration of the idolater.

Compare the withering sarcasm of Isaiah (Isaiah 44:9-17).

More for Acts 17:29

Continue with other commentaries and DiscipleDeck content connected to this verse, chapter, or topic.

Other commentaries

commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Acts 17:1-34EXPOSITIONJoseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Acts 17:16-34Paul at Athens. Paul stands in Athens, amidst the master-pieces of Greek art and the memorials of Greek wisdom. It is not admiration or aesthetic delight which is awakened in him, but moral indignation. Christianity is…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Acts 17:16-34Paul at Athens. Consider— I. The connection of the whole with THE HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY. The Greek mind evangelized. The function of Greek thought in the development of doctrine. The contrast between the gospel and ph…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Acts 17:16-34The cross of Christ in the metropolis of art and philosophy. There is a singular interest in this first encounter of the gospel with the art and philosophy of Athens, and it is instructive to note the attitude taken by…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryMatthew Henry on Acts 17:22-31Here 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 ca…Matthew Henry commentaryPaul at AthensPAUL AT ATHENS. We have here St. Paul's sermon at Athens. Divers sermons we have had, which the apostles preached to the Jews, or such Gentiles as had an acquaintance with and veneration for the Old Testament, and were…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Acts 17:22-29God revealed: his nature and relation. Paul's spirit was "stirred" with holy indignation, and with pure and strong compassion, as he witnessed the abounding signs of superstition in the streets of Athens. But he had the…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Acts 17:23-32The gospel's kindly encounter with novel foes. The opportunity now presented to Paul he must at once have recognized to be one of the grandest and most critical of his career. He was for a while separated from his two l…Joseph S. Exell and contributors