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Verse 13. The Jews of Thessalonica-stirred up the people.] With what implacable malice did these men persecute the gospel! And in the same spirit they continue to the present day, though it is evidently the sole cause of their wretchedness. Verse 14. To go as it were to the sea] This passage is generally understood to mean that the disciples took Paul towards the sea, as if he had intended to embark, and return to Troas, but with the real design to go to Athens. But it is more likely that his conductors, in order to his greater safety, left the public, or more frequented road, and took him coastwise to Athens. Or by taking a vessel at that part of the sea nearest to Berea, they might have coasted it to Athens, which was quite a possible case; and as we do not hear of his stopping at any place on his journey to preach, it is very probable that he went by sea to this city. Though sleights and feints may be allowable in cases of life and death; yet there does not appear an absolute necessity for any in this case. And, as the text does not necessarily point any out; so we need not have recourse to any. I take it for granted, therefore, that Paul went by sea to Athens.

Silas and Timotheus abode there still.] The persecution, it seems, was directed principally against Paul; Lo! he stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind. Silas and Timotheus, holy men, were left behind to water the seed which Paul had planted.

while the ancient was called Acropolis, or the upper city. In its most flourishing state this city was not less than one hundred and seventy-eight stadia, or twenty-two Roman miles, in circumference. The buildings of Athens were the most superb, and best executed in the world; but every thing is now in a state of ruin. Mr. Stuart, in his three folio vols. of the Antiquities of Athens, has given correct representations of those that remain; with many geographical notices of much importance. The greatest men that ever lived, scholars, lawyers, statesmen and warriors, were Athenians. Its institutions, laws, and literature, were its own unrivalled boast, and the envy of the world. The city still exists; the Acropolis in a state of comparative repair; but it is now in the hands of the Turks, who have turned the celebrated Parthenion, or temple of Minerva, into a mosque. The inhabitants are reckoned at about 1000. Christianity, planted here by St. Paul, still subsists: and about two-thirds of the inhabitants of Athens are Christians, who have several churches and oratories here: and it is the residence of a Greek bishop, who is a Metropolitan. He who considers the ancient glory of this city, whether in its heathen or Christian antiquity, cannot but sigh over its present state.

Verse 16. He saw the city wholly given to idolatry.] Kareidwλov, full of idols, as the margin has it, and very proVerse 15. Brought him unto Athens] This was one of the perly. Whoever examines the remains of this city, as repremost celebrated cities in the world, whether we consider its sented by Mr. Stuart in his Antiquities, already referred to, antiquity, its learning, its political consequence, or the valour will be satisfied of the truth of St. Luke's remark: it was of its inhabitants. This city, which was the capital of full of idols. Bp. Pearce produces a most apposite quotaAttica, and the seat of the Græcian empire, was founded by tion from Pausanias, which confirms the observation : Cecrops, about A. M. 2447, before Christ 1557, and was Ουκ ην αλλαχου τοσαυτα ιδειν ειδωλα. There was no called by him Cecropia. About thirteen or fourteen hun-place where so many Idols were to be seen. Paus. in Attic. dred years before Christ, in the reign either of Erichtheus, or Erichthonius, it was called Athens, from A9, a name of Minerva, to whom it was dedicated; and who was always considered the protectress of the city. The whole city at first was built upon a hill or rock, in the midst of a spacious plain; but, in process of time, the whole plain was covered with buildings, which were called the lower city;

cap. xvii. 24.

PETRONIUS, who was contemporary with St. Paul, in his Satyr, cap. xvii. makes Quartilla say of Athens: utique nostra regio tam PRÆSENTIBUS PLENA EST NUMINIBUS, ut facilius possis DEUM quàm HOMINEM invenire. Our region is so full of deities, that you may more frequently meet with a god than a man.

Paul disputes with the Jews,

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A. M. cir.4058. the city wholly given to idolatry. | some said, What will this babbler A. M.cir. 4058. 17 Therefore disputed he in the say? other some, He seemeth to be synagogue with the Jews, and with a setter forth of strange gods; bethe devout persons, and in the market daily with cause he preached unto them Jesus, and the rethem that met with him.

18 Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And

Or, full of idols.- b Or, base fellow.

Verse 17. Disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews] Proving that Jesus was the Messiah; and with the devout persons, probably heathens, proselyted to the Jewish religion. And in the market: I suppose the aɣopa, here means some such place as our exchange, where people of business usually met, and where the philosophers conversed and reasoned. The agora was probably like the Roman forum, and like places of public resort in all countries where people of leisure assembled to converse, hear the news, &c. &c.

Verse 18. Certain philosophers of the Epicureans] These were the followers of Epicurus, who acknowledged no gods except in name, and absolutely denied that they exercised any government over the world or its inhabitants; and that the chief good consisted in the gratification of the appetites of sense. These points the Epicureans certainly held; but it is not clear that Epicurus himself maintained such doctrines. And of the Stoicks] These did not deny the existence of the gods; but they held that all human affairs were governed by fate. They did not believe that any good was received from the hands of their gods; and considered, as Seneca asserts, that any good and wise man was equal to Jupiter himself. Both these sects agreed in denying the resurrection of the body; and the former, did not believe in the immortality of the soul.

EPICURUS, the founder of the Epicurean sect, was born at Athens, about A. M. 3663, before Christ 341.

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which we translate babbler, signifies literally, a collector of seeds, and is the "name of a small bird that lives by picking up seeds on the road." The epithet became applied to persons who collected the sayings of others, without order or method; and detailed them among their companions in the same way. The application of the term to prating, empty, impertinent persons, was natural and easy; and hence it was considered a term of reproach and contempt; and was sometimes used to signify the vilest sort of men.

A setter forth of strange gods] Eevшy daiμovar, of strange or foreign dæmons. That this was strictly forbidden, both at Rome and Athens; see on chap. xvi. 21.

There was a difference in the heathen theology, between dos god, and daiwy dæmon: the fɛ, were such as were gods by nature: the daiovia were men who were deified. This distinction seems to be in the mind of these philosophers when they said, that the apostles seemed to be setters forth of strange dæmons, because they preached unto them Jesus, whom they shewed to be a man suffering and dying; but afterwards raised to the throne of God. This would appear to them tantamount with their deification of heroes, &c. who had been thus honoured for their especial services to mankind. Horace expresses this in two lines, 2 Epist. i. 5. Romulus et Liber pater, et cum Castore Pollux, Post ingentia facta, deorum in templa recepti. "Romulus, father Bacchus, with Castor and Pollux, for their eminent services, have been received into the temples of the gods."

ZENO, the founder of the Stoic sect, was born in the isle of Cyprus, about thirty years before Christ. His disciples. were called Stoics, from the roa, a famous portico at Athens, Verse 19. They took him, and brought him unto Areowhere they studied. Besides these two sects, there were pagus] The Areopagus was a hill not far from the Acropolis, two others which were famous at this time; viz. the Acade- already described, where the supreme court of justice was mics and the Peripatetics. The founder of the first was held; one of the most sacred and reputable courts that had the celebrated PLATO; and the founder of the second, the ever existed in the gentile world. It had its name Apelos mayos no less famous ARISTOTLE. These sects professed a much| Areopagus, or the Hill of Mars, or Ares, from the circumpurer doctrine than the Epicureans and Stoics; and it does stance, according to poetic fiction, of Mars being tried there not appear that they opposed the apostles; nor did they by a court of twelve gods, for the murder of Hallirothius, son enter into public disputations with them. Against the doc- of Neptune: the meaning of which is, that Ares, a Thessalian trines taught by the Epicureans and Stoics, several parts of prince, having slain Hallirothius, the son of a neighbouring St. Paul's discourse, in the following verses, is directly prince, for having violated his daughter Alcippa, was here tried pointed. by twelve judges, by whom he was honourably acquitted: in What will this babbler say?] The word rsquohoyos, the Athenian laws the death of the ravisher was the regular

Paul is brought to Areopagus, and

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A. M. cir. 4058. this new doctrine, whereof thou were there, spent their time in nothing A. M.cir.4058. An. Olymp. speakest, is? else, but either to tell, or to hear some An. Olymp. new thing.)

cir.CCVIII.2.

20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears we would know, therefore, what these things mean.

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22 Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill, and said, Ye men of Athens, I perceive that

21 (For all the Athenians, and strangers which in all things ye are too superstitious.

a Chap. 2. 12.

forfeiture for his crime. The justice administered in this court was so strict and impartial, that it was generally allowed, both the plaintiff and defendant departed satisfied with the decision. "Innocence, when summoned before it, appeared without apprehension; and the guilty, convicted and condemned, retired without daring to murmur." The place in which the judges sat, was uncovered; and they held their sitting by night, to the end that nothing might distract their minds from the great business on which they were to decide; and that the sight of the accused might not affect them either with pity or aversion. In reference to this, all pleaders were strictly forbidden to use any means whatever to excite either pity or aversion; or to affect the passions: every thing being confined to simple relation, or statement of facts. When the two parties were produced before the court, they were placed between the bleeding members of victims slain on the occasion, and were obliged to take an oath, accompanied with horrible imprecations on themselves and families, that they would testify nothing but truth. These parties called to witness the Eumenides, or Furies, the punishers of the perjured in the infernal world; and, to make the greater impression on the mind of the party swearing, the temple dedicated to these infernal deities, was contiguous to the court, so that they appeared as if witnessing the oaths, and recording the appeal made to themselves. When the case was fully heard, the judges gave their decision by throwing down their flint pebbles, on two boards or tables, one of which was for the condemnation, the other, for the acquittal of the person in question.

Verse 20. Thou bringest-strange things to our ears] The doctrine of the apostles was different from any they had ever heard it was wholly spiritual and divine; thus it was strange; it was contrary to their customs and manners; and thus it was strange also. As it spoke much of the exaltation and glory of Jesus Christ, they supposed him to be a setter forth of strange gods; and therefore, on the authority of the laws, which forbad the introduction of any new deities, or modes of worship, he was called before the Areopagus.

Verse 21. All the Athenians, and strangers which were there] As Athens was renowned for its wisdom and learning, it became a place of public resort for philosophers, and students from different parts of the then civilized world. The

Or, the court of the Areopagites.

flux of students was in consequence great; and these having much leisure time, would necessarily be curious to know what was passing in the world, and would frequently assemble together in places of public resort, to meet with strangers just come to the city; and either, as St. Luke says, to tell, or hear some new thing.

"The Athenian writers give the same account of their fellow-citizens. DEMOSTHENES, in his reply to Epist. Philippi, represents the Athenians as Tuvo kαTα TYP αγοραν, ει τι λέγεται νεωτερον ; enquiring in the place of public resort, if there are any NEWs? We find, likewise, that when Thucydides, iii. 38. had said, pera xaIVOTNTOS μev λoyou aπaraolai ap1501, ye are excellent in suffering yourselves to be deceived by NOVELTY of speech; the old scholiast makes this remark upon it, (almost in the words of St. Luke,) ταυτα προς τους Αθηναίες αινιτεται, ουδεν τι μελετων τας, πλην λεγειν τι και ακούειν καινον ; he here blames the Athenians, who made it their only business to tell and hear something that was NEW."-Bp. Pearce. This is a striking feature of the city of London in the present day. The itch for news, which generally argues a worldly, shallow, or unsettled mind, is wonderfully prevalent: even ministers of the gospel, negligent of their sacred function, are become in this sense Athenians; so that the Book of God is neither read nor studied with half the avidity and spirit as a newspaper. These persons, forgetful not only of their calling, but of the very spirit of the gospel, read the account of a battle with the most violent emotions; and, provided the victory falls to their favourite side, they exult and triumph in proportion to the number of thousands that have been slain ! It is no wonder if such become political preachers, and their sermons be no better than husks for swine. To such the hungry sheep look up, and are not fed. God pity such miserable Athenians, and direct them to a more suitable employment!

Verse 22. Paul stood in the midst of Mars' hill] That is, in the midst of the judges, who sat in the Areopagus.

Ye are too superstitious.] Κατα παντα ως δεισιδαιμονεσε ρους υμας θεωρω ; I perceive that in all respects ye are greatly addicted to religious practices; and, as a religious people, you will candidly hear what I have got to say in behalf of that worship which I practise and recommend. See farther observations at the end of the chapter.

Paul having seen an altar

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23 For as I passed by, and beheld || rantly worship, him declare I unto A. M.cir. 4058.

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An. Olymp. your devotions, I found an altar you. with this inscription, TO THE UNKNOWN GOD. Whom therefore ye igno

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24 God that made the world and cir.CCVIII.2. all things therein, seeing that he is Lord of

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• Or, Gods that ye worship. 2 Thes. 2. 4.

Verse 23. Beheld your devotions] Estarpara, the objects of your worship; the different images of their gods which they held in religious veneration, sacrificial instruments, altars, &c. &c.

suppose

Ch. 14. 15. Matt. 11. 25.

UNKNOWN ones. Minutius Felix says of the Romans, aras extruunt etiam ignotis numinibus. "They even build altars to UNKNOWN DIVINITIES." And Tertullian, contra Marcion, says, Invenio planè Diis ignotis aras prostituas : sed Attica idolatria est. "I find altars allotted to the worship of unknown gods: but this is an Attic idolatry." Now though in these last passages, both gods and altars are spoken of in the plural number; yet it is reasonable to suppose, that on each, or upon some one of them, the inscription ayvw5w ew, To the unknown god, was actually found. The thing had subsisted long, and had got from Athens to Rome in the days of Tertullian and Minutius Felix. See Bp. Pearce and Dr. Cudworth, to whose researches this note is much indebted.

Whom therefore ye ignorantly worship] There is here a fine paranomasia, or play on the words. The apostle tells them, that (on their system) they were a very religious people

that they had an altar inscribed ayvwsw ew to the unknown God: him therefore, says he, whom ayroartes ye unknowingly worship, I proclaim to you. Assuming it as a truth, that as the true God was not known by them, and that there was an altar dedicated to the unknown god; that his God was that god, whose nature and operations he now proceeded to declare. By this fine turn he eluded the force of that law which made it a capital offence to introduce any new god into the state; and of the breach of which, he was charged ver. 18. and thus he shewed that he was bringing neither new god, nor new worship among them; but only explaining the worship of one, already acknowledged by the state, though not as yet known.

TO THE UNKNOWN GOD.] AгNOCTQ OEQ. That there was an altar at Athens thus inscribed, we cannot doubt, after such a testimony; though St. Jerome questions it in part; for,|| he says, St. Paul found the inscription in the plural number, but because he would not appear to acknowledge a plurality of gods, he quoted it in the singular; verum, quia Paulus non pluribus Diis indigebat ignotis, sed uno tantum ignoto Deo, singulari verbo usus est. Epist. ad Magn. This is a most foolish saying: had Paul done so, how much would such a begging of the question have prejudiced his defence in the minds of his intelligent judges! Ecumenius intimates that St. Paul does not give the whole of the inscription, which this famous altar bore; and which he says was the following, Θεοις Ασίας, και Ευρώπης, και Λιβυης, Θεμ αγνως, και Zev. To the Gods of Asia, and Europe, and Africa: ro THE UNKNOWN and strange GoD. Several eminent men that this unknown god was the God of the Jews and as his name was considered by the Jews as ineffable, the ℗ɛos ay vш50s, may be considered as the anonymous god; the god whose name was not known, and must not be pronounced. That there was such a god acknowledged at Athens, we have full proof. Lucian in his Philopatris, cap. xiii. p. 769. uses this form of an oath: To ayyw5OY TOY εy Abyvais, I swear by the UNKNOWN GOD at ATHENS. And again cap. xxix. 180. ημεις δε τον εν Αθήναις αγνωσον εξευρόντες, και προσκυνησαντες χειράς εις ουρανον εκτείναντες τούτω ευχαρισήσομεν ως KatağıWbEVTES, &c. we have found out the UNKNOWN god at ATHENS and worshipped him with our hands stretched up to heaven; and we will give thanks unto him, as being thought worthy to be subject to this power. Bp. Pearce properly asks, Is it likely that Lucian speaking thus (whether in jest or in earnest) should not have had some notion of there being at Athens, an altar inscribed to the unknown god? Philostratus, in vit. Apollon. vi. 3. notices the same thing, though he appears to refer to several altars thus in-heaven and earth. 3. That by fair consequence, the scribed: και ταυτα Αθήνησιού και αγνώτων Θεών Ρωμοι Spurral, And this at ATHENS, where there are ALTARS even || to the UNKNOWN GODS. Pausanias in Attic. cap. i. p. 4. edit. Kuhn. says, that at Athens there are Ewpor Dewy wy orquatoμeruv ayvwswv, altars of gods which are called The

Verse 24. God that made the world, &c.] Though the Epicureans held that the world was not made by God, but was the effect of a fortuitous concourse of atoms, yet this opinion was not popular; and the Stoics held the contrary: St. Paul assumes as an acknowledged truth; that there was a God who made the world, and all things. 2. That this God could not be confined within temples made with hands, as he was the Lord, or governor of

gods whom they worshipped, which were shut up in their temples, could not be this God; and they must be less than the places in which they were contained. This was a strong decisive stroke against the whole system of the Græcian idolatry.

takes occasion from this

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25 Neither is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing 'he giveth to all life, and breath, and all things ; 26 And hath made of one blood all nations

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Ch. 7. 48.b Ps. 50. 8. & 27. 3. & 33. 4.

Gen. 2. 7. Numb. 16. 22. Job 12. 10. Isa. 42.5. & 57. 16. Zech. 12. 1.

d Deut. 32. 8. Rom. 1. 20.

Verse 25. Neither is worshipped with men's hands] This is an indirect stroke against making of images, and offering of sacrifices; he is not worshipped with human hands, as if he needed any thing, or required to be represented under a particular form or attitude; nor has he required victims for his support; for it is impossible that he should need any thing, who himself gives being, form, and life, to all creatures. Giveth-life, and breath, and all things] These words are elegantly introduced by St. Paul: God gives life, because he is the fountain of it: he gives breath, the faculty of breathing or respiration, by which this life is preserved and though breathing, or respiration, be the act of the animal, yet the avory, the faculty of breathing, and extracting from the atmosphere, what serves as a pabulum of life, is given by the influence of God: and the continued power thus to respire, and extract that pure oxygen gas, which is so evident a support of animal life, is as much the continued gift of God, as life itself is. But, as much more is necessary to keep the animal machine in a state of repair, God gives the Ta mara, all the other things which are requisite for this great and important purpose; that the end for which life was given may be fully answered. St. Paul also teaches, that Divine worship is not enacted and established for GOD, but for the use of his creatures: he needs nothing that man can give him for man has nothing but what he has received from the hand of his Maker.

Verse 26. Hath made of one blood] In AB. some others, with the Coptic, Ethiopic, Vulgate, Itala, Clement, and Bede, the word apatos, blood, is omitted. He hath made of one (meaning Adam) all nations of men: but apa blood, is often used by the best writers, for race, stock, kindred, so Homer, Iliad. vi. ver. 211.

Ταυτης τοι γενεής τε και αίματος ευχομαι είναι Iglory in being of that same race and blood. So Virgil, Æn. viii. ver. 142. says,

Sic genus amborum scindit se SANGUINE ab uno. Thus, from one stock, do both our stems divide. See many examples of this form in Kypke. The Athenians had a foolish notion, that they were self-produced, and were the aboriginals of mankind. Lucian ridicules this opinion, Αθηναιοι φασι τους πρώτους ανθρώπους εκ της Αττικής

avapuval, nabaπep ra λaxava. The Athenians say that the first men sprung up in Attica, like radishes. Luc. Philopseud. 3.

To dwell on all the face of the earth] God in his wisdom produced the whole human race from one man; and having in his providence scattered them over the face of the earth, by shewing them that they sprang from one common source, has precluded all those contentious wars and bloodshed, which would necessarily have taken place among the nations of the world, as each in its folly might have arrogated to itself a higher and more excellent origin than another.

And hath determined the times afore appointed] Instead of poTerayμevous naifcus, the times afore appointed, ABDE. and more than forty others, with both the Syriac, all the Arabic, the Coptic, Ethiopic, ms. Slavonian, Vulgate, and Itala, read mootεтayμεvous nasovs, the appointed times. The difference between the two words is this, potασσεiv signifies to place before others; but poσracay is to command, decree, appoint. The portrayμevol naipoi, are the constituted or decreed times; that is, the times appointed by his providence, on which the several families should go to those countries where his wisdom designed they should dwell. See Gen. x. and see Pearce and Rosenmuller.

And the bounds of their habitation.] Every family being appointed to a particular place, that their posterity might. possess it for the purposes for which infinite wisdom and goodness gave them their being, and the place of their abode. Every nation had its lot thus appointed by God, as truly as the Israelites had the land of Canaan. But the removal of the Jews from their own land, shews that a people may forfeit their original inheritance: and thus the Canaanites have been supplanted by the Jews: the Jews by the Saracens; the Saracens by the Turks; the Greeks by the Romans: the Romans by the Goths and Vandals; and so of others. See the notes on Gen. xi.

Verse 27. That they should seek the Lord] This is a conclusion drawn from the preceding statement. God, who is infinitely great, and self-sufficient, has manifested himself as the maker of the world, the creator, preserver, and governor of men. He has assigned them their portion,

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