Paul in Thessalonica
1 Having traveled through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue.
2 And according to his established custom, Paul went in to them, and for three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
3 opening them up and laying out the case that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead — and that “This Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you — he is the Messiah.”
4 And some of them were persuaded and threw in their lot with Paul and Silas, including a great number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few of the leading women.
διανοίγων καὶ παρατιθέμενος (dianoigōn kai paratithemenos) — v.3: Two vivid metaphors side by side. The first means “opening up” (as you’d open a sealed scroll), and the second means “setting before” (like a host laying out food on a table). Paul is unwrapping the Scriptures and serving them up.
προσεκληρώθησαν (proseklērōthēsan) — v.4: Literally “were allotted to” or “were assigned by lot to.” The image is of a property distribution — they were “assigned” to Paul and Silas’s share. I’ve rendered it “threw in their lot with” to keep the lot imagery.
The “God-fearing Greeks” (τῶν σεβομένων Ἑλλήνων) are a specific social category: Gentiles who were attracted to Judaism, attended synagogue, and followed the moral law, but had not fully converted (which for men required circumcision). They’re a recurring and important group in Acts — they become a natural bridge audience for the early Christian message.
The “leading women” (τῶν γυναικῶν τῶν πρώτων): These were wives of civic leaders, women of high social status. In Macedonian cities like Thessalonica, women had notably more public influence than in many other parts of the Roman world. Their conversion would have been socially significant and politically provocative.
5 But the Jewish leaders, burning with jealousy, rounded up some thugs from the marketplace rabble, formed a mob, and threw the city into chaos. They stormed Jason’s house, trying to drag Paul and Silas out before the citizen assembly.
6 But when they could not find them, they hauled Jason and some of the brothers before the city officials, shouting: “These men who have turned the whole world upside down have now come here,
7 and Jason has taken them in! They are all acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king — Jesus!”
8 They stirred up both the crowd and the city officials who heard these things.
9 And after taking a security bond from Jason and the rest, they let them go.
ζηλώσαντες (zēlōsantes) — v.5: This word can mean either “being zealous” (positive) or “being jealous/envious.” In context, the negative sense is clearly intended. The NASB translates this as “becoming jealous.”
ἀγοραίων τινὰς ἄνδρας πονηρούς (agoraiōn tinas andras ponērous) — v.5: Literally “certain wicked men of the marketplace.” The αγοραῖοι were idlers and loafers who hung around the agora (marketplace) — the ancient equivalent of street toughs. Think of them less as merchants and more as people who had nothing better to do and could be hired for trouble.
τὴν οἰκουμένην ἀναστατώσαντες (tēn oikoumenēn anastatōsantes) — v.6: “Having turned the inhabited world upside down.” This is one of the most famous phrases in Acts. The οἰκουμένη means “the inhabited world” and in common usage referred to the Roman Empire. The accusers are actually paying Paul and Silas an unintentional compliment — their message is so potent it’s destabilizing the known world.
The charge in v.7 is extremely calculated. “Acting against the decrees of Caesar” and “saying there is another king” frames the Christian message as sedition and treason — the most serious charges in the Roman legal system. The word βασιλεύς (basileus, “king”) applied to anyone other than Caesar was explosive language.
πολιτάρχας (politarchas) — v.6: Luke uses the specific term “politarchs” for Thessalonica’s officials — a title once doubted by scholars until inscriptions were discovered in Thessalonica confirming this was the exact local title. It’s a small but impressive detail of Luke’s historical accuracy.
The “security bond” (τὸ ἱκανόν) in v.9 was a financial guarantee that Paul would leave and not return to cause further disruption. This likely explains why Paul writes in 1 Thessalonians 2:18 that “Satan hindered us” from returning — Jason had put up money guaranteeing Paul wouldn’t come back, and returning would have bankrupted his host.
Paul in Berea
10 The brothers immediately sent Paul and Silas away by night to Berea. When they arrived, they went to the Jewish synagogue.
11 Now these people were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica: they received the message with complete eagerness, examining the Scriptures every day to see if these things were really so.
12 Many of them therefore believed, along with a considerable number of prominent Greek women and men.
13 But when the Jewish leaders from Thessalonica learned that the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul in Berea as well, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.
14 Then the brothers immediately sent Paul out to go toward the sea, but Silas and Timothy remained there.
15 Those escorting Paul brought him as far as Athens, and after receiving instructions for Silas and Timothy to come to him as quickly as possible, they departed.
εὐγενέστεροι (eugenesteroi) — v.11: This word literally means “more noble-born” or “of better stock.” But by this period it had come to mean “more noble-minded” or “more fair-minded.” The Bereans’ nobility consists in their willingness to investigate rather than react. I’ve used “open-minded” to capture the spirit.
ἀνακρίνοντες (anakrinontes) — v.11: A legal/forensic term meaning “to examine carefully,” “to interrogate,” “to conduct a judicial inquiry.” They weren’t casually browsing Scripture — they were cross-examining it like investigators examining evidence.
The Bereans have become famous in Christian tradition as a model for critical, Scripture-based thinking. But notice that Luke doesn’t praise them for skepticism per se — he praises the combination of eagerness and careful examination. They wanted it to be true, and they did the work to verify it.
Paul in Athens
16 Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was utterly swamped with idols.
17 So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and in the marketplace every day with whoever happened to be there.
18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were engaging with him. Some were saying, “What is this seed-picker trying to say?” And others: “He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign deities” — because he was announcing the good news of Jesus and the Resurrection.
19 So they took hold of him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “Are we able to know what this new teaching is that you’re speaking about?
20 For you are bringing some startling things to our ears. So we want to know what these things mean.”
21 (Now all the Athenians and the foreigners residing there used to spend their time on nothing other than telling or hearing the latest new thing.)
κατείδωλον (kateidōlon) — v.16: A word found nowhere else in surviving Greek literature (a hapax legomenon). It means something like “completely given over to idols” or “idol-drenched.” I’ve rendered it “utterly swamped with idols” to convey the overwhelming visual impression. Ancient sources say Athens had more statues of gods than any other Greek city — one Roman satirist joked it was easier to find a god in Athens than a human being.
παρωξύνετο (parōxyneto) — v.16: From the same root that gives us “paroxysm.” His spirit wasn’t merely bothered — it was sharply provoked, stirred to agitation. This is visceral language.
σπερμολόγος (spermologos) — v.18: Literally a “seed-picker” — originally a word for birds that pick up scraps of grain in the marketplace. As slang, it meant a person who picks up scraps of learning here and there and cobbles them together without real understanding. Think of the modern insult “pseudo-intellectual” or “name-dropper.” The Athenian philosophers are dismissing Paul as an intellectual lightweight.
v.18: There is a fascinating theory that some Athenians may have heard Paul talking about “Jesus and the Resurrection” (Ἰησοῦν καὶ τὴν Ἀνάστασιν) and mistakenly thought he was proclaiming two new deities — a god named “Jesus” and a goddess named “Anastasis” (Resurrection). This would explain why Luke emphasizes they thought he was a “proclaimer of foreign deities” (plural). In Greek religion, introducing unauthorized gods to the city was a serious charge — it was the main charge against Socrates.
Ἄρειος Πάγος (Areios Pagos) — v.19: The “Hill of Ares” (Mars Hill in Latin). By Paul’s day this referred both to the physical rocky hill northwest of the Acropolis and to the ancient council that met there. This council had traditional jurisdiction over matters of religion, education, and morals. Paul isn’t necessarily on trial, but he’s being formally examined.
v.21: Luke’s aside about Athenians always wanting to hear “the latest new thing” (καινότερον) is a wry observation that ancient writers themselves made about Athens. The Athenian orator Demosthenes complained about this trait centuries earlier. Luke is giving his readers a knowing wink about the city’s culture.
Paul’s Address at the Areopagus
22 Then Paul stood in the middle of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens, I can see that in every respect you are extremely reverent toward the divine.
23 For as I was walking through your city and carefully observing the objects of your worship, I even found an altar on which had been inscribed: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. What therefore you worship without knowing — this is what I am declaring to you.
24 The God who made the world and everything in it — this one, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made by human hands,
25 nor is he served by human hands as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all people life and breath and all things.
26 And from one man he made every nation of humanity to dwell on the entire face of the earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of where they would settle —
27 so that they would seek God, and perhaps grope for him and find him, though in fact he is not far from each one of us.
28 For in him we live and move and exist — as even some of your own poets have said: ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
29 Therefore, being offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Divine is like gold or silver or stone, an image shaped by human craft and imagination.
30 So then — the times of ignorance God has overlooked, but now he is commanding all people everywhere to change their minds,
31 because he has set a day on which he is going to judge the inhabited world in righteousness, by a man whom he has appointed, and he has provided the proof of this to everyone by raising him from the dead.”
δεισιδαιμονεστέρους (deisidaimonesterous) — v.22: This is one of the most debated words in Acts. It can mean “very religious” (respectful) or “very superstitious” (condescending). Paul is almost certainly being deliberately ambiguous — a masterful rhetorical opening that flatters his audience while leaving himself room. I’ve used “extremely reverent toward the divine,” which preserves the ambiguity.
ΑΓΝΩΣΤΩ ΘΕΩ (AGNŌSTŌ THEŌ) — v.23: “TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.” Ancient sources confirm that such altars existed in Athens. The second-century traveler Pausanias mentions altars “to unknown gods” (plural). The Athenians hedged their bets — afraid of offending a deity they might have overlooked. Paul brilliantly seizes this as his entry point.
v.24–25: Paul’s claim that God “does not dwell in temples made by human hands” would have resonated with his Stoic listeners, who believed the divine permeated all of nature. But it would also have been a striking claim to make within sight of the Parthenon, the crown jewel of the Acropolis, which literally housed a massive gold-and-ivory statue of Athena. Paul is looking up at the most famous temple in the world and saying God doesn’t live there.
v.26: “From one man” (ἐξ ἑνός) — this is a radical statement of human unity that cuts against the Athenians’ most cherished belief. The Athenians claimed to be “autochthonous” — sprung from the very soil of Attica, inherently superior to all other peoples. Paul is telling the most culturally proud city in the ancient world that they share a common origin with every other nation.
ψηλαφήσειαν (psēlaphēseian) — v.27: “Grope for” — this word describes the fumbling, tentative reaching of someone in darkness or blindness. It’s used in Homer of the blinded Cyclops groping for Odysseus. Paul’s image is vivid: humanity is like a person in a dark room, reaching out with hands extended, trying to touch something they sense is there.
v.28a: “In him we live and move and exist” is widely believed to be a quotation from the Cretan poet Epimenides (6th century BC), from a poem about Zeus. Paul is quoting pagan poetry and repurposing it.
v.28b: “For we are indeed his offspring” is a direct quotation from the Phaenomena, an astronomical poem by the Cilician poet Aratus (3rd century BC) — who was, like Paul, from Cilicia. Paul may well have grown up learning this poem. The same line also appears in a Hymn to Zeus by the Stoic philosopher Cleanthes. Paul is meeting his audience on their own literary and philosophical ground.
μετανοεῖν (metanoein) — v.30: Usually translated “repent,” but the Greek literally means “to change one’s mind” — to think differently afterward. I’ve rendered it “change their minds” because “repent” in modern English often carries connotations of guilt and groveling that aren’t quite the primary force of the Greek. The emphasis is cognitive: you thought wrongly; now think rightly.
πίστιν παρασχών (pistin paraschōn) — v.31: Usually translated “having given proof” or “offering assurance.” The word πίστις (pistis) usually means “faith” in the New Testament, but here in a forensic context it means “proof” or “guarantee.” The resurrection is presented not as something to take on faith, but as the evidence itself.
The Response
32 Now when they heard about a resurrection of the dead, some began to mock, but others said, “We will hear you about this again.”
33 So Paul left their midst.
34 But some men joined him and believed, among whom were Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.
v.32: The mocking at the mention of resurrection is very Greek. Greek philosophy generally saw the body as a prison for the soul — the goal was to escape the body, not to get it back. The idea of bodily resurrection was not just unfamiliar to Greek thinkers; it was philosophically repugnant. The playwright Aeschylus has the god Apollo say at the founding of the very Areopagus where Paul stands: “Once a man dies and the earth drinks up his blood, there is no resurrection.” The audience division here is not random — it’s a deep worldview collision.
v.34: Dionysius “the Areopagite” was a member of the Areopagus council itself — a man of significant status and authority. His conversion is a remarkable detail: Paul wins over one of the judges. Later Christian tradition made Dionysius the first bishop of Athens. The mention of Damaris by name is also significant — for a woman to be named individually in this context suggests she was a person of some standing.
Luke’s account of the response at Athens is notably understated compared to Thessalonica and Berea. There is no mention of a church being founded, no letter written to Athens in the New Testament. The results are modest: “some” believed. This may be Luke’s honest acknowledgment that the highly intellectual Athenian audience was the hardest to reach.
General Notes on the Chapter
Structure: Acts 17 shows Paul adapting his approach to three very different audiences. In Thessalonica (synagogue setting), he argues from Scripture. In Berea (another synagogue), the same approach meets a more receptive audience. In Athens (pagan philosophical setting), he drops Scripture quotations entirely and instead quotes Greek poets, argues from natural theology, and builds on what his audience already believes. This is one of the clearest examples in the New Testament of contextual communication — the same core message, tailored to the listener.
Luke’s historical precision in this chapter is remarkable. He uses the correct local title for Thessalonica’s officials (politarchs), accurately describes the intellectual culture of Athens, and gets numerous small geographical and cultural details right. Many of these details were once disputed by scholars and later confirmed by archaeology and epigraphy.
The Areopagus speech is one of the few places in the New Testament where a sustained argument is directed at a completely pagan audience with no prior knowledge of Jewish Scripture. It therefore provides a window into how the earliest Christians thought about presenting their message to people who didn’t share their foundational assumptions.