Acts 17:28

28 In God we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets said, ‘We are his offspring.'

Acts 17:28 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 17:28

For in him we live, and move, and have our being
The natural life which men live is from God; and they are supported in it by him; and from him they have all the comforts and blessings of life; and all motions, whether external or internal, of body or of mind, are of God, and none of them are without the concourse of his providence, and strength assistance from him; though the disorder and irregularity of these motions, whereby they become sinful, are of themselves, or of the devil; and their being, and the maintenance of it, and continuance in it, are all owing to the power and providence of God.

As certain also of your own poets have said;
the Syriac version reads in the singular number, "as a certain one of your wise men has said"; but all others read in the plural; and some have thought, that the apostle refers to what goes before, that being an Iambic verse of some of the poets, as well as to what follows, which is a citation from Aratus ^F24 and whom the apostle might have called his own, as he was his countryman; for Aratus was a native of Solis, a city of Cilicia, not far from Tarsus yea, some say ^F25 he was of Tarsus, where the apostle was born: but Aratus being an Heathen, and the apostle speaking to Heathens, calls him one of them; and the rather, that what is cited might be the more regarded by them: though the expression is also ^F26 said to be in an hymn to Jove, written by Cleanthes, who taught at Athens; and so the apostle addressing the Athenians, might, with greater propriety, say, "as certain of your own poets say": it is also said to be in Aratus the astronomer, and in the poet Homer; so that the plural number may well be used. Which is,

for we are also his offspring;
the offspring of Jove, says Aratus; which the apostle applies to the true Jehovah, the Creator of all men, by whom, and after whose image, they are made, and so are truly his offspring; upon which the apostle argues as follows.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 In Phaenomenis, p. 1.
F25 Vid. Fabricii Biblioth. Gr. l. 3. c. 18. p. 451.
F26 Vid. Fabricii Biblioth. Gr. l. 3. c. 18. p. 453.

Acts 17:28 In-Context

26 From one person God created every human nation to live on the whole earth, having determined their appointed times and the boundaries of their lands.

27 God made the nations so they would seek him, perhaps even reach out to him and find him. In fact, God isn't far away from any of us.

28 In God we live, move, and exist. As some of your own poets said, ‘We are his offspring.'

29 "Therefore, as God's offspring, we have no need to imagine that the divine being is like a gold, silver, or stone image made by human skill and thought.

30 God overlooks ignorance of these things in times past, but now directs everyone everywhere to change their hearts and lives.