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26 From one man[a] he made every nation of the human race[b] to inhabit the entire earth,[c] determining their set times[d] and the fixed limits of the places where they would live,[e] 27 so that they would search for God and perhaps grope around[f] for him and find him,[g] though he is[h] not far from each one of us. 28 For in him we live and move about[i] and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we too are his offspring.’[j]

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 17:26 sn The one man refers to Adam (the word “man” is understood).
  2. Acts 17:26 tn Or “mankind.” BDAG 276 s.v. ἔθνος 1 has “every nation of humankind Ac 17:26.”
  3. Acts 17:26 tn Grk “to live over all the face of the earth.”
  4. Acts 17:26 tn BDAG 884-85 s.v. προστάσσω has “(οἱ) προστεταγμένοι καιροί (the) fixed times Ac 17:26” here, but since the following phrase is also translated “fixed limits,” this would seem redundant in English, so the word “set” has been used instead.
  5. Acts 17:26 tn Grk “the boundaries of their habitation.” L&N 80.5 has “fixed limits of the places where they would live” for this phrase.
  6. Acts 17:27 tn See BDAG 1097-98 s.v. ψηλαφάω, which lists “touch, handle” and “to feel around for, grope for” as possible meanings.
  7. Acts 17:27 sn Perhaps grope around for him and find him. The pagans’ struggle to know God is the point here. Conscience alone is not good enough.
  8. Acts 17:27 tn The participle ὑπάρχοντα (huparchonta) has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.
  9. Acts 17:28 tn According to L&N 15.1, “A strictly literal translation of κινέω in Ac 17:28 might imply merely moving from one place to another. The meaning, however, is generalized movement and activity; therefore, it may be possible to translate κινούμεθα as ‘we come and go’ or ‘we move about’ or even ‘we do what we do.’”
  10. Acts 17:28 sn This quotation is from Aratus (ca. 310-245 b.c.), Phaenomena 5. Paul asserted a general relationship and accountability to God for all humanity.

26 From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.(A) 27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.(B) 28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’[a](C) As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’[b]

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Footnotes

  1. Acts 17:28 From the Cretan philosopher Epimenides
  2. Acts 17:28 From the Cilician Stoic philosopher Aratus