While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply disturbed in his spirit to see that the city was full of idols.
Parallel translations
- WEB Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols.
- KJV Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was stirred in him, when he saw the city wholly given to idolatry.
- NKJV Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.
- NASB Now while Paul was waiting for them in Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him as he observed that the city was full of idols.
- NLT While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
While waiting in Athens, Paul was deeply troubled to see the city full of idols.
Overview
The renowned city of culture was spiritually enslaved to countless false gods, and this grieved Paul's heart. His distress arose from zeal for God's glory and compassion for people lost in idolatry. This holy provocation, not mere curiosity, moved him to proclaim the true and living God revealed in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 119:158I look on the faithless with loathing because they do not keep Your word.
- 2 Pet 2:7and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless
- Ps 119:136My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.
- Exod 32:19–20As Moses approached the camp and saw the calf and the dancing, he burned with anger and threw the tablets out of his hands, shattering them at the base of the mountain.
- Job 32:18–20For I am full of words, and my spirit within me compels me.
- Jer 20:9If I say, “I will not mention Him or speak any more in His name,” His message becomes a fire burning in my heart, shut up in my bones, and I become weary of holding it in, and I cannot prevail.
- Mark 3:5Jesus looked around at them with anger and sorrow at their hardness of heart. Then He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out, and it was restored.
- Mic 3:8As for me, however, I am filled with power by the Spirit of the LORD, with justice and courage, to declare to Jacob his transgression and to Israel his sin.
- 1 Kgs 19:14“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”
- 1 Kgs 19:10“I have been very zealous for the LORD, the God of Hosts,” he replied, “but the Israelites have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I am the only one left, and they are seeking my life as well.”
- Job 32:2–3This kindled the anger of Elihu son of Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram. He burned with anger against Job for justifying himself rather than God,
- Ps 69:9because zeal for Your house has consumed me, and the insults of those who insult You have fallen on me.
- Num 25:6–11Just then an Israelite man brought to his family a Midianite woman in the sight of Moses and the whole congregation of Israel while they were weeping at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- Acts 17:23For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.
- John 2:13When the Jewish Passover was near, Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.
How Acts 17:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.