Passage
Acts 17.32-34
32. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again. 33. Thus Paul went out from among them. 34. But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a... (ASV)Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
30. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent: 31. inasmuch as he hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead.
32. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again. 33. Thus Paul went out from among them. 34. But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:30-34, ASV)
WEB
30. The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent, 31. because he has appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by the man whom he has ordained; of which he has given assurance to all men, in that he has raised him from the dead.”
32. Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, “We want to hear you again concerning this.” 33. Thus Paul went out from among them. 34. But certain men joined with him, and believed, among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:30-34, WEB)
KJV
30. And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent: 31. Because he hath appointed a day, in the which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained; whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. hath given: or, offered faith
32. And when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked: and others said, We will hear thee again of this matter. 33. So Paul departed from among them. 34. Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:30-34, KJV)
YLT
30. the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform, 31. because He did set a day in which He is about to judge the world in righteousness, by a man whom He did ordain, having given assurance to all, having raised him out of the dead.'
32. And having heard of a rising again of the dead, some, indeed, were mocking, but others said, 'We will hear thee again concerning this;' 33. and so Paul went forth from the midst of them, 34. and certain men having cleaved to him, did believe, among whom [is] also Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman, by name Damaris, and others with them. (Acts 17:30-34, YLT)
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Setting
- Speaker: the narrator of Acts, traditionally Luke
- Audience: Theophilus (Acts 1:1) and the reader
- Location: the Areopagus at Athens; the name belonged both to the hill of Ares northwest of the Acropolis and to the ancient council that took its name from it, and which of the two Luke means is debated
- Time period: c. AD 50, on Paul's second missionary journey, shortly before his eighteen months in Corinth (Acts 18:11)
Theological reading
"Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked; but others said, We will hear thee concerning this yet again. Thus Paul went out from among them. But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." Luke closes the Athens episode by reporting every kind of response.
Three responses. Some "mocked" (Strong's G5512) at the idea of a resurrection. Some wanted to hear "yet again." And some "clave unto him, and believed." Luke does not present the speech as a triumph or a failure. He reports what happened, including the scoffers.
Paul leaves. "Thus Paul went out from among them" (17:33). The hearing ends without a verdict or a penalty. There is no riot this time, as at Thessalonica (17:5), only a mixed reception.
The converts. "Clave" (G2853) means joined himself to, attached himself closely. Among the converts was "Dionysius the Areopagite" (G698), a member of the council of the Areopagus, so at least one member of the body Paul addressed was persuaded. A later tradition, recorded by Eusebius from Dionysius bishop of Corinth, says he became the first bishop of the church at Athens. The influential writings that circulated under his name from around AD 500 are not his and come from a much later author. "Damaris" is named only here; Luke names a woman among the first believers at Athens, as he named "the chief women" at Thessalonica (17:4). "Others with them" means the group was larger than the two named.
What it shows. The resurrection divides the audience, but it also persuades. A well-reasoned case did not convert everyone, and it did not need to. See Dionysius the Areopagite, Resurrection of the Body and Evangelism.
Key words
Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.
- G0386 - anastasis, anastasis, Strong's G0386
- G3498 - nekros, nekros, Strong's G3498
- G3686 - onoma, onoma, Strong's G3686
- G4100 - pisteuo, pisteuo, Strong's G4100
- G0191 - akouo, akouo, Strong's G0191
Quoted in
Arguments and defeaters:
- Argument from the Narrative-Identity Convergence, via Acts 17.31-32
- Minimal Facts Argument, via Acts 17.32
- Mormonism Spread the Same Way Objection Defeater, via Acts 17.32
- Mythicism Refutation, via Acts 17.16-34
Concepts:
- Apologetics, via Acts 17.16-34
- Apologist, via Acts 17.16-34
- Engaging the Conclusion-Fixed Skeptic
- Lesson 1.2, The Biblical Charge, via Acts 17.16-34
- Lesson 5.1, The Apologist-to-Evangelist Transition, via Acts 17.16-34
- Polytheism, via Acts 17.16-34
- Preaching to Non-Believers
- Resurrection of the Body, via Acts 17.32
- Zeitgeist - Pagan Parallels, via Acts 17.22-34
People:
Lexicon:
Guides:
Why these four translations
ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.
The four:
- ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
- WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
- KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
- YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.
See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.