Passage
Acts 17.34
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. (ASV)Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT
Immediate context (±2 verses)
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ASV
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 17:32-34, ASV)
WEB
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 17:32-34, WEB)
KJV
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 17:32-34, KJV)
YLT
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 17:32-34, 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
"But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them." After some mocked and others put Paul off (17:32), Luke records that the speech did bring people to faith.
Clave and believed. "Clave" (Strong's G2853) means to join oneself to, attach closely, and "believed" (G4100) names the result. The same verb is used in Jerusalem, where "of the rest durst no man join himself to them" (Acts 5:13). The converts at Athens did not merely approve of Paul's speech; they attached themselves to him and to the message.
Dionysius the Areopagite. "Areopagite" (G698) means a member of the council of the Areopagus, the body before which Paul had just spoken. At least one of the council members was persuaded. A later tradition, recorded by Eusebius from Dionysius, bishop of Corinth in the second century, holds that he became the first bishop of the church at Athens. A body of mystical writings circulated under his name from around AD 500; these are the work of a much later author, commonly called Pseudo-Dionysius. See Dionysius the Areopagite.
Damaris. She is mentioned only here, and nothing more is known of her. Luke names her alongside a member of the city's highest council, which reflects his regular attention to women among the first believers (16:14; 17:4, 12).
Others with them. The named converts are a sample. The church at Athens began from a mixed reception, and Luke records the names of those who believed to show that the argument from creation to the resurrection did persuade some of its hearers.
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.
- G3686 - onoma, onoma, Strong's G3686
- G4100 - pisteuo, pisteuo, Strong's G4100
Quoted in
Arguments and defeaters:
Concepts:
- Apologetics, via Acts 17.16-34
- Apologist, via Acts 17.16-34
- Engaging the Conclusion-Fixed Skeptic, via Acts 17.32-34
- 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
- Zeitgeist - Pagan Parallels, via Acts 17.22-34
People:
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.