Passage

Acts 17.6-7

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

4. And some of them were persuaded, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5. But the Jews, being moved with jealousy, took unto them certain vile fellows of the rabble, and gathering a crowd, set the city on an uproar; and assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them forth to the people.

6. And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; 7. whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

And they troubled the multitude and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9. And when they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. (Acts 17:4-9, ASV)

WEB

4. Some of them were persuaded, and joined Paul and Silas, of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and not a few of the chief women. 5. But the unpersuaded Jews took along some wicked men from the marketplace, and gathering a crowd, set the city in an uproar. Assaulting the house of Jason, they sought to bring them out to the people.

6. When they didn’t find them, they dragged Jason and certain brothers before the rulers of the city, crying, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here also, 7. whom Jason has received. These all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus!”

The multitude and the rulers of the city were troubled when they heard these things. 9. When they had taken security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. (Acts 17:4-9, WEB)

KJV

4. And some of them believed, and consorted with Paul and Silas; and of the devout Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women not a few. 5. But the Jews which believed not, moved with envy, took unto them certain lewd fellows of the baser sort, and gathered a company, and set all the city on an uproar, and assaulted the house of Jason, and sought to bring them out to the people.

6. And when they found them not, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; 7. Whom Jason hath received: and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus.

And they troubled the people and the rulers of the city, when they heard these things. 9. And when they had taken security of Jason, and of the other, they let them go. (Acts 17:4-9, KJV)

YLT

4. And certain of them did believe, and attached themselves to Paul and to Silas, also of the worshipping Greeks a great multitude, of the principal women also not a few. 5. And the unbelieving Jews, having been moved with envy, and having taken to them of the loungers certain evil men, and having made a crowd, were setting the city in an uproar; having assailed also the house of Jason, they were seeking them to bring [them] to the populace,

6. and not having found them, they drew Jason and certain brethren unto the city rulers, calling aloud, 'These, having put the world in commotion, are also here present, 7. whom Jason hath received; and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying another to be king, Jesus.'

And they troubled the multitude and the city rulers, hearing these things, 9. and having taking security from Jason and the rest, they let them go. (Acts 17:4-9, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: the crowd before the city rulers, crying out against Jason and the believers; the narrator of Acts, traditionally Luke, reports it
Audience: the politarchs, the magistrates of Thessalonica, and the crowd
Location: Thessalonica, capital of the Roman province of Macedonia, reached by way of Amphipolis and Apollonia (17:1); the hearing takes place before the city rulers
Time period: c. AD 50, on Paul's second missionary journey, shortly before his eighteen months in Corinth (Acts 18:11)

Theological reading

"And when they found them not, they dragged Jason and certain brethren before the rulers of the city, crying, These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also; whom Jason hath received: and these all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, one Jesus." The verses record the accusation that drove Paul out of Thessalonica.

"Turned the world upside down." The verb (Strong's G387) means to unsettle or stir up. Luke uses it of the Egyptian who "stirred up to sedition and led out into the wilderness the four thousand men of the Assassins" (Acts 21:38), and Paul uses it of the teachers who "unsettle" the Galatians (Galatians 5:12). It is a charge of public disorder. "The world" (G3625) is the inhabited world, the Roman empire: the accusers present the missionaries as agitators with a record elsewhere.

"Another king, one Jesus." The charge takes the Christian confession and gives it a political reading. To say Jesus is the Christ is to say he is the anointed king, and in a Roman city that could be made to sound like rebellion against Caesar. The same move was made before Pilate: "saying that he himself is Christ a king" (Luke 23:2), and "every one that maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar" (John 19:12). Acts records it again against Paul at Caesarea: "a mover of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world" (24:5).

The rulers of the city. Luke's term, politarchai (G4173), is unusual in Greek literature, but inscriptions from Thessalonica and other Macedonian towns confirm it as the title of the city's magistrates. It is one of several places where Luke's local titles match the evidence of the period.

What the charge gets right. The accusation is false as a charge of sedition, since the missionaries raised no revolt. But it is right that the gospel claims a kingship above Caesar's. Paul's converts "turned unto God from idols... to wait for his Son from heaven" (1 Thessalonians 1:9-10), a loyalty no emperor could command.

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.

G2424 - Iesous, Iesous, Strong's G2424
G3956 - pas, pas, Strong's G3956
G3004 - lego, lego, Strong's G3004

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Biblical Archaeology, via Acts 17.6
Church at Thessalonica
Churches the Disciples Started, via Acts 17.1-9
NT Geographical Reliability, via Acts 17.6
Politarch Inscriptions, via Acts 17.6

People:

Luke the Evangelist, via Acts 17.6

Passages:

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.