Acts 17:26-28
What is written? (ESV)
And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are indeed his offspring.’
What does it say?
He (God) made from one man (Adam) every nation to live and cover the face of the earth, having determined from the beginning their dwelling times and boundaries. And God did this so that they would seek Him, perhaps searching and finding Him, since He is not far from any one of us just as it’s said, ‘In him we live and move and have our being’ and from your own poet, “For we are indeed his offspring.”These two quotes from Paul, while confirming Biblical concepts to be sure, are taken from secular writers that would have been familiar to the Greek Athenians. The first is likely from Epimenides of Crete and the second is from Aratus’s “Phainomena.“
What is its immediate context?
Paul’s sermon to the Athenians from Mars Hill while he awaited his companions to join him from Macedonia during his second missionary journey. Here he quotes two sayings they were apparently familiar with and placed some credibility in their source. The first seems to be from Epimenides of Crete, a semi-mythical 7th or 6th century BC Greek seer and philosopher-poet. The second is from the poem, “Phainomena”, written by a Greek poet named Aratus.
