1883 Haydock Douay Rheims Bible

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Acts 17:1	And *when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a synagogue of the Jews.	about the year A.D. 51.
Acts 17:2	And Paul, according to his custom, went in to them: and for three sabbath-days he reasoned with them out of the Scriptures,	It was customary with St. Paul to open the Scriptures first to the Jews, (Acts 13:46.) and to argue with them from the law and the prophets. (Acts 28:23.) St. Paul made use of the same passages of Scripture to convince the Jews, as Jesus Christ did on a similar occasion. (Mat. Polus.)
Acts 17:3	Laying open and inculcating that the Christ was to suffer, and to rise again from the dead: and that this is the Jesus Christ, whom I preach to you.	That the Christ was to suffer. The suffering of Christ was the great stumbling-block to the Jews, which St. Paul now attempted to remove, by shewing them from the Scripture, that this was one of the necessary characters of the Messias, contained in the prophets. All the other marks were likewise accomplished in Christ. (Denis the Carthusian) --- And that this is Jesus Christ, whom I preach to you. the transition form an oblique to a direct mode of speech is very common, especially in the holy Scriptures.
Acts 17:4	And some of them believed, and were joined to Paul and Silas, and of those who served God, and of the Gentiles, a great multitude, and noble women not a few.	And some of them, that is, of the Jews, in whose synagogue he preached, believed, and of those that{ Ver. 4. De colentibus Gentilibusque. In the common Greek copies, there is no and, but only of the worshipping Gentiles, ton de sebomenon elleuon, but in other copies, kai ellenon.\|} worshipped God, that is, of those who adored the only true God, though they had not submitted themselves to circumcision, and to the ceremonies of the Jewish law, and of the Gentiles, that is, of such as till that time had been heathens, and idolaters; so that here three sorts of persons were converted by St. Paul: 1. Jews; 2. worshippers of the true God that were not Jews; and 3. Gentiles. In this book of the Acts, mention is several times made of worshippers, to wit, of God, by which many understand Jewish proselytes: but as they neither were Jews already, nor perhaps ever designed to become Jews, we may distinguish two sorts of the Jewish proselytes. Some were proselytes to the Jewish religion, by a submission to circumcision, and to all the precepts and ceremonies of the Mosaic laws. These are also by some called proselytes of the covenant, being as much Jews as they who had been always so. Others are called proselytes of the gate, or proselytes to the God of the Jews, but not to the religion of the Jews. Of such seems to have been Cornelius, the centurion, (Acts x.) Lydia, (Acts 16:14.) and Titus Justus (Acts 18:7.) Such also seems to have been the eunuch of Candace, the queen of the Ethiopians, (Acts viii.) Naaman, the Syrian, after he was cured of his leprosy, (4 Kings 5:17.) and many others, that lived in Judea, and in other countries. These, therefore, are called worshippers, meaning of the true God, though they embraced not the legal precepts and ceremonies of the Jews. See Monsr. Heure's Dictionary. (Witham)
Acts 17:5	But the Jews moved with envy, and taking with them some wicked men of the vulgar sort, and making a tumult, set the city in an uproar: and besetting Jason's house, sought to bring them out to the people.
Acts 17:6	And when they had not found them, they dragged Jason and certain brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out: That they who disturb the city, are come hither also,	Who disturb the city,{ Ver. 6. Qui urbem concitant, in the common Greek copies, oikoumenen, orbem: so that this difference might happen in the Latin, by the change of one letter only of urbem, for orbem: but some Greek manuscripts have ten polin, civitatem.\|} put it in an uproar. In the ordinary Greek copies, for the city, we read the whole world. (Witham)
Acts 17:7	Whom Jason hath received, and these all do contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying: that there is another king, Jesus.	Another king. These Jews suppress, with great artifice, their true cause of vexation against the apostles, and change a mere question of religion into one of temporal policy. The accusation of raising up a new power in opposition to Caesar's, had been sufficiently refuted and disavowed before Pilate by the author of our religion, and was therefore too gross to be repeated now. My kingdom, says our blessed Saviour, is not of this world. There is no necessary connection between spiritual and temporal power. It is thus that the abettors of persecution are never at a loss for pretexts, when necessary. Mad zeal is not scrupulously nice in the choice of arguments. (Haydock)
Acts 17:8	And they stirred up the people, and the rulers of the city hearing these things.
Acts 17:9	And having taken satisfaction from Jason, and the rest, they let them go.
Acts 17:10	But the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Beroea. Who when they were come thither, entered into the synagogue of the Jews.	Synagogue. In flying from the face of persecution in due season, St. Paul imitated the instruction and example of his master. When his labours are unsuccessful in one place, he renews them in another, and wherever he is, his object is always the same, to announce the truth to the Jews first, then to the Gentiles. (Denis the Carthusian)
Acts 17:11	Now these were more noble than those of Thessalonica, who received the word with all eagerness, daily searching the Scriptures, whether these things were so.	These were more noble than those of Thessalonica. According to the common exposition, the sense is, that these of Beroea, were of a more noble and generous disposition of mind, not carried away with envy and malice, like those of Thessalonica. --- Searching the Scriptures, or those places of the prophets by which St. Paul proved that Jesus was the Messias, who was to suffer death, etc. (Witham) --- Daily searching the Scriptures, etc. The sheep are not hereby made judges of their pastors, the people of the priests, and lay men and women of St. Paul's doctrine. The Beroeans did not read the Old Testament (and the New was not then published) to dispute with the apostles, or to sanction his doctrines: but it was a great comfort and confirmation to the Jews that had the Scriptures, to find, even as St. Paul said, that Christ was God, crucified, risen, and ascended to heaven; which by his expounding they understood, and never before, though they read them, and heard them read every sabbath. So it is a great comfort to a Catholic to see in the Scriptures the clear passages that prove the truth of his tenets, and shew the grounds for his hopes. But this by no means authorizes him to be judge of the true pastors of the Church, whom he is commanded by Jesus Christ to hear and obey, and from whom they are to learn the genuine sense of the Scriptures.
Acts 17:12	And many indeed of them believed, and not a few of honourable Gentile women and men.
Acts 17:13	And when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was also preached by Paul at Beroea, they came thither also, stirring up, and troubling the multitude.
Acts 17:14	And then the brethren immediately sent away Paul, to go to the sea: but Silas and Timothy remained there.
Acts 17:15	And they that conducted Paul, brought him as far as Athens, and receiving a commandment from him to Silas and Timothy, that they should come to him with all speed, they departed.
Acts 17:16	*Now whilst Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was excited within him, seeing the city given up to idolatry.	about the year A.D. 52. Lactanius ridicules the folly of idolatry in a neat strain of irony, which he introduces by the following verses from Lucilius: Ut pueri infantes credunt signa omnia ahena Vivere et esse homines; sic isti omnia ficta Vera putant, etc. --- The poet compares these fools to children. I think them worse; for the latter only take the statues for men, they for gods. Age causes the error of the one, folly of the other. These soon cease to be deceived, but the folly of those lasts and increases always. (Lactanius, de fals. Relig. lib. i.)
Acts 17:17	He disputed, therefore, in the synagogue with the Jews, and with them that served God, and in the market-place, every day, with those that were present.
Acts 17:18	And certain Epicurean and Stoic philosophers disputed with him, and some said: What is it that this babbler would say? But others: He seemeth to be a preacher of new gods: because he preached to them Jesus, and the resurrection.	Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. The former of these philosophers held as their doctrine, that the Almighty did not interfere by his providence in the government of the world; that the soul did not subsist after the body; and consequently, that there was no future state of retribution. The latter denied that man had liberty of action, and maintained, that all things happened by destiny and fatal necessity. These were the two opposite sects St. Paul had to contend with. (Calmet) --- The Stoics believed in the immortality of the soul, and came the nearest to the Christian religion: but both Stoics and Epicureans, with all pagan philosophers, denied the resurrection of bodies; hence St. Augustine says, the faith of a resurrection is peculiar to Christians. (Estius) --- What is it that this babbler{ Ver. 18. Semini-verbius, o spermologos, the critics derive it from legein spermata, colligere semina.\|} would say? A word of contempt, which some translate, this prattler. It is thought to be a metaphor from birds picking up little seeds, or the like, for their food; and to signify, that St. Paul had picked up words and sentences without any solid meaning. (Witham)
Acts 17:19	And taking him, they brought him to the Areopagus, saying: May we know what this new doctrine is, which thou speakest of?	To the Areopagus. In this place sat the Athenian judges: but some think that by this word may be here signified, some large hall or court, joining to the Areopagus, where all sorts of people met. (Witham) --- The Areopagus was the supreme and most famous tribunal of all Greece, before which all great causes were tried. The persons who composed it were much renowned for their wisdom. Cicero, and many other Romans, were ambitious of the honour of being an Areopagite; but the power of Athens being now much diminished, this court had sunk in importance, and was now not much more than the shadow of a great name. (Calmet)
Acts 17:20	For thou bringest certain new things to our ears: We would know, therefore, what these things mean.
Acts 17:21	(Now all the Athenians, and strangers that were there, employed themselves in nothing else but either in telling or in hearing something new.)
Acts 17:22	But Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: Ye men of Athens, I perceive that ye are in all things over-religious.	Over-religious.{ Ver. 22. Superstitiosiores, deisidaimonosterous, from deido, timeo, and daimon. Deisidaimonia is sometimes taken in a good sense for religio, as also superstitio in Latin. See Budaeus, and Plutarch apud Scapulam. See also Suidas.\|} Or very superstitious. To be superstitious, or given to superstition, is commonly taken for a vain and groundless religious worship, but it is also sometimes used in a good sense. And perhaps St. Paul, in the beginning of his speech to so many men of learning, does not so openly blame them for being vainly and foolishly superstitious, but by their inscription, to the unknown{ Ver. 23. Ignoto Deo, agnosto theo. See Cornelius a Lapide.\|} God, he takes notice how nice and exact they pretended to be, in not omitting to pay some kind of homage to any god, or gods of all other nations, whom they might not know. For some interpreters think, that by this altar they designed to worship every god of any nation, who was not come to their knowledge: or to worship that great God hinted at in the writings of Plato: or as others conjecture, that God of the Jews, of whom they might have heard such wonders, and whose name the Jews themselves said to be unknown and ineffable. However, from this inscription St. Paul takes an occasion, with wonderful dexterity, with sublime reflections, and with that solid eloquence, of which he was master, and which he employed, as often as it was necessary, to inform them, and instruct them, concerning the works of the one true God, of whom they had little knowledge, by their own fault: that this one true God made the world, and all things in it: that from one man he raised all mankind: that his presence is not confined to temples made by the hands of men, being every where, and in all creatures, preserving them every moment: that in him we live, move, and have our being, or subsist: that it is he, who hath determined the time, limits, or bounds of every empire, and kingdom, and of every man's life: that this true God, who made, preserves, and governs all things in heaven and on earth, cannot be like to gold, silver, or any thing made by the art, or fancy of men. He puts them in mind that according even to one of their own heathen poets, Aratus, men themselves are the offspring of God, being blessed with a being and knowledge above all other creatures in this world: who by the light of reason ought to seek God, and by considering the visible effects of Providence over the world, and the creatures in it, might come to the knowledge of this one God, the author of all, at least to an imperfect knowledge of him, as men find out things by feeling, or as it were, groping in the dark. He then adds, (ver. 30.) that having, as it were, overlooked, and permitted men for many ages to run on in this ignorance and blindness, in punishment of their sins, (this their ignorance of one true God, the author of all things, being wilful and inexcusable) now the same true God hath been pleased to announce to all men, that henceforward they acknowledge, and worship him, that they repent, and do penance for their sins. (Witham)
Acts 17:23	For passing by, and seeing your idols, I found an altar also, on which was written: to the unknown god. What, therefore, you worship without knowing it, that I preach to you.	It may be asked, why they had not implicit faith, worshipping the true, though unknown, God?[5] 1st. because the worship of the true God can never exist with the worship of idols; 2nd. because an explicit faith in God is required of all; 3rd. because it is repugnant to implicit faith, to admit any thing contrary to it, as comparing this unknown God with the pagan idols; for God to be at all, must be one. Lucan towards the end of his 2nd book, hath these words: ----------Et dedita sacris Incerti Judaea Dei. --- What, therefore, you improperly worship, that I preach to you, and instruct you in the true worship, far different from what you pay to your strange gods.
Acts 17:24	God, who made the world and all things therein, he being Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in temples made with hands. Genesis 1:1. --- * Acts 7:48.	God...dwelleth not in temples. He who is infinite cannot be confined to space; nor stand in need of what human hands can furnish. Temples are not for God, but for man. It is the latter who derives assistance from them. The same may be observed of all exterior acts of worship. They are serviceable, inasmuch as they proceed from, or powerfully assist, interior devotion, by the impressions which exterior objects leave upon the soul. The reciprocal action of one upon the other, in our present state of existence, is great and inevitable. (Haydock) See Acts 7:48. --- God, indeed, dwelleth in the temple, yes, and in the soul of the just man, but he is not confined there, as the idols were to their temples. Hence the prayer of Solomon at the consecration of the temple: if heaven, and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thy immensity, how much less this house, which I have erected? God dwelleth there, then, to receive the prayers and sacrifices of the faithful, but not as though he needed any thing. See ver. 25. --- God is not contained in temples; so as to need them for his dwelling, or any other uses, as the heathens imagined. Yet by his omnipresence, he is both there and every where. (Challoner)
Acts 17:25	Nor is he served by the hands of men, as though he needed any thing, seeing it is he who giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;
Acts 17:26	And hath made of one, all mankind, to dwell upon the whole face of the earth, determining appointed times, and the limits of their habitation.
Acts 17:27	That they should seek God, if haply they may feel after him or find him: although he be not far from every one of us.	Feel after him. Si forte attrectent eum, ei arage pselapheseian. It signifies palpare quasi in tenebris. (Witham)
Acts 17:28	For in him we live, and move, and have our being: as some also of your own poets said: For we are also his offspring.	St. Paul here cites Aratus, a Greek poet, and his own countryman, a native of Cilicia.
Acts 17:29	Being, therefore, the offspring of God, we must not suppose the Divinity to be like unto gold or silver, or stone, the graving of art, and device of man.	Cherubim, with extended wings, were ordered by God to be made, and placed over the propitiatory; (Exodus 37:7.) the brazen serpent is declared by Jesus Christ himself to have been a figure of him; therefore to blame the universally received practice of the Catholic Church, with regard to pictures and images, betrays either great prevention, or great ignorance. St. Gregory says: "What writing does for readers, that a picture does for the ignorant; for in it they see what they ought to follow, and in it they read, who know no letters." And he sharply rebukes Serenus's indiscreet zeal for removing pictures, instead of teaching the people what use may be made of them. (lib. ix. ep. 9.)
Acts 17:30	And God, indeed, having overlooked the times of this ignorance, now declareth to men, that all should every where do penance.	Overlooked. Despiciens, uperidon. It may either signify looking down on the ignorant world, and so taking pity of it; or rather that God having overlooked, and permitted mankind to go on so long in their sins, now invites them to repentance, by sending Jesus, their Saviour and Redeemer. See the Analysis, dissert. xxxiv. (Witham)
Acts 17:31	Because he hath appointed a day wherein he will judge the world in equity, by the man, whom he hath appointed, giving faith to all, by raising him up from the dead.	Because he hath appointed a day for judging all men with equity, by the man, to wit, Christ Jesus, a man, and also his true Son, whom he has appointed to be their judge; and by raising him (Jesus) from the dead, he hath made it credible, and given sufficient proofs of this truth, that every one shall rise from death. (Witham)
Acts 17:32	And when they had heard of the resurrection of the dead, some indeed mocked: but others said: We will hear thee again concerning this matter.	When they heard of the resurrection of the dead. This seemed so impossible, even to the philosophers among them, that some of them presently laughed, and made a jest of it. Others said, we will hear thee on this another time, and some believed. (Witham)
Acts 17:33	So Paul went out from among them.
Acts 17:34	But certain men adhered to him and believed: among whom was also Dionysius, the Areopagite, and a woman, named Damaris, and others with them.	Dionysius the Areopagite. This illustrious convert was made the first bishop of Athens. The martyrologies say, St. Paul raised him to that dignity. It is the same person, who, observing the convulsions of nature, which paid homage, as it were, to its God, expiring upon the cross, and not knowing the cause, is said to have exclaimed: Either the universe is falling to ruin, or the God of nature must be suffering. It appears from his writings, that he was, previous to his conversion, of the Platonic school. Ven. Bede was mistaken in supposing that he was afterwards the bishop of Corinth, of that name, who so successfully employed his pen for the good of the Church. This Dionysius lived a whole century after the Areopagite. (Estius)