309
20. ξενίζοντα Ὑάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις eis τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν" βουλόμεθα
2 a lol 2 οὖν γνῶναι, τί ἂν θέλοι 1 ταῦτα εἶναι.
21. ᾿Αθηναῖοι δὲ πάντες καὶ
a / a ot ἐπιδημοῦντες ξένοι εἰς οὐδὲν ἕτερον edxaipour,” ἢ λέγειν τι καὶ
ἀκούειν καινότερον.
let αν θελοι DEHLP, Chrys., so Meyer; τινα θελει NAB 18, 36, 40, 6τ, 180,
Tisch., R.V., W.H., Weiss, Wendt.
2 evkatpouv, but ηυκ. ΝΑΒΡΕ 13, 40, 61, Tisch., W.H., Blass, Weiss. Instead of και akov NABD 25, 44, Vulg., Sah., Syr. H., Arm., Tisch., W.H., Weiss, Wendt,
Blass read η ακον.
text, which bears no trace of a criminal procedure, cf. Curtius, u. s., pp. 528, 529; Ramsay, u. s.; Plumptre and Rendall, in loco. But where did the council meet for the discharge of such duties as in- quiries into the qualification of teachers, as a public court for the maintenance of public order? Probably in the Stoa Basileios ; here Demosthenes informs us that some of its duties were transacted (see Expositor, October, 1895, p. 272, and Curtius, u. s., p. 528), and the scene before us is full of the life of the Agora with the corona of people thronging to listen, rather than of the sacred or solemn associations of the Hill of Mars, or of the quietude of a spot far removed from the busy life of the market-place. So too the name ‘“ Areopagus” might have been easily transferred to the council sitting in a place other than the ‘hill, so that ἡ βονλὴ ἡ ἐξ °A. π. might easily become ᾿Αρειος Πάγος informally and colloquially, and the word as used here by St. Luke may really be another proof that, as in oweppoddyos, the author catches the very word which the Athenians would use, Ramsay, Ex- positor, September, 1895, p. 216, and Renan, 4. s., p. 194, note. But it has further been urged both by Curtius and Ramsay (so also Renan, wu. 5.) that the Hill of Mars would be a most incon- venient place for public assemblies and speakers, see Ramsay, 1. 5., p. 213, and Curtius, 4. s., Ῥ. 529, and even if the spot had been suitable for such purposes, there would have been a want of fitness in the Athenians taking this σπερµολό- yos to harangue them on a spot so inseparably associated with the dignity and glory of their city; see also below on vv. 22 and 33.--Δνναμεθα γνῶναι: like the Latin, Possum scive? the ques- tion may have been asked in courtesy, or in sarcasm, or ironically ; in the repeti- tion of the article the irony may be accentuated.— ὑπὸ σοῦ λαλ.: ‘which is spoken by thee,” R.V., the Apostle