The Pulpit Commentary — Acts — Volume 2 — Section 59

of whe.t iB probe.hie, not by the letter or the another and .. babble them inditrerently In ne.rrativ0 (see fu1 t!,er noto on eh. xviii. 5). all compe.niea" (Johnson'a • Dictionary,' Yer. 16.-I'rovoked tDi/J,in for elirred in, under " Dabble"). A setter forth of atrange A.V. (,rcipa,!J1•rTo: see oh. xv. 29, note); god■, There does not seem to be the lenat m he beheld for when he MID, A.V,; fvl,l of ground for Ohrysostom's suggestion th11t k:lol~ for wholly girien t.o idolatry, A.V. The they took ..4.n~tasiB (the Resurrection) for Gre<>k 1<ani6wl\os occurs only here, eithor in the DRme of a goddess. Ilut the preo.ching 1he New Tcstnrnent or elsewhere. Ilut the of Jesus the Son of God, himself risen from analogy of uthcr words similarly compounded the dead (ver. 81), end hereafter to be the fixes the meaning "full of idols "-a de• Ju,lge of quick and dee.cl at the geuernl script ion fully borne out by Pausn.nias and resurrection, was naturally, to both Stoics Xe!iophon and others (Steph., ' Thesaur.;' and Epicureans, a setting fo1·th of stmnge Meyer, etc.). gods. Elva. 8~1µ.Jv1ci are "foreia-n deities," Ver. 17.-So he reasoned for therefore dis- or "dmmons," inferior gods. "The word puted he, A. V. ; and the de-i-oui fur and tDith irua-y-y,l\evs, a setter forth, does not occur the detxlllt, A.V.; market-place every day for elsewhere. But the nearly identical word marlud daily, A.V. Reasoned (o<El\t-y,To, 1<aTa-y-y,>..os is used by Plutnrch. as in ver. 2; eh. xviii. 19 and xxiv. 12). Ver. 19.-Took hold of for took, A.V.; t1ui " Disputed" gives the force of o,al\ry<D'0a, ..4.reopagu,B for .A.reopagUB, A.V.; teaching iB better than "reasoned," because the word for doctrine . . . is, A. V.; whi.ch is spoken in Plato, Thucydidee, Xenophon, lElinn, by thee for whereof thou :<peakest, A.V. Took eto., is especially used of discussions and hold of him. The word br1.Jvl/3,tT9a1 means arguments in which two persons or more simply to "take hold of" the hand, the take pa.rt. .ll.uil\<1<Tos is " discussion ; " 71 heir, a garment, etc. The context alone liu,>,.,KT/q is the art of drawing answers decides whether this taking hold is friendly from your opponent to prove your cone! usion ; or hostile (for the former sense, see Mo.tt. li,al\o-yos is a " dialogue " (see, however, eh. xiv. 31 ; Mn.rk viii. 23; Luke i.x. 47; xiv. 4; :i.x. 7). The market-place. " The celebrated eh. i.x. 27; xxiii. 19, etc. ; for the latter, 'A-yoprL, . • • not far from the Pnyx, the Lnke xxiii. 26; eh. xvi. 19; xviii. 17; Acropolis, o.nd the Areopu.gus, . . . rich in xxi 30, 33). Here the sense is well expressed noble statues, the central seat of oommercia.l, by Grotius (quoted by Meyer): "Te.king forensic, and philosophic intercourse, o.s well him gently by the hand." The Areopo.gus. as of the busy idleness of the loungers" Mars' Hill, close to the Agora. (" the ~Meyer, in Zoe.). market") on the north, was so called from Ver. IS.-And certain aboofthe Epicurean the legend that Mars was tried there before and Stoic philosopherB for then certain the gods for the murder of a son of Neptune. phil,osophers of /Jte Epieureans, and of tJ,e It is (says Lewin) a be.ro, rugged rock, Stoi.clcs, A. V.; would for will, A. V.; preached approa.ched at the south-ea.stern comer by for preached unto tJ,em, A. V. and T.R. The steps, of which sixteen still remain perfect. Epicureans (so called from Epicurus, their It.a area. e.t the top mea.sures sixty paces by founder) and the Stoics (so called from the twenty-four, within which a. quadrangle, tTToa, the colonnade or piazza where Zeno sixteen paces squo.re, is excava.ted o.nd their founder taught) were the most levelled for the court. The judges seem to numerous sects at Athens at this time; and have sat on benches tier above tier on the their respective tenets were the most rising rock on the north side of the quad- opposite to the doctrines of the gospel. rangle. There were also seats on the east :Entonntered him; q{,v,{Ja.Mov. In eh. iv. 15 and west sides, e.nd on the south on either it is followed by ,rpJs, and is properly side of the sto.irs. The Areopngue (tha rendered "conferred ; " here it is followed upper conrt) we.s the most august of e.11 the by the dative, and may be understood to oourts at Athens. Socrates was tried 11nd meo.n "disput&i" (cJ'IJµ.{Ja.M.ew i\.6-yovs). It condemned before it for impiety. Ou the may, however, not less properi y be taken in present occasion, there is no appearance of i.he sense of a hostile encom,ter of words, judicial proceedings, but they seem to ha.ve BB Luke xiv. 31, and frequently in classi- aujourned to the Areope.gus from the Agora, cal Greek. This babbler (D'r<pµ.o>..lryos); as to a convenient pie.ea for quiet discussion. literally, a picker-up of eeeds, applied to a Ver. 20.-Strango thlngs, 'ifrvi(«v, in crow (Arisioph., 'Aves,' 232,579). Pluto.rch this use of lt, means to o.ct or play the too (' Demet.,' 28) has q,repµ.o>..iryo, 6p1118u, foreigner, to imitate the manners and birds 1,ickicg up seed& Hence it is need language and appearance of a foreigner of idle hangers-on in the markets, who (Elvos), just as 'Iou3a.l(ew, 'El\i\.71vt(uv, 'Ar- get a lirnlihood by what they can pick up, T11<i(,w, etc., mea.n to Judaize, Hellenize, and so generally of empty, worthless fellows. Atticize, etc. Here, then, the Athenio.ns say lfouce it is further avplied to those who that St. Paul's doctrines havo a foreign air, pick up wraps of knowkdge from one or do not look like native Atl.ienia.n specula. tiona. 011. xvn. 1-84.] THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES. 81