The Meaning of Acts 17:20 Explained

Acts 17:20

KJV: For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

YLT: for certain strange things thou dost bring to our ears? we wish, then, to know what these things would wish to be;'

Darby: For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears. We wish therefore to know what these things may mean.

ASV: For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

For  thou bringest  certain  strange things  to  our  ears:  we would  know  therefore  what  these things  mean. 

What does Acts 17:20 Mean?

Context Summary

Acts 17:13-21 - Stirred By Idolatry
From the first, the gospel was baptized in the fire of persecution. How unutterable the loneliness and sorrow of the Apostle as he reached Athens! Did doubt ever enter his mind as to whether he was on the appointed track? If it did, he at once dismissed it. His motto was to forget the things behind. When, in dependence upon God, you have once taken a path, dare to believe it is right, whatever appearances there are to the contrary.
One purpose consumed the Apostle. One thing I do, was the thread on which the many beads of his experiences were strung. Persecuted and rejected today, he is at his favorite work tomorrow. How different this intense earnestness from the trifling of the so-called philosophers of Athens! The Epicurean made the pursuit of pleasure the main object of life. The Stoic, on the other hand, believed in the stern repression of nature. All Greece was absorbed in the cultivation of art, architecture, eloquence, and intellectual brilliance. But here, as everywhere, Paul had but one message-Jesus and the Resurrection. Oh, to be pressed in spirit, as he was, till our earnestness should compel our opponents to give us a serious hearing! [source]

Chapter Summary: Acts 17

1  Paul preaches at Thessalonica, where some believe,
5  and others persecute him
10  He is sent to Berea, and preaches there
13  Being persecuted by Jews from Thessalonica,
16  he comes to Athens, and disputes and preaches the living God, to them unknown;
32  whereby, though some mock, many are converted unto Christ

Greek Commentary for Acts 17:20

For thou bringest certain strange things [χενιζοντα γαρ τινα εισπερεις]
The very verb used by Xenophon (Mem. I) about Socrates. Χενιζοντα — Xenizonta is present active neuter plural participle of χενιζω — xenizō and from χενος — xenos (Acts 17:18), “things surprising or shocking us.” [source]
We would know therefore [βουλομετα ουν γνωναι]
Very polite still, we wish or desire, and repeating γνωναι — gnōnai (the essential point). [source]
Strange [ξενίζοντα]
A participle: surprising. Compare 1 Peter 4:4, 1 Peter 4:12. [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 17:20

Luke 4:37 The fame [ἦχος]
Lit., noise. Rev., rumor. Only here, Luke 21:25, where the correct reading is ἤχους ,the roaring, and Acts 2:2. Hebrews 12:19 is a quotation from the Septuagint. It is the word used in Acts 2:2 of the mighty rushing wind at Pentecost. Mark uses ἀκοὴ , in its earlier sense of a report. The same word occurs in Luke, but always in the sense in which medical writers employed it - hearing or the ears. See Luke 7:1; Acts 17:20; Acts 28:26. Ἦχος , was the medical term for sound in the ears or head. Hippocrates uses both words together: “the ears ( ἀκοαὶ ) are full of sound ( ἤχου );” and Aretaeus of the noise of the sea, as sa40" translation="">Luke 21:25.sa40 [source]
Acts 10:6 Lodgeth [xenizetai)]
Present passive indicative of xenizō old verb from xenos a stranger as a guest. So to entertain a guest as here or to surprise by strange acts (Acts 17:20; 1 Peter 4:4). [source]
Hebrews 13:2 Have entertained angels unawares [ἔλαθόν τινες ξεσίσαντες ἀγγέλους]
The Greek idiom is, “were not apparent as entertaining angels.” The verb ἔλαθον wereconcealed represents the adverb unawares. For similar instances see Mark 14:8; Acts 12:16; Aristoph. Wasps, 517; Hdt. i. 44; Hom. Il. xiii. 273. Ξενίζειν toreceive as a guest, mostly in Acts. In lxx only in the apocryphal books. In later Greek, to surprise with a novelty; passive, to be surprised or shocked. So 1 Peter 4:4, 1 Peter 4:12; comp. 2Ep. of Clem. of Rome (so called), xvii.: To be a stranger or to be strange, once in N.T., Acts 17:20. Ξενισμός amazementperplexity, not in N.T. lxx, Proverbs 15:17. Comp. Ignatius, Eph. xix. The allusion to the unconscious entertainment of angels is probably to Matthew href="/desk/?q=mt+25:34-46&sr=1">Matthew 25:34-46. [source]
1 Peter 4:4 They think it strange [χενιζονται]
Present passive indicative of χενιζω — xenizō old verb (from χενος — xenos stranger), to entertain a guest (Acts 10:23), to astonish (Acts 17:20). See also 1 Peter 4:12. “They are surprised or astonished.”That ye run not with them (μη συντρεχοντων υμων — mē suntrechontōn humōn). Genitive absolute (negative μη — mē) with present active participle of συντρεχω — suntrechō old compound, to run together like a crowd or a mob as here (just like our phrase, “running with certain folks”).Into the same excess of riot Αναχυσιν — Anachusin (from αναχεω — anacheō to pour forth) is a late and rare word, our overflowing, here only in N.T. Ασωτιας — Asōtias is the character of an abandoned man Present active participle of βλασπημεω — blasphēmeō as in Luke 22:65. “The Christians were compelled to stand aloof from all the social pleasures of the world, and the Gentiles bitterly resented their puritanism, regarding them as the enemies of all joy, and therefore of the human race” (Bigg). [source]

What do the individual words in Acts 17:20 mean?

Strange things for some you are bringing to the ears of us We resolve therefore to know what wish these things to be
ξενίζοντα γάρ τινα εἰσφέρεις εἰς τὰς ἀκοὰς ἡμῶν βουλόμεθα οὖν γνῶναι τίνα θέλει ταῦτα εἶναι

ξενίζοντα  Strange  things 
Parse: Verb, Present Participle Active, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: ξενίζω  
Sense: to receive as a guest, to entertain, hospitably.
τινα  some 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Accusative Neuter Plural
Root: τὶς  
Sense: a certain, a certain one.
εἰσφέρεις  you  are  bringing 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 2nd Person Singular
Root: εἰσφέρω  
Sense: to bring into, in or to.
ἀκοὰς  ears 
Parse: Noun, Accusative Feminine Plural
Root: ἀκοή  
Sense: the sense of hearing.
ἡμῶν  of  us 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Genitive 1st Person Plural
Root: ἐγώ  
Sense: I, me, my.
βουλόμεθα  We  resolve 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Middle or Passive, 1st Person Plural
Root: βούλομαι  
Sense: to will deliberately, have a purpose, be minded.
γνῶναι  to  know 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Infinitive Active
Root: γινώσκω  
Sense: to learn to know, come to know, get a knowledge of perceive, feel.
θέλει  wish 
Parse: Verb, Present Indicative Active, 3rd Person Singular
Root: θέλω  
Sense: to will, have in mind, intend.
ταῦτα  these  things 
Parse: Demonstrative Pronoun, Nominative Neuter Plural
Root: οὗτος  
Sense: this.
εἶναι  to  be 
Parse: Verb, Present Infinitive Active
Root: εἰμί  
Sense: to be, to exist, to happen, to be present.