SEV Biblia, Chapter 17:28
porque en l vivimos, y nos movemos, y somos; como tambin algunos de vuestros poetas dijeron: Porque linaje de ste somos tambin.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Acts 17:28
Verse 28. For in him we live, and move, and have our being] He is the very source of our existence: the principle of life comes from him: the principle of motion, also, comes from him; one of the most difficult things in nature to be properly apprehended; and a strong proof of the continual presence and energy of the Deity. And have our being] kai esmen, And we are: we live in him, move in him, and are in him. Without him we not only can do nothing, but without him we are nothing. We are, i.e. we continue to be, because of his continued, present, all- pervading, and supporting energy. There is a remarkable saying in Synopsis Sohar, p. 104. "The holy blessed God never does evil to any man. He only withdraws his gracious presence from him, and then he necessarily perisheth." This is philosophical and correct.
As certain also of your own poets] Probably he means not only Aratus, in whose poem, entitled Phaenomena, the words quoted by St. Paul are to be found literatim, tou gar kai genov esmen; but also Cleanthus, in whose Hymn to Jupiter the same words (ek sou gar genov esmen) occur. But the sentiment is found in several others, being very common among the more enlightened philosophers. By saying your own poets, he does not mean poets born at Athens, but merely Grecian poets, Aratus and Cleanthus being chief.
We are also his offspring.] tou gar kai genov esmen The Phaenomena of Aratus, in which these words are found, begins thus: - ek diov arcwmesqa, ton oudepot andrev ewmen arrhton? mestai de diov pasai men aguiai, pasai d anqrwpwn agorai? mesth de qalassa, kai lemenev? panth de diov kecrhmeqa pantev? tou gar kaigenov esmen? od hpiov anqrwpoisi dexia shmainei. k. t. l.
With Jove we must begin; nor from him rove; Him always praise, for all is full of Jove! He fills all places where mankind resort, The wide-spread sea, with every shelt'ring port.
Jove's presence fills all space, upholds this ball; All need his aid; his power sustains us all.
For we his offspring are; and he in love Points out to man his labour from above: Where signs unerring show when best the soil, By well-timed culture, shall repay our toil, &c., &c.
Aratus was a Cilician, one of St. Paul's own countrymen, and with his writings St. Paul was undoubtedly well acquainted, though he had flourished about 300 years before that time.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 28. For in him we live, and move, and have our being , etc.] The natural life which men live is from God; and they are supported in it by him; and from him they have all the comforts and blessings of life; and all motions, whether external or internal, of body or of mind, are of God, and none of them are without the concourse of his providence, and strength assistance from him; though the disorder and irregularity of these motions, whereby they become sinful, are of themselves, or of the devil; and their being, and the maintenance of it, and continuance in it, are all owing to the power and providence of God. As certain also of your own poets have said ; the Syriac version reads in the singular number, as a certain one of your wise men has said; but all others read in the plural; and some have thought, that the apostle refers to what goes before, that being an Iambic verse of some of the poets, as well as to what follows, which is a citation from Aratus and whom the apostle might have called his own, as he was his countryman; for Aratus was a native of Solis, a city of Cilicia, not far from Tarsus yea, some say he was of Tarsus, where the apostle was born: but Aratus being an Heathen, and the apostle speaking to Heathens, calls him one of them; and the rather, that what is cited might be the more regarded by them: though the expression is also said to be in an hymn to Jove, written by Cleanthes, who taught at Athens; and so the apostle addressing the Athenians, might, with greater propriety, say, as certain of your own poets say: it is also said to be in Aratus the astronomer, and in the poet Homer; so that the plural number may well be used. Which is, for we are also his offspring ; the offspring of Jove, says Aratus; which the apostle applies to the true Jehovah, the Creator of all men, by whom, and after whose image, they are made, and so are truly his offspring; upon which the apostle argues as follows.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 22-31 - Here we have a sermon to heathens, who worshipped false gods, and wer without the true God in the world; and to them the scope of the discourse was different from what the apostle preached to the Jews. I the latter case, his business was to lead his hearers by prophecies an miracles to the knowledge of the Redeemer, and faith in him; in the former, it was to lead them, by the common works of providence, to know the Creator, and worship Him. The apostle spoke of an altar he ha seen, with the inscription, "TO THE UNKNOWN GOD." This fact is state by many writers. After multiplying their idols to the utmost, some a Athens thought there was another god of whom they had no knowledge. An are there not many now called Christians, who are zealous in their devotions, yet the great object of their worship is to them an unknow God? Observe what glorious things Paul here says of that God whom he served, and would have them to serve. The Lord had long borne with idolatry, but the times of this ignorance were now ending, and by his servants he now commanded all men every where to repent of their idolatry. Each sect of the learned men would feel themselves powerfull affected by the apostle's discourse, which tended to show the emptines or falsity of their doctrines.
Greek Textus Receptus
εν 1722 PREP αυτω 846 P-DSM γαρ 1063 CONJ ζωμεν 2198 5719 V-PAI-1P και 2532 CONJ κινουμεθα 2795 5743 V-PPI-1P και 2532 CONJ εσμεν 2070 5748 V-PXI-1P ως 5613 ADV και 2532 CONJ τινες 5100 X-NPM των 3588 T-GPM καθ 2596 PREP υμας 5209 P-2AP ποιητων 4163 N-GPM ειρηκασιν 2046 5758 V-RAI-3P-ATT του 3588 T-GSM γαρ 1063 CONJ και 2532 CONJ γενος 1085 N-NSN εσμεν 2070 5748 V-PXI-1P
Vincent's NT Word Studies
28. We are also his offspring. A line from Aratus, a poet of Paul's own province of Cilicia. The same sentiment, in almost the same words, occurs in the fine hymn of Cleanthes to Jove. Hence the words, "Some of your own poets."
Robertson's NT Word Studies
17:28 {For in him} (en autwi gar). Proof of God's nearness, not stoic pantheism, but real immanence in God as God dwells in us. The three verbs (zwmen, kinoumeqa, esmen) form an ascending scale and reach a climax in God (life, movement, existence). kinoumeqa is either direct middle present indicative (we move ourselves) or passive (we are moved). {As certain even of your own poets} (hws kai tines twn kaq' humas poietwn). "As also some of the poets among you." Aratus of Soli in Cilicia (ab. B.C. 270) has these very words in his _Ta Phainomena_ and Cleanthes, Stoic philosopher (300-220 B.C.) in his _Hymn to Zeus_ has ek sou gar genos esmen. In #1Co 15:32 Paul quotes from Menander and in #Tit 1:12 from Epimenides. J. Rendel Harris claims that he finds allusions in Paul's Epistles to Pindar, Aristophanes, and other Greek writers. There is no reason in the world why Paul should not have acquaintance with Greek literature, though one need not strain a point to prove it. Paul, of course, knew that the words were written of Zeus (Jupiter), not of Jehovah, but he applies the idea in them to his point just made that all men are the offspring of God.
