Bible Strands
Acts 17:29
Therefore, being offspring of God, we should not think that the Divine Being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by man’s skill and imagination.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Paul addresses the Athenian philosophers on the Areopagus after establishing that God sustains all life (Acts 17:28). He delivers this conclusion to correct their idolatrous assumptions immediately before commanding universal repentance (Acts 17:30).
The words — ὑπάρχοντες (huparchontes) means "being" or "existing as," and γένος (genos) means "offspring" or "race." Paired with οὖν (oun) for "therefore," they establish the logical ground for the prohibition that follows.
The thread — The rejection of material likenesses runs through Exodus 20:4, Isaiah 40:25, and Isaiah 46:5. These passages consistently prohibit crafting images to represent the Divine.
Why it lands — The text commands readers to stop assuming God can be captured in gold, silver, or stone. It requires acknowledging human dependence on God before demanding repentance.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Forasmuch then as we are the offspring of God, we ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 40:25 “To whom will you liken Me, or who is My equal?” asks the Holy One.
- Exodus 20:4 You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in the heavens above, on the earth below, or in the waters beneath.
- Isaiah 46:5 To whom will you liken Me or count Me equal? To whom will you compare Me, that we should be alike?
- Psalms 115:4 Their idols are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.
- Habakkuk 2:19 Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Awake!’ or to silent stone, ‘Arise!’ Can it give guidance? Behold, it is overlaid with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”
- Jeremiah 10:4 They adorn it with silver and gold and fasten it with hammer and nails, so that it will not totter.
- Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.
- Psalms 106:20 They exchanged their Glory for the image of a grass-eating ox.
- Psalms 94:7 They say, “The LORD does not see; the God of Jacob pays no heed.”
- Isaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?