Acts 17:30

Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — Paul addresses the philosophers of the Areopagus in Athens, having just argued that the God who made the world is not an idol (v.29). He now pivots from God's past patience to His present demand.

The words — ὑπεριδὼν (huperidōn), "having overlooked," is an aorist participle that frames God's past silence as a deliberate, completed act of passing over rather than mere absence.

The thread — Acts 14:16 uses the same logic ("He let all nations go their own way"), and Luke 24:47 echoes the universal scope of the repentance command. Titus 2:11 supplies the positive counterpart: the grace that now appears to everyone.

Why it lands — The verse closes the door on ignorance as a permanent excuse. God's command is universal in scope and present in tense; there is no "later" or "somewhere else."

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

τοὺςtousThe μὲνmenindeed οὖνountherefore χρόνουςchronoustimes τῆςtēs<the>ἀγνοίαςagnoiasof ignorance ὑπεριδὼνhuperidōnhaving overlooked ὁho<the>θεὸςtheosGod τὰta<the>νῦνnunnow παραγγέλλειparangelleiHe commands τοῖςtois<the>ἀνθρώποιςanthrōpoisto men πάνταςpantasall πανταχοῦpantachoueverywhere μετανοεῖν·metanoeinto repent;

King James Version

And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men every where to repent:

Cross-references

Acts 14:16 In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.
Titus 2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.
Luke 24:47 and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.
Romans 3:25 God presented Him as an atoning sacrifice in His blood through faith, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.
Acts 26:17 I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them
Ephesians 4:17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
1 Peter 4:3 For you have spent enough time in the past carrying out the same desires as the Gentiles: living in debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing, and detestable idolatry.
Luke 13:5 No, I tell you. But unless you repent, you too will all perish.”
Acts 3:19 Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,
Romans 2:4 Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?