Acts 14:17

he left not himself without witness This is the same argument which the Apostle employs (Acts 17:27) to the more philosophic multitude whom he addressed on Mars" hill. God's natural teaching is meant to speak alike to all men. Cp. also the similar reasoning in Romans 1:19-20.

and gave us rain The oldest MSS. read "gave you," and this is the more natural language, for the Apostle could not include himself among those to whom God's appeal was made through the gifts of nature only.

A few rather unusual words and forms which occur in this verse have suggested to some that we have here a fragment of a Greek poem on the bounties of nature, which the Apostle quotes, as he sometimes does quote the Greek poets, to illustrate his speech from the language familiar to his hearers. Attempts have therefore been made to arrange the words into some dithyrambic metre. But it is hardly probable that St Paul would quote Greek poetry to the people in Lycaonia, to whom Greek was not sufficiently familiar for them to appreciate its literature to the extent which this supposition presumes, and certainly the other quotations which he makes from Greek authors (Acts 17:28; 1 Corinthians 15:33; Titus 1:12) are used to much more cultured audiences.