Acts 17:26

and hath made of one blood All the best MSS. omit the word "blood." And this seems to bring out more fully what the Apostle desires to dwell on; the Fatherhood of God. It is not that men are all of one family and so all equal in God's eyes, and ought to be in the eyes of one another. But when we read "they are made of One" we are carried back to the higher thought of the prophet (Malachi 2:10), "Have we not all one Father?" This was a philosophy not likely to be acceptable to the Athenians among whom the distinction between Greeks and Barbarians was as radical as that which has grown up in America between white man and "nigger," or between Europeans and natives in India.

for to dwell on all the face of the earth For His children the Father provided a home.

and hath determined the times before appointed The word προστεταγμένους has more authority than προτεταγμένους and gives a better sense. The times (rather seasons) are appointed unto men, but it is not so clear what "before-appointed" could mean. Read "And hath determined their appointed seasons." (So R. V.) The "seasons" referred to are those which God has ordained for seed-time and harvest, summer and winter, day and night, which are fixed by his decree and make the earth a fitting abode for men.

and the bounds of their habitation i.e. where they can dwell and where they cannot.