Acts 17:19

ἐπιλαβ.: as to whether we regard this as done with hostile intent, or not, will depend upon the view taken of the meaning of the Areopagus. If the latter means “the Hill of Mars,” to which the Apostle was taken for a quiet hearing and for unimportant discussion, then the former is clearly inadmissible; if, however, the Areopagus meant the Council of Areopagus, then that action would seem to have been indicative at least of malice and dislike. The verb in the N.T. is used only in the middle, with accusative or genitive, and most frequently by St. Luke, five times in his Gospel, seven times in Acts, twice by St. Paul, only once by St. Matthew and by St. Mark. In each case it can be determined by the context whether it is used in a favourable or unfavourable sense. So too in LXX (always with genitive), where it is frequently used, the context alone decides. Certainly Acts 9:27 presents a close verbal parallel in language, as the participle ἐπιλ. is followed as here by ἤγαγον (Weiss), but the context there expresses beyond all doubt a friendly action. Grotius (so Weiss, Wendt, Felten, Zöckler, Bethge) attributes friendliness to the action here, and renders “manu leniter prehensum,” so too F. C. Conybeare, “Areopagus,” Hastings' B.D., renders it “took Paul by the hand,” but in three of the four parallels to which he refers χείρ is expressed, and for the fourth see above. But the view taken of the following words will help us to decide, Ramsay, St. Paul, p. 245, and Expositor, September, 1895, pp. 216, 217. ἐπὶ τὸν Ἄ. πάγον, Curtius, Gesammelte Abhandlungen, ii., p. 528, note, and Ramsay, Expositor, u. s., p. 217, point out that ἐπί with accusative would be the correct expression for taking any one before an official court, cf. Acts 9:21; Acts 16:19; Acts 17:6; Acts 18:12 a regular Lucan preposition in this sense cf. also Herod., iii. 46, 156; viii. 79. But it does not therefore follow that a regular trial was instituted, as Chrys., Theophylact and others have held, since there is nothing in the context to indicate this. But the form of expression certainly does seem to indicate that Paul was taken not to the Hill of Mars, as is generally held, but before a court or council. And there is substantial evidence for believing that the term Areopagus (as Blass admits) was not merely local, but that it was sometimes used as = the Council or Court of Areopagus, cf. Cicero, Ad Atticum, i., 14, 5; De Nat. Deorum, ii., 29; Rep., i., 27. Moreover, there is good reason to believe that the council, although deriving its name from the hill, did not always meet on the hill, and also that it had the power of taking official action in questions bearing upon public teaching in the city (cf. Renan, Saint Paul, pp. 193, 194, and authorities cited). It is therefore not an improbable inference that Paul would be brought before such a court for inquiry into his teaching; beyond this inference perhaps we cannot go; even to call the inquiry a προδικασία (so Curtius) may be to apply a technical term unwarranted by the context, which bears no trace of a criminal procedure, cf. Curtius, u. s., pp. 528, 529; Ramsay, u. s.; Plumptre and Rendall, in loco. But where did the council meet for the discharge of such duties as inquiries into the qualification of teachers, as a public court for the maintenance of public order? Probably in the Stoa Basileios; here Demosthenes informs us that some of its duties were transacted (see Expositor, October, 1895, p. 272, and Curtius, u. s., p. 528), and the scene before us is full of the life of the Agora with the corona of people thronging to listen, rather than of the sacred or solemn associations of the Hill of Mars, or of the quietude of a spot far removed from the busy life of the market-place. So too the name “Areopagus” might have been easily transferred to the council sitting in a place other than the hill, so that ἡ βουλὴ ἡ ἐξ Ἀ. π. might easily become Ἄρειος Πάγος informally and colloquially, and the word as used here by St. Luke may really be another proof that, as in σπερμολόγος, the author catches the very word which the Athenians would use, Ramsay, Expositor, September, 1895, p. 216, and Renan, u. s., p. 194, note. But it has further been urged both by Curtius and Ramsay (so also Renan, u. s.) that the Hill of Mars would be a most inconvenient place for public assemblies and speakers, see Ramsay, u. s., p. 213, and Curtius, u. s., p. 529, and even if the spot had been suitable for such purposes, there would have been a want of fitness in the Athenians taking this σπερμολόγος to harangue them on a spot so inseparably associated with the dignity and glory of their city; see also below on Acts 17:22; Acts 17:33. Δυναμεθα γνῶναι : like the Latin, Possum scire? the question may have been asked in courtesy, or in sarcasm, or ironically; in the repetition of the article the irony may be accentuated. ἡ ὑπὸ δοῦ λαλ.: “which it spoken by thee,” R.V., the Apostle was not speaking about the doctrine, A.V., his words were the doctrine (Lumby). Felten regards the question as courteously put, and sees in it a decisive proof that Paul was not put upon his trial, since a man could not be tried on a charge of which his accusers had no knowledge. But this would not prevent a preliminary inquiry of some kind before the court, prompted by dislike or suspicion.