Acts 17:30
New International Version
In the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.

New Living Translation
“God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.

English Standard Version
The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

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

Berean Literal Bible
So indeed God, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now commands all men everywhere to repent,

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

New King James Version
Truly, these times of ignorance God overlooked, but now commands all men everywhere to repent,

New American Standard Bible
So having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now proclaiming to mankind that all people everywhere are to repent,

NASB 1995
“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all people everywhere should repent,

NASB 1977
“Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men that all everywhere should repent,

Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now commanding men that everyone everywhere should repent,

Amplified Bible
Therefore God overlooked and disregarded the former ages of ignorance; but now He commands all people everywhere to repent [that is, to change their old way of thinking, to regret their past sins, and to seek God’s purpose for their lives],

Christian Standard Bible
“Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God now commands all people everywhere to repent,

American Standard Version
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
“For God has banished the times of deception, and at this time he commands all the children of men: 'Everyone in every place shall return to God.'”

Contemporary English Version
In the past, God forgave all this because people did not know what they were doing. But now he says that everyone everywhere must turn to him.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And God indeed having winked at the times of this ignorance, now declareth unto men, that all should every where do penance.

English Revised Version
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked; but now he commandeth men that they should all everywhere repent:

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"God overlooked the times when people didn't know any better. But now he commands everyone everywhere to turn to him and change the way they think and act.

Good News Translation
God has overlooked the times when people did not know him, but now he commands all of them everywhere to turn away from their evil ways.

International Standard Version
Though God has overlooked those times of ignorance, he now commands everyone everywhere to repent,

Literal Standard Version
therefore indeed God, having overlooked the times of ignorance, now commands all men everywhere to convert,

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

New American Bible
God has overlooked the times of ignorance, but now he demands that all people everywhere repent

NET Bible
Therefore, although God has overlooked such times of ignorance, he now commands all people everywhere to repent,

New Revised Standard Version
While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent,

New Heart English Bible
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,

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

Weymouth New Testament
Those times of ignorance God viewed with indulgence. But now He commands all men everywhere to repent,

World English Bible
The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked. But now he commands that all people everywhere should repent,

Young's Literal Translation
the times, indeed, therefore, of the ignorance God having overlooked, doth now command all men everywhere to reform,

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
Paul Before the Areopagus
29Therefore, 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. 30 Although God overlooked the ignorance of earlier times, He now commands all people everywhere to repent. 31For He has set a day when He will judge the world with justice by the Man He has appointed. He has given proof of this to everyone by raising Him from the dead.”…

Cross References
Luke 24:47
and in His name repentance and forgiveness of sins will be proclaimed to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.

Acts 14:16
In past generations, He let all nations go their own way.

Acts 17:23
For as I walked around and examined your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD. Therefore what you worship as something unknown, I now proclaim to you.

Acts 26:20
First to those in Damascus and Jerusalem, then to everyone in the region of Judea, and then to the Gentiles, I declared that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds worthy of their repentance.

Romans 3:25
God presented Him as the atoning sacrifice through faith in His blood, in order to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance He had passed over the sins committed beforehand.

Ephesians 4:18
They are darkened in their understanding and alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them due to the hardness of their hearts.

Titus 2:11
For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.


Treasury of Scripture

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

the times.

Acts 14:16
Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways.

Psalm 50:21
These things hast thou done, and I kept silence; thou thoughtest that I was altogether such an one as thyself: but I will reprove thee, and set them in order before thine eyes.

Romans 1:28
And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

but.

Acts 3:19
Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord;

Acts 11:18
When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Acts 20:21
Testifying both to the Jews, and also to the Greeks, repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.

Jump to Previous
Change Command Commandeth Commands Declaring Everywhere Gives Ignorance Indeed Indulgence Orders Overlooked Past Reform Repent Times Undergo Viewed
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Change Command Commandeth Commands Declaring Everywhere Gives Ignorance Indeed Indulgence Orders Overlooked Past Reform Repent Times Undergo Viewed
Acts 17
1. Paul preaches at Thessalonica, where some believe,
5. and others persecute him.
10. He is sent to Berea, and preaches there.
13. Being persecuted by Jews from Thessalonica,
16. he comes to Athens, and disputes and preaches the living God, to them unknown;
32. whereby, though some mock, many are converted unto Christ.














(30) And the times of this ignorance God winked at.--Better, perhaps, overlooked, the English phrase, though vivid, being somewhat too familiar, and suggesting; strictly taken, not merely tolerance, but connivance and concurrence. The thought is one in which St. Paul manifestly found comfort. He sees in that ignorance a mitigation of the guilt, and therefore of the punishment due to the heathen world. The past history of the world had shown a praetermission of the sins, for which, on the condition of repentance, men were now offered a full remission. (See Note on Romans 3:25.) In thus teaching he was reproducing what our Lord had taught as to the servant who "knew not his Lord's will," and should therefore be beaten, but with "few stripes." (See Note on Luke 12:48.)

And now commandeth all men every where to repent.--At this point the feelings of both Stoics and Epicureans would almost inevitably undergo a change. The latter might regret the mistakes he had made in his search after the maximum of enjoyment, but a change such as the Greek for "repentance" implied--new aims and purposes, loathing of the past and efforts for the future--was altogether alien to his thoughts. From the Stoics, as measured by Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, better things might perhaps have been expected, but the doctrine of Necessity, which entered largely into popular Stoicism, blunted their sense of responsibility. They accepted the consequences of their actions with a serene apathy; for the most part, they gave thanks, as the philosophic Emperor did, that they were not as other men, and that the events of their life had led them to an ethical completeness; but the idea of abhorring themselves, and repenting in dust and ashes, had not as yet dawned on the Stoic's thoughts. (Meditt. i. 1-16.)

Verse 30. - The times of ignorance therefore God overlooked for and the times of this ignorance God winked at, A.V.; he commandeth for commandeth, A.V.; men for all men, A.V.; that they should all everywhere repent for everywhere to repent, A.V. and T.R. The times of ignorance; perhaps with reference to ver. 23, and also implying that all the idolatry, of which he had spoken in ver. 29, arose from ignorance. God overlooked; or, as it is idiomatically expressed in the A.V., winked at; made as if he did not see it; "kept silence," as it is said in Psalm 50:21; made no move to punish it. That they should all everywhere. The gospel is for the whole world- "Their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world" (Romans 10:18); "Preach the gospel to every creature" (Mark 16:15). Repent. The key-note of the gospel (Matthew 3:2; Matthew 4:17; Acts 20:21).

Parallel Commentaries ...


Greek
Although
μὲν (men)
Particle
Strong's 3303: A primary particle; properly, indicative of affirmation or concession; usually followed by a contrasted clause with de.

God
Θεὸς (Theos)
Noun - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 2316: A deity, especially the supreme Divinity; figuratively, a magistrate; by Hebraism, very.

overlooked
ὑπεριδὼν (hyperidōn)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5237: To overlook, take no notice of, disregard. From huper and eido; to overlook, i.e. Not punish.

the
τῆς (tēs)
Article - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

ignorance
ἀγνοίας (agnoias)
Noun - Genitive Feminine Singular
Strong's 52: Ignorance, inadvertence, sometimes with the idea of willful blindness. From agnoeo; ignorance.

of
Τοὺς (Tous)
Article - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3588: The, the definite article. Including the feminine he, and the neuter to in all their inflections; the definite article; the.

[earlier] times,
χρόνους (chronous)
Noun - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 5550: A space of time or interval; by extension, an individual opportunity; by implication, delay.

He now commands
παραγγέλλει (parangellei)
Verb - Present Indicative Active - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 3853: To notify, command, charge, entreat solemnly. From para and the base of aggelos; to transmit a message, i.e. to enjoin.

all
πάντας (pantas)
Adjective - Accusative Masculine Plural
Strong's 3956: All, the whole, every kind of. Including all the forms of declension; apparently a primary word; all, any, every, the whole.

men
ἀνθρώποις (anthrōpois)
Noun - Dative Masculine Plural
Strong's 444: A man, one of the human race. From aner and ops; man-faced, i.e. A human being.

everywhere
πανταχοῦ (pantachou)
Adverb
Strong's 3837: Everywhere, in all places. Genitive case of a presumed derivative of pas; universally.

to repent.
μετανοεῖν (metanoein)
Verb - Present Infinitive Active
Strong's 3340: From meta and noieo; to think differently or afterwards, i.e. Reconsider.


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