For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.”
Parallel Translations
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For you bring certain strange things to our ears. We want to know therefore what these things mean.”
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For thou bringest straunge tydynges to oure eares. We wolde knowe therfore what these thinges meane.
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For thou bringest certaine strange thinges vnto our eares: we woulde knowe therefore, what these things meane.
Cross-references (13)
Passages linked to Acts 17:20 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Hosea 8:12 I wrote for him the many things of my law; but they were regarded as a strange thing.
- 1 Corinthians 1:23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews, and foolishness to Greeks,
- 1 Corinthians 2:14 Now the natural man doesn’t receive the things of God’s Spirit, for they are foolishness to him, and he can’t know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
- 1 Corinthians 1:18 For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are dying, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
- 1 Peter 4:4 They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, blaspheming.
- Matthew 19:23-25 Jesus said to his disciples, “Most certainly I say to you, a rich man will enter into the Kingdom of Heaven with difficulty. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye, than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” When the disciples heard it, they were exceedingly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?”
- Mark 9:10 They kept this saying to themselves, questioning what the “rising from the dead” meant.
- Mark 10:24-26 The disciples were amazed at his words. But Jesus answered again, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter into God’s Kingdom! It is easier for a camel to go through a needle’s eye than for a rich man to enter into God’s Kingdom.” They were exceedingly astonished, saying to him, “Then who can be saved?”
- John 6:60 Therefore many of his disciples, when they heard this, said, “This is a hard saying! Who can listen to it?”
- John 7:35-36 The Jews therefore said among themselves, “Where will this man go that we won’t find him? Will he go to the Dispersion among the Greeks, and teach the Greeks? What is this word that he said, ‘You will seek me, and won’t find me;’ and ‘Where I am, you can’t come’?”
- Acts 2:12 They were all amazed, and were perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”
- Acts 10:17 Now while Peter was very perplexed in himself what the vision which he had seen might mean, behold, the men who were sent by Cornelius, having made inquiry for Simon’s house, stood before the gate,
- Hebrews 5:11 About him we have many words to say, and hard to interpret, seeing you have become dull of hearing.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (10 sources)
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John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our…
20 For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears: we would know therefore what these things mean.
Ver. 20. For thou bringest certain strange things] Or, new, never heard of, ξενιζοντα. Yet now so new neither as they thought for; see Rom 11:2-4; Rom 16:25-26. Papists upbraid us with the novelty of our religion, and ask us where it was till Luther’s time? We answer (as one once did), "In the Bible, where their religion never was." See Catalog. Test. verit., and Mr Bernard’s Look beyond Luther, Dr Featlie’s Conference with Fisher, &c. They boast much of antiquity, as once the Gibeonites did of old shoes and mouldy bread. We refer them to Alex. Cook’s Abatement of Popish Brags, and Guild’s Popish Boasting of Antiquity; besides abundance of other good authors.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain The greatest objection which these men had against the…
The greatest objection which these men had against the gospel was, that it was strange and new. That it is not new was apparent, it having been in the Old Testament (as the ripe fruit is in the blossom) so long ago; and their own superstitions were but so many apish imitations of God’s worship. And if these things were strange unto them, they might thank themselves, who had not made due inquiring after them; and had, by their not improving the light of nature, provoked God to withhold further manifestations unto them, Rom 1:24,28.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears,....…
For thou bringest certain strange things to our ears,.... Strange doctrines and strange deities, such as they had never heard of before:
we would know therefore what these things mean; they desire he would explain these things to them, and let them know the rise, and ground, and nature, and end, and design of them.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 20. Thou bringest - strange things to our…
Verse 20. Thou bringest - strange things to our ears] The doctrine of the apostles was different from any they had ever heard: it was wholly spiritual and divine; thus it was strange: it was contrary to their customs and manners; and thus it was strange also. As it spoke much of the exaltation and glory of Jesus Christ, they supposed him to be a setter forth of strange gods: and, therefore, on the authority of the laws, which forbade the introduction of any new deities, or modes of worship, he was called before the Areopagus.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain Certain strange things - Literally, something pertaining to a…
Certain strange things - Literally, something pertaining to a foreign country or people. Here it means something unusual or remarkable - something different from what they had been accustomed to hear from their philosophers.
What these things mean - We would understand more clearly what is affirmed respecting Jesus and the resurrection.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 20. Strange things—A new form of religion from the…
20. Strange things—A new form of religion from the East! Something from Syria that even the Jews of Athens do not recognise!
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 20. strange things] The original is not an adjective,…
20. strange things] The original is not an adjective, but a participle, and signifies “something which strikes a person as strange.” So that the effect is indicated which had been produced on the minds of the hearers. The words had filled them with surprise. In the middle voice the word is found 1Pe_4:4; 1Pe_4:12 = “to think anything strange.”
what these things mean] See above on Act_17:18.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (20) Thou bringest certain strange things.—The adjective stands for…
(20) Thou bringest certain strange things.—The adjective stands for a Greek participle, things that startle, or leave an impression of strangeness.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Strange things. Xenizein, in this use of it, means…
Strange things. Xenizein, in this use of it, means to act or play the foreigner, to imitate the manners and language and appearance of a foreigner (xenov), just as jIoudaizein jEllhnizein Attikizein, etc., mean to Judaize, Hellenize, Atticize, etc. Here, then, the Athenians say that St. Paul"s doctrines have a foreign air, do not lock like native Athenian speculations.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 19
See notes on verse 19
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.