Acts 14:15 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Acts 14:15
And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:
to make or do (in a very wide application · verb — aorist active indicative, 3rd person singular
heaven
οὐρανὸνouranon
G3772
the sky · noun — accusative singular masculine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
earth
γῆνgēn
G1093
soil · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
sea
θάλασσανthalassan
G2281
the sea (genitive case or specially) · noun — accusative singular feminine
and
καὶkai
G2532
and · conjunction
things
πάνταpanta
G3956
all · adjective — accusative plural neuter
therein
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
1 Samuel 12:21 And turn ye not aside: for then should ye go after vain things, which cannot profit nor deliver; for they are vain.
Psalms 146:5-6 Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the LORD his God:
Acts 10:26 But Peter took him up, saying, Stand up; I myself also am a man.
1 Corinthians 8:4 As concerning therefore the eating of those things that are offered in sacrifice unto idols, we know that an idol is nothing in the world, a…
James 5:17 Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the sp…
Revelation 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth…
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
Jeremiah 14:22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? ther…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 14:8-18
In these verses we have,
I. A miraculous cure wrought by Paul at Lystra upon a cripple that had been lame from his birth, such a one as was miraculously cured by Peter and John, Act 3:2. That introduced the gospel among the Jews, this among the Gentiles; both that and this were designed to represent the impotency of all the children of men in spiritual things: they are lame from their birth, till the grace of God puts strength into them; for it was when we were yet without strength that Christ died for the ungodly, Rom 5:6. Observe here, 1. The deplorable case of the poor cripple (Act 14:8): He was impotent in his feet, disabled (so the word is) to such a degree that it was impossible he sho…
We . . . are men of like passions, &c.--How unlike either imposture or enthusiasm is this, and how high above all self-seeking do these men of Christ show themselves to be!
unto the living God--This is the most glorious and distinctive of all the names of God. It is the familiar phraseology of the Old Testament. which, in such contrast with all that is to be found within the literature of heathenism, is shown to be, with its sequel, the New Testament, the one Book of the true religion.
who made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all . . . therein--This idea of creation, utterly unknown alike to rude and to cultivated heathenism, would not only define what was meant by "the living God,"…
We also are men of like passions with you - This saying of the apostles has been most strangely perverted. A pious commentator, taking the word passion in its vulgar and most improper sense, (a bad temper, an evil propensity), and supposing that these holy men wished to confess that they also had many sinful infirmities, and wrong tempers, endeavors to illustrate this sense of the word, by appealing to the contention of Paul and Barnabas, etc., etc. But the expression means no more than, "we are truly human beings, with the same powers and appetites as your own; need food and raiment as you do; and are all mortal like yourselves."
That ye should turn from these vanities - That is, from these…
The Church Fathers
We find a reason for some illnesses in the saints, such as in the apostle, for, lest he appear to go beyond the bounds of nature and lest anyone consider him to possess, in his nature, something greater and more excellent than is fitting—which was the case among the Lycaonians, who offered him crowns and bulls—he was struck with illness in order to show his nature was human.
Since there is no exception which defends from liability to penalty even such as are ignorant of the Lord-because ignorance of God, openly as He is set before men, and comprehensible as He is even on the score of His heavenly benefits, is not possible -how perilous is it for Him to be despised when known? Now, that man does despise Him, who, after attaining by His help to an understanding of things good and evil, often an affront to his own understanding-that is, to God's gift-by resuming what he understands ought to be shunned, and what he has already shunned: he rejects the Giver in abandoning the gift; he denies the Benefactor in not honouring the benefit.
For to offer a son or a daughter or cattle or an estate — all this is outside of us; but to offer oneself to God, and to please him not by another's labor but by one's own, this is more perfect and more excellent than all vows; and he who does this is an imitator of Christ. For he gave to man the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; he gave them for his service, and he granted heaven, the sun also and the moon and the stars, to the ministry of men; rains, winds, and all whatsoever is in the world, he bestowed upon men. But after all these things he gave himself; for thus God loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son for the life of this world. What great thing therefore will man do if he offers himself to God, to whom God himself first offered himself?
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Barnabas · General references — General references
Homage · Paul and Barnabas — Paul and Barnabas
Idolatry · Exhortations to turn from — Exhortations to turn from
Lycaonia · Paul visits towns of — Paul visits towns of
Lystra · from persecutions in Iconium — from persecutions in Iconium
Repentance · What it is — What it is
Sea, The · God: Created — God: Created
Worship · 4:10; — 4:10;
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things?.... That is, bring these oxen and garlands, and attempt to offer sacrifice; this they said, not as arguing with them calmly and mildly, but with a mixture of indignation, heat, and zeal, as displeased with, and detesting and abhorring what they were about to do:
we also are men of like passions with you; men, and not gods; of the same human nature, and that as corrupted, alike sinful men, and need a sacrifice better than these; frail mortal men, subject to frailty, imperfection, afflictions, troubles, diseases, and death itself; and so very improper objects of worship:
and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities; from these deities,…
Acts 14:14-18
14. Furthermore, when the apostles, Barnabas and Saul, had heard, rending their garments, they ran in into the, press, crying, 15. And saying, Men, why do ye these things? We be also men subject to like miseries as you are, preaching to you that you turn from those vain things unto the living God, who hath made heaven and earth, and the sea, and whatsoever are in them: 16. Who in times, past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways, 17. Though he left not himself without witness, doing good, giving to us from heaven rain and fruitful times, replenishing with food and gladness our hearts. 18. And when they had thus said, they scarce appeased the multitude, that they shoul…
The apostles opposed the people’s idolatry and their attempt to offer sacrifices to them. They directed the people’s worship to the living God; the apostles were his representatives as they brought the Good News of the Christian message.
