Acts 17 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

Thessalonica — three sabbaths of reasoning, and the world turned upside down 17:1–9

vv. 1–4 — the synagogue argument: the Messiah must suffer and rise

Now traveling through Amphipolis and Apollonia,participial — preposed itinerary participle — leans on ἦλθον; the Via Egnatia stages

they came to Thessalonica,independent — the leading city of Macedonia

where there was a synagogue of the Jews.relative — the ὅπου-note that explains the stop — Paul's point of entry

And according to Paul's customphrase modifier — fronted norm-phrase — leans on εἰσῆλθεν; the synagogue-first pattern (13:5, 14; 14:1)

he went in to them,independent — the habit enacted

and for three sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,independent — διελέξατο — Paul's verb of synagogue apologetics (18:4, 19; 19:8)

opening them up and setting forthparticipial — διανοίγων — the Emmaus verb of opened Scriptures (Luke 24:32, 45); παρατίθημι, evidence set out

that the Christ had to suffer and to rise from the dead,content — ἔδει — the Lukan divine necessity (Luke 24:26, 46); the two-part kerygma

and that 'this is the Christ — Jesus,content — the identification — the argument's climax slides into direct address

whom I proclaim to you.'relative — emphatic ἐγώ — the preacher steps into his own report

And some of them were persuadedindependent — the passive ἐπείσθησαν — the word does the persuading

and were joined to Paul and Silas,independent — προσκληρόω — 'cast in their lot with,' a NT hapax

as did a great multitude of the devout Greeksphrase modifier — the God-fearers — the synagogue's Gentile fringe, the mission's readiest hearers

and not a few of the leading women.phrase modifier — litotes οὐκ ὀλίγαι — Macedonian women of standing (cf. v. 12; 16:14)

vv. 5–9 — the jealous mob, Jason's house, and the ἕτερον-βασιλέα charge

But the Jews, growing jealous, and taking to themselves some wicked men of the marketplace rabble, and forming a mob,participial — triple preposed participle — jealousy, recruitment, mob-making pile up before the verb strikes; leans on ἐθορύβουν

began throwing the city into an uproar,independent — imperfect — the riot in progress

and storming the house of Jason,participial — preposed — leans on ἐζήτουν; the house-church as target

they were seeking to bring them out to the assembly.independent — frustrated imperfect — the search that fails

And not finding them,participial — preposed — the failed search shifts the target to Jason; leans on ἔσυρον

they dragged Jason and some brothers before the politarchs,independent — πολιτάρχας — the epigraphically confirmed Thessalonian title; Luke's local accuracy

crying out:participial — manner participle with recitative ὅτι — the mob's charge follows

'These who have turned the world upside down are present here too,content — ἀναστατώσαντες — the world-upside-down charge; hostile hyperbole Luke lets stand as unwitting tribute

whom Jason has welcomed;relative — perfect ὑποδέδεκται — the hospitality still in force; count one: harboring

and these all act against the decrees of Caesar,content — count two: sedition — the political nerve of the accusation

saying there is another king — Jesus.'participial — the ἕτερον-βασιλέα count — the charge against Jesus himself replayed (Luke 23:2; John 19:12); Ἰησοῦν held to last

And they troubled the crowd and the politarchs hearing these things,independent — the charge lands — an official crisis for a free city

and taking security from Jason and the rest,participial — τὸ ἱκανόν — the technical bail-bond phrase; leans on ἀπέλυσαν

they released them.independent — measured justice — the politarchs act by legal convention, not mob demand

Beroea — the nobler hearers 17:10–15

vv. 10–12 — received with eagerness, examined daily

But the brothers immediately sent both Paul and Silas away by night to Beroea,independent — διὰ νυκτός — the escape-by-night motif (9:25)

who on arriving went off into the synagogue of the Jews.relative — qualitative οἵτινες — the pattern holds: synagogue first, even in flight

Now these were nobler than those in Thessalonica,independent — εὐγενέστεροι — birth-nobility transposed to nobility of mind; Luke's explicit comparison

who received the word with all eagerness,relative — mark one of nobility — eager reception

examining the Scriptures dailyparticipial — mark two — ἀνακρίνοντες, quasi-judicial scrutiny; daily, not just sabbaths

to see whether these things were so.content — indirect question with the rare literary optative ἔχοι

Many of them, then, believed,independent — μὲν οὖν — Luke's summary particle: examination issued in faith

and of the prominent Greek women and men not a few.phrase modifier — the litotes again (v. 4) — the Beroean mirror of the Thessalonian harvest

vv. 13–15 — pursued to Beroea, escorted to Athens

But when the Jews from Thessalonica learnedconditional — temporal ὡς (typed cnd; no temporal key) — leans forward on ἦλθον

that in Beroea also the word of God had been proclaimed by Paul,content — mission intelligence — the same καταγγέλλω of v. 3

they came there too,independent — the pursuit — harassment across city lines (cf. 14:19)

shaking up and troubling the crowds.participial — the double agitation participle — the Thessalonian playbook re-run

Then the brothers immediately sent Paul offindependent — εὐθέως τότε — the urgent double time-marker; Paul the lightning-rod removed

to go as far as the sea;purpose — purpose infinitive — the coastward route to Athens

and both Silas and Timothy remained there.independent — the team divides — the new church keeps its teachers

And those escorting Paul brought him as far as Athens,independent — the escort — into the intellectual capital of the Greek world

and receiving a command for Silas and Timothyparticipial — preposed — leans on ἐξῄεσαν

that they should come to him as quickly as possible,content — content of the ἐντολή — sets up 18:5

they departed.independent — the escort turns home — Paul is alone in Athens

Athens — the provoked spirit and the curious philosophers 17:16–21

vv. 16–17 — the idol-full city and the double venue

Now in Athens, while Paul was waiting for them,participial — genitive absolute — forward-leaning; the waiting frame

his spirit was being provoked within himindependent — παρωξύνετο — the LXX verb of provoked indignation at idolatry

as he beheld the city being full of idols.participial — κατείδωλον — 'idol-saturated,' a NT hapax; the sight that fathers the speech

So he was reasoning in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearers,independent — the provocation acts — the same διαλέγομαι as Thessalonica (v. 2)

and in the marketplace every day with whoever happened to be there.phrase modifier — the second venue, verb carried over — Socrates' own ground, and Socrates' method

vv. 18–21 — Epicureans, Stoics, and the passion for the newest thing

And some also of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers kept engaging him,independent — the two schools — gods uninvolved (Epicurus) or immanent reason (the Stoa); both named only here in the NT

and some were saying:independent — the first verdict — iterative imperfect

'What would this seed-picker wish to say?'content — σπερμολόγος — the crux word: 'seed-picker,' Athenian slang for a scavenger of second-hand ideas; potential optative of polite contempt

but others:independent — elliptical foil — the second verdict, verb of saying suppressed

'He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities' —content — the ξένων-δαιμονίων guess — the charge that felled Socrates (Plato, Apol. 24b); δαιμόνια in the Greek sense, deities

because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.cause — narrator's gloss — 'Jesus and Anastasis' perhaps heard as a divine pair

And taking hold of him,participial — preposed — arrest or courteous conduct, left open; leans on ἤγαγον

they brought him to the Areopagus,independent — the Areopagus — council or hill, the venue-crux left open

saying:participial — the speech-frame for the inquiry

'May we knowcontent — the polite Athenian inquiry — not a formal charge

what this new teaching is that is being spoken by you?content — verbless indirect question — καινή, the word that betrays them (v. 21)

For you are bringing some startling things to our ears;cause — the reason for the hearing — ξενίζοντα echoes the ξένων of their own guess

we wish, then, to knowcontent — the request restated — genuine curiosity

what these things mean.'content — idiomatic θέλει εἶναι — 'what these things want to be'

Now all the Athenians and the resident foreigners had leisure for nothing else than telling or hearing something newer.independent — the narrator's aside — Luke's dry ethnography; comparative καινότερον, 'the latest thing'

The Areopagus address — the unknown God made known 17:22–31

v. 22a — the frame: the orator's stance

So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus,participial — σταθείς — the formal speech-stance (2:14); leans on ἔφη

said:independent — φημί — the authoritative speech-frame; everything to v. 31 hangs here

vv. 22b–23 — the opening: your own altar to the unknown god

'Men of Athens, in every respect I observe you as very religious.content — δεισιδαιμονεστέρους — 'very religious' or 'rather superstitious,' the calculated ambiguity left open

For passing through and looking over your objects of worship,participial — preposed pair — the evidence-gathering walk; leans on εὗρον

I found even an altarcontent — the exhibit produced

on which stood inscribed: TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.relative — pluperfect ἐπεγέγραπτο — the inscription standing; such altars attested (Pausanias 1.1.4); the speech's fulcrum

What therefore you worship without knowing,relative — fronted headless relative — leans forward on the resumptive τοῦτο below; ἀγνοοῦντες puns on ΑΓΝΩΣΤΩ

this I proclaim to you.content — emphatic ἐγώ — herald, not philosopher; the missionary verb καταγγέλλω

vv. 24–25 — the creator who needs nothing

The God who made the world and everything in it —content — suspended subject, resumed by οὗτος — Gen 1 and Isa 42:5 behind the Greek κόσμος

he, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in hand-made temples,content — χειροποιήτοις — Stephen's word (7:48), said within sight of the Parthenon

nor is he served by human handscontent — the second negation — cult as if God were a dependent

as though needing anything,participial — προσδεόμενος — a NT hapax: God has no further need; the axiom Epicurean and Stoic could both applaud

since he himself gives to all life and breath and everything;participial — the direction reversed — the giver, not the receiver; πνοή echoes Gen 2:7

vv. 26–27 — from one, the nations — made to seek the God who is not far

and he made from one every nation of mankind to dwell on all the face of the earth,content — ἐξ ἑνός — the short reading (NA28) against Byzantine ἐξ ἑνὸς αἵματος; Adam implied: one ancestry levels Athenian and barbarian

having determined their appointed seasons and the boundaries of their dwelling,participial — ὁρίσας — providence over epochs and borders (Deut 32:8); ὁροθεσία a NT hapax

that they should seek God,purpose — the purpose infinitive — history and geography aimed at the search

if perhaps they might grope for him and find him —conditional — εἰ + double optative — the cautious possibility; ψηλαφάω, the blind man's fumbling touch

though indeed he is not far from each one of us.participial — concessive — the irony: the groped-for God is near; ἡμῶν includes the speaker

v. 28 — the poets' witness

for in him we live and move and have our being,cause — the nearness grounded — attributed to Epimenides (Cretica); the triad of life, motion, being

as even some of the poets among you have said:comparative — the citation formula — pagan poets as common-ground witnesses, not Scripture

'For we are indeed his offspring.'content — Aratus, Phaenomena 5 (cf. Cleanthes' Hymn to Zeus) — Zeus's line re-addressed to the Creator; the chapter's deepest nest

v. 29 — the inference against the images

Being then God's offspring,participial — the poets' word taken up as premise — preposed causal; leans on ὀφείλομεν

we ought not to thinkcontent — the deontic conclusion — a moral and logical debt

that the divine is like gold or silver or stone, an image of human art and imagination.content — the reductio — offspring cannot be imaged by the parent's inferiors; Isa 40:18–20 in Greek dress; τὸ θεῖον, their own philosophical term

vv. 30–31 — ignorance overlooked; now: repent, for the day is fixed

The times of ignorance, then, God having overlooked,participial — ὑπεριδών — tolerated, not approved (cf. Rom 3:25); ἄγνοια closes the ring with ΑΓΝΩΣΤΩ; leans on παραγγέλλει

now he commands mankindcontent — τὰ νῦν — the eschatological present; command, not counsel

that all everywhere should repent,content — the double universal πάντας πανταχοῦ — the speech's single demand

because he has fixed a daycause — the ground of the command — a day already standing fixed

on which he is about to judge the world in righteousness by a manrelative — Ps 9:8; 96:13 — the οἰκουμένη of the mob's charge (v. 6) now under judgment; the man left unnamed

whom he appointed,relative — ὥρισεν — the ὁρίζω of v. 26: the God who fixed the seasons has fixed the judge

having provided proof to allparticipial — πίστις as pledge/proof (BDAG 3c), not saving faith — the resurrection as public credential

by raising him from the dead.participial — the raised-man pledge — the word ἀναστήσας that detonates the audience (v. 32)

The response — mockery, deferral, and faith 17:32–34

But hearing of a resurrection of the dead,participial — preposed — the fault-line word; leans on ἐχλεύαζον

some began to mock,independent — imperfect — the ongoing jeer; to Epicurean and Stoic alike, bodily resurrection is absurd

but others said:independent — the μέν … δέ divide — the second, politer party

'We will hear you about this again.'content — the ἀκουσόμεθά-σου-πάλιν deferral — postponement, not refusal

So Paul went out from their midst.independent — the quiet exit — no riot, no verdict; Lukan understatement

But some men, joining him, believed,independent — κολληθέντες — glued to him (cf. 5:13); the third response

among whom were both Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.relative — verbless roll — a council member and a woman otherwise unknown to history; the seed of the Athenian church

Analysis. Acts 17 is three cities and one speech, and the layout changes shape when the speech begins. The narrative panels run Luke's travel prose flush left — coordinate main clauses loaded by preposed, anchor-less aorist participles that lean on the verb below (Διοδεύσαντες, the triple Ζηλώσαντες–προσλαβόμενοι–ὀχλοποιήσαντες chain that piles up the mob before ἐθορύβουν strikes, μὴ εὑρόντες, Ἀκούσαντες) — while speech hangs blue beneath its verbs: the mob's two-count charge under βοῶντες climaxing in 'another king, Jesus'; the philosophers' two verdicts under ἔλεγον and the elliptical οἱ δέ (σπερμολόγος, the 'seed-picker' sneer, its colloquial force tagged; the ξένων-δαιμονίων guess that echoes the indictment of Socrates); and Luke's own two narrator's asides flagged as such (the ὅτι-gloss of v. 18, the all-Athens ethnography of v. 21). The Beroean panel chains the marks of nobility — received the word, examining daily, whether these things were so — down four depths. Then vv. 22–31: one continuous address hanging as a cnt catena at constant depth beneath the two-line frame Σταθεὶς… ἔφη, its movements labeled — the unknown-god opening (with the fronted headless relative ὃ οὖν ἀγνοοῦντες εὐσεβεῖτε leaning forward on its resumptive τοῦτο), the creator who needs nothing, the one-from-one nations with their appointed seasons (ἐξ ἑνός printed short with NA28 against the Byzantine ἐξ ἑνὸς αἵματος), the seek-and-find purpose with its double optative and the not-far ground, the poets' witness (the ζῶμεν-triad tagged to Epimenides, τοῦ γὰρ καὶ γένος ἐσμέν to Aratus, Phaenomena 5 — the chapter's deepest nest, depth 7), the ignorance-overlooked-now-repent turn, and the fixed day with the raised man as πίστις — 'proof,' not saving faith, the tag says so. Cruxes the layout names and leaves open: δεισιδαιμονεστέρους as compliment ('very religious') or barb ('rather superstitious'); the Areopagus as council or hill; and the division of vv. 32–34, where the one word ἀναστήσας detonates into mockery, the ἀκουσόμεθά-σου-πάλιν deferral, and the small named harvest of Dionysius and Damaris.