The Meaning of Acts 17:34 Explained

Acts 17:34

KJV: Howbeit certain men clave unto him, and believed: among the which was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

YLT: and certain men having cleaved to him, did believe, among whom is also Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman, by name Damaris, and others with them.

Darby: But some men joining themselves to him believed; among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman by name Damaris, and others with them.

ASV: But certain men clave unto him, and believed: among whom also was Dionysius the Areopagite, and a woman named Damaris, and others with them.

KJV Reverse Interlinear

Howbeit  certain  men  clave  unto him,  and believed:  among  the which  [was] Dionysius  the Areopagite,  and  a woman  named  Damaris,  and  others  with  them. 

What does Acts 17:34 Mean?

Context Summary

Acts 17:22-34 - The One Living And True God
The gospel preacher must avail himself of any circumstance in his surroundings that will enable him to arrest the attention of his audience. He must meet them where they are and take them with him to realms of thought with which they are not familiar. Paul was wise to begin with that altar to the unknown god.
Around them stood the most exquisite temples ever reared by human genius, but these were not the home of God. He seeks the lowly and contrite heart, not of the Jew alone, but wherever man is found, and on whatever intellectual plane. Men, the world over, are brothers-"he hath made of one blood all nations." The arrangements of divine providence have been contrived to lead men to God. If they feel after Him with reverence and true desire, He will be found of them. All men are His offspring, but only those who receive the Son of God into their hearts become really sons. Repentance is the act of the will, and therefore it may be commanded. God can overlook much that is hurtful and evil, because He loves the world and deals with men according to their light; and we may rejoice therefore that He will judge mankind by "the Man." [source]

Chapter Summary: 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

Greek Commentary for Acts 17:34

Clave unto him and believed [κολλητεντες αυτωι επιστευσαν]
First aorist passive of this strong word κολλαω — kollaō to glue to, common in Acts (Acts 5:13; Acts 8:29; Acts 9:26; Acts 10:28) No sermon is a failure which leads a group of men (ανδρες — andres) to believe (ingressive aorist of πιστευω — pisteuō) in Jesus Christ. Many so-called great or grand sermons reap no such harvest. [source]
Dionysius the Areopagite [Διονυσιος ο Αρεοπαγιτης]
One of the judges of the Court of the Areopagus. That of itself was no small victory. He was one of this college of twelve judges who had helped to make Athens famous. Eusebius says that he became afterwards bishop of the Church at Athens and died a martyr. A woman named Damaris (γυνη ονοματι Δαμαρις — gunē onomati Damaris). A woman by name Damaris. Not the wife of Dionysius as some have thought, but an aristocratic woman, not necessarily an educated courtezan as Furneaux holds. And there were “others” (ετεροι — heteroi) with them, a group strong enough to keep the fire burning in Athens. It is common to say that Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 alludes to his failure with philosophy in Athens when he failed to preach Christ crucified and he determined never to make that mistake again. On the other hand Paul determined to stick to the Cross of Christ in spite of the fact that the intellectual pride and superficial culture of Athens had prevented the largest success. As he faced Corinth with its veneer of culture and imitation of philosophy and sudden wealth he would go on with the same gospel of the Cross, the only gospel that Paul knew or preached. And it was a great thing to give the world a sermon like that preached in Athens. [source]
A woman named Damaris [γυνη ονοματι Δαμαρις]
A woman by name Damaris. Not the wife of Dionysius as some have thought, but an aristocratic woman, not necessarily an educated courtezan as Furneaux holds. And there were “others” (ετεροι — heteroi) with them, a group strong enough to keep the fire burning in Athens. It is common to say that Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 alludes to his failure with philosophy in Athens when he failed to preach Christ crucified and he determined never to make that mistake again. On the other hand Paul determined to stick to the Cross of Christ in spite of the fact that the intellectual pride and superficial culture of Athens had prevented the largest success. As he faced Corinth with its veneer of culture and imitation of philosophy and sudden wealth he would go on with the same gospel of the Cross, the only gospel that Paul knew or preached. And it was a great thing to give the world a sermon like that preached in Athens. [source]
Clave []
See on Luke 10:11; and Luke 15:15; and Acts 5:13. [source]
The Areopagite []
One of the judges of the court of Areopagus. Of this court Curtius remarks: “Here, instead of a single judge, a college of twelve men of proved integrity conducted the trial. If the accused had an equal number of votes for and against him, he was acquitted. The Court on the hill of Ares is one of the most ancient institutions of Athens, and none achieved for the city an earlier or more widely spread recognition. The Areopagitic penal code was adopted as a norm by all subsequent legislators” (“History of Greece,” i., 307). [source]

Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 17:34

Acts 5:13 Join [κολλασται]
Present middle infinitive of κολλαω — kollaō old verb to cleave to like glue as in Luke 15:15 which see. Seven times in Acts (Acts 9:26; Acts 10:28; Acts 17:34). The outsiders (the rest) preferred, many of them, to remain outside for the present, especially the rulers. Howbeit the people (αλλο λαος — all'̇̇ho laos). Probably individuals among the people, the populace as distinct from the rulers and hostile outsiders. [source]
Romans 12:9 Cleave [κολλώμενοι]
See on joined himself, Luke 15:15. Compare Acts 17:34; 1 Corinthians 6:16. [source]
2 Corinthians 1:1 In all Achaia [εν οληι τηι Αχαιαι]
The Romans divided Greece into two provinces (Achaia and Macedonia). Macedonia included also Illyricum, Epirus, and Thessaly. Achaia was all of Greece south of this (both Attica and the Peloponnesus). The restored Corinth was made the capital of Achaia where the pro-consul resided (Acts 18:12). He does not mention other churches in Achaia outside of the one in Corinth, but only “saints” Athens was in Achaia, but it is not clear that there was as yet a church there, though some converts had been won (Acts 17:34), and there was a church in Cenchreae, the eastern port of Corinth (Romans 16:1). Paul in 2 Corinthians 9:2 speaks of Achaia and Macedonia together. His language here would seem to cover the whole (οληι — holēi all) of Achaia in his scope and not merely the environment around Corinth. [source]

What do the individual words in Acts 17:34 mean?

Some however men having joined themselves to him believed among whom also [were] Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris others with them
τινὲς δὲ ἄνδρες κολληθέντες αὐτῷ ἐπίστευσαν ἐν οἷς καὶ Διονύσιος Ἀρεοπαγίτης καὶ γυνὴ ὀνόματι Δάμαρις ἕτεροι σὺν αὐτοῖς

τινὲς  Some 
Parse: Interrogative / Indefinite Pronoun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: τὶς  
Sense: a certain, a certain one.
δὲ  however 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: δέ  
Sense: but, moreover, and, etc.
ἄνδρες  men 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀνήρ  
Sense: with reference to sex.
κολληθέντες  having  joined  themselves 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Participle Passive, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: κολλάω  
Sense: to glue, to glue together, cement, fasten together.
αὐτῷ  to  him 
Parse: Personal / Possessive Pronoun, Dative Masculine 3rd Person Singular
Root: αὐτός  
Sense: himself, herself, themselves, itself.
ἐπίστευσαν  believed 
Parse: Verb, Aorist Indicative Active, 3rd Person Plural
Root: πιστεύω  
Sense: to think to be true, to be persuaded of, to credit, place confidence in.
οἷς  whom 
Parse: Personal / Relative Pronoun, Dative Masculine Plural
Root: ὅς 
Sense: who, which, what, that.
καὶ  also 
Parse: Conjunction
Root: καί  
Sense: and, also, even, indeed, but.
Διονύσιος  [were]  Dionysius 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Διονύσιος  
Sense: an Athenian, a member of the Areopagus, converted to Christianity by Paul.
Ἀρεοπαγίτης  Areopagite 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Masculine Singular
Root: Ἀρεοπαγίτης  
Sense: a member of the court of Areopagus, an Areopagite.
γυνὴ  a  woman 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: γυνή  
Sense: a woman of any age, whether a virgin, or married, or a widow.
ὀνόματι  named 
Parse: Noun, Dative Neuter Singular
Root: ὄνομα  
Sense: name: univ.
Δάμαρις  Damaris 
Parse: Noun, Nominative Feminine Singular
Root: Δάμαρις  
Sense: an Athenian woman converted to Christianity by Paul’s preaching.
ἕτεροι  others 
Parse: Adjective, Nominative Masculine Plural
Root: ἀλλοιόω 
Sense: the other, another, other.