Anakalypsis / Unveiling the Word

Acts 17:27

That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us:

KJV

ζητεῖν τὸν θεὸν εἰ ἄραγε ψηλαφήσειαν αὐτὸν καὶ εὕροιεν, καίγε οὐ μακρὰν ἀπὸ ἑνὸς ἑκάστου ἡμῶν ὑπάρχοντα.

Greek NT

quærere Deum si forte attrectent eum, aut inveniant, quamvis non longe sit ab unoquoque nostrum.

Vulgate

that they should seek God, if haply they might feel after him and find him, though he is not far from each one of us:

ASV

That they should seek God, if haply they may feel after him or find him, although he be not far from every one of us.

Douay-Rheims

Open in reader with connections →

In the original Greek

17 distinct Greek words appear in this verse.

αὐτός
autos
pronoun · 5564×
εἰ
ei
conditional · 491×
εἷς
eis
adjective · 336×
εὑρίσκω
eurisko
verb · 175×
ζητέω
zeteo
verb · 117×
θεός
theos
noun · 1311×
καί
kai
conjunction · 8973×
καίγε
kaige
adverb · 3×
μακράν
makran
adverb · 9×
οὐ
ou
particle · 1626×
ψηλαφάω
pselaphao
verb · 4×
ἀπό
apo
preposition · 640×
ἄρα
ara
particle · 36×
ἕκαστος
ekastos
adjective · 84×
ἡμεῖς
emeis
pronoun · 862×
ὁ
o
article · 19778×
ὑπάρχω
uparcho
verb · 60×

Textual variants

1 variant unit attested by manuscript witnesses and modern critical editions.

minor
SBLGNT: θεὸν | WH/Treg/NIV: θεὸν | RP: κύριον
  • θεὸν — SBLGNT
  • θεὸν — Westcott-Hort, Tregelles, Reader's GNT (NA27)
  • κύριον — Robinson-Pierpont
source: sblgnt-apparatus

Historic Christian voices

11 passages from patristic writers, Reformers, and church catechisms citing this verse.

§28In many ways, throughout history down to the present day, men have given expression to their quest for God in their religious beliefs and behaviour: in their prayers, sacrifices, rituals, meditations, and so forth. These forms of religious expression, despite the ambiguities they often bring with them, are so universal that one may well call man a religious being: From one ance…
§32The world: starting from movement, becoming, contingency, and the world's order and beauty, one can come to a knowledge of God as the origin and the end of the universe. As St. Paul says of the Gentiles: For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. Ever since the creation of the world his invisible nature, namely, his eternal power and dei…
§57This state of division into many nations, each entrusted by divine providence to the guardianship of angels, is at once cosmic, social and religious. It is intended to limit the pride of fallen humanity10 united only in its perverse ambition to forge its own unity as at Babel.11 But, because of sin, both polytheism and the idolatry of the nation and of its rulers constantly thr…
…and 2 more from this source.
8. The Word, then, visited that earth in which He was yet always present ; and saw all these evils. He takes a body of our Nature, and that of a spotless Virgin, in whose womb He makes it His own, wherein to reveal Himself, conquer death, and restore life. For this purpose, then, the incorporeal and incorruptible and immaterial Word of God comes to our realm, howbeit he was not…
Heidelberg Catechism · 2 passages
Q. What do you understand by the providence of God? A. Providence is the almighty and ever present power of God by which he upholds, as with his hand, heaven and earth and all creatures, and so rules them that leaf and blade, rain and drought, fruitful and lean years, food and drink, health and sickness, prosperity and poverty — all things, in fact, come to us not by chance but…
Q. Why the words in heaven? A. These words teach us not to think of God's heavenly majesty as something earthly, and to expect everything for body and soul from his almighty power.

Cross-references

  • Acts 14:17 — Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
  • Acts 15:17 — That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things.
  • Deut 4:7 — For what nation is there so great, who hath God so nigh unto them, as the LORD our God is in all things that we call upon him for?
  • Jer 23:23 — Am I a God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
  • Ps 19:1 — The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
  • Rom 1:20 — For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
  • Rom 2:4 — Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?