Word Pictures in the New Testament - David Cox

Word Pictures in the NT [Acts: Chapter 17]
Paul's major premise in his argument from the Scriptures about
the Messiah, the necessity of his sufferings according to the
Scriptures, the very argument made by the Risen Jesus to the two
on the way to Emmaus (Lu 24:25-27). The fifty-third chapter of
Isaiah was a passage in point that the rabbis had overlooked.
Peter made the same point in Ac 3:18 and Paul again in Ac
26:23. The minor premise is the resurrection of Jesus from the
dead. {To rise again from the dead} (\anast•nai ek nekr•n\). This
second aorist active infinitive \anast•nai\ is also the subject
of \edei\. The actual resurrection of Jesus was also a necessity
as Paul says he preached to them (1Th 4:14) and argued always
from Scripture (1Co 15:3-4) and from his own experience (Ac
9:22; 22:7; 26:8,14; 1Co 15:8). {This Jesus is the Christ}
(\houtos estin ho Christos, ho I•sous\). More precisely, "This is
the Messiah, viz., Jesus whom I am proclaiming unto you." This is
the conclusion of Paul's line of argument and it is logical and
overwhelming. It is his method everywhere as in Damascus, in
Antioch in Pisidia, here, in Corinth. He spoke as an eye-witness.
17:4 {Some of them} (\tines ex aut•n\). That is of the Jews who
were evidently largely afraid of the rabbis. Still "some" were
persuaded (\epeisth•san\, effective first aorist passive
indicative) and "consorted with" (\prosekl•r•th•san\). This
latter verb is also first aorist passive indicative of
\proskl•ro•\, a common verb in late Greek (Plutarch, Lucian), but
only here in the N.T., from \pros\ and \kl•ros\, to assign by
lot. So then this small group of Jews were given Paul and Silas
by God's grace. {And of the devout Greeks a great multitude}
(\t•n te sebomen•n Hell•n•n pl•thos polu\). These "God-fearers"
among the Gentiles were less under the control of the jealous
rabbis and so responded more readily to Paul's appeal. In 1Th
1:9 Paul expressly says that they had "turned to God from
idols," proof that this church was mainly Gentile (cf. also 1Th
2:14). {And of the chief women not a few} (\gunaik•n te t•n
pr•t•n ouk oligai\). Literally, "And of women the first not a
few." That is, a large number of women of the very first rank in
the city, probably devout women also like the men just before and
like those in 13:50 in Antioch in Pisidia who along with "the
first men of the city" were stirred up against Paul. Here these
women were openly friendly to Paul's message, whether proselytes
or Gentiles or Jewish wives of Gentiles as Hort holds. It is
noteworthy that here, as in Philippi, leading women take a bold
stand for Christ. In Macedonia women had more freedom than
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