The word translated “beholding” (NASB; NIV, “see”) is the same word from which we derive theater. The apostle stared long and hard at what he saw, for the city was truly “full of idols.”
Pausanius, who visited Athens fifty years later, said it was easier to meet a god or goddess on the main street of Athens than to meet a man. This was statistically true because the population was about 10,000, but there were 30,000 statues of gods. The streets lined with idols of false deities, framed by the architectural magnificence of the Parthenon and the Acropolis, were dazzling to the eye.
No doubt Paul appreciated much of the city’s beauty, being a man of culture. Nevertheless, “he was greatly distressed.” The Greek literally means this was a paroxysm (see the notes on 15:39). He was angry about a lie. As a Jewish monotheist, he would have been disturbed, and as a Christian apostle he was even more enraged! Every idol demonstrated the Athenians’ hunger for God, but it also testified to their spiritual emptiness. Ignorant of the true God, the Athenians were lost!
From KGD-37 – Athens, Mars Hill and Seekers (021117PM) – https://youtu.be/0ADfUugs1JQ
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