842. Debates in the Market Place

By: James M. Freeman

• 1 min. read • grade level: 12

Acts 17:17¹⁷Therefore disputed he in the synagogue with the Jews, and with the devout persons, and in the market daily with them that met with him. (Acts 17:17). Therefore disputed he... in the market daily with them that met with him.

The market was not only a place for buying and selling, for hiring and being hired (see note on Matt. 20:3³And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, (Matthew 20:3), #684) but it was also a public resort for all who wished to inquire the news or to hold disputations. For this reason the Pharisees loved to go there, because, amid the crowds assembled, they would receive the ceremonious salutations in which they delighted. See Matthew 23:7⁷And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. (Matthew 23:7); Mark 12:38³⁸And he said unto them in his doctrine, Beware of the scribes, which love to go in long clothing, and love salutations in the marketplaces, (Mark 12:38); Luke 11:43; 20:46⁴³Woe unto you, Pharisees! for ye love the uppermost seats in the synagogues, and greetings in the markets. (Luke 11:43)
⁴⁶Beware of the scribes, which desire to walk in long robes, and love greetings in the markets, and the highest seats in the synagogues, and the chief rooms at feasts; (Luke 20:46).

The Athenian market, or Agora, must not be imagined to be “like the bare spaces in many modern towns, where little attention has been paid to artistic decoration, but is rather to be compared to the beautiful squares of such Italian cities as Verona and Florence, where historical buildings have closed in the space within narrow limits, and sculpture has peopled it with impressive figures” (Conybeare and Howson, Life of St. Paul, vol.1, p. 354).

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