First of all, the theme which had already been touched
upon in 14:15 (God the creator) is explained further. The introductory
phraseology is dependent on the Bible, but at the same time shows Greek
influence (κοσμος, "world"); this has been mediated through Hellenistic
Judaism. For ποιειν, "to
make," compare one the one hand: Gen 1:1; 3:14; Isa 42:5; 2 Macc 7:28;
Phil; Aristobulus frg. 5; on the other hand: Plato Tim. 28c; 76c (ο
ποιων, "the one makes"); Epictetus 4.7.6: "God has made all
things in the in the universe" (ο θεος παντα πεποιηκεν τα εν τω κοσμω); Corp.
Herm. 4.1. For κοσμος, compare 2 Macc. 7:23; Wis 9:9; Aristobulus frg. 5.
For the division into heaven and earth: Gen 1:1; Philo Op. mundi 2:
"for the cosmos is a whole compounded of heaven, earth, and all that is
contained within them" (κοσμος μεν ουν εστι συστημα σξ ουρανου και γης και
των εν τουτοις περιεχομενων φυσεων). For και παντα, compare 1QH 1.13-14:
earth—seas—deeps, וכול אשר כם, "and all within them"; Aristobulus
frg. 5. παντα, "everything," prepares for vs 25: creation means
lordship (κυριος, "Lord"; Hecataeus: των ολων κυριος, "lord of
all") and care. Based on the essence of God, a conclusion is drawn as to
how he should be worshiped; the same process is found in the Stoa—Plutarch Mor.
1034b: "Moreover, it is a doctrine of Zeno's 'not to build temples of the
gods' (ετι δογμα Ζηνωνος εστιν ιερα θεων μη οικοδομειν . . . "). This
saying has been transmitted in a variety of ways; Seneca in Lactantius Inst.
6.25: "Temples are not to be built to him with stones piled up on high; he
is to be consecrated by each man in his own breast" (Non templa illi
congestis in altitudinem saxis exstruenda sunt: in suo cuique consecrandus est
pectore); Ps.-Heraclitus 4th Letter: "But where is god? . . . Uneducated
men, you do not know that god is not wrought by hand, . . . but the whole world
is a temple to him" (του δ' εστιν ο θεος; . . . απαιδευτοι, ουκ ιστε οτι
ουκ εστι θεος χειροκμητος, . . . αλλ' ολος ο κοσμος αυτω ναος εστι . . .).
Lucian (Sacr. 11) pokes fun at the idea that the gods live in the
temples. Judaism makes use of the same kind of polemic, but of course turns it
only against pagan temples; instructive here is Josephus, Ant. 9.227-29
and Sib. Or. 4.8-11. (Hans Conzelmann, Acts of the Apostles [Hermeneia—A Critical
and Historical Commentary on the Bible; Minneapolis, Minn.: Fortress Press,
1987], 141-42)
