17:28a

For in Him we live and move and have our being: This saying is similar to a saying by a Greek philosopher hundreds of years before this time. Since Paul did not introduce it like he did in 17:28b, he probably did not intend for it to be understood as an exact quote. The New Jerusalem Bible does not use quote marks:

since it is in him that we live, and move, and exist (New Jerusalem Bible)

For: This word introduces the basis for saying that God is not far away from anyone.

in Him we live and move and have our being: Here the word in indicates that God is the source of life and people depend on God to live. Other ways to translate this clause are:

we live, move, and exist because of him (God’s Word)
-or-
he gives us the power to live, to move, and to be who we are (Contemporary English Version)
-or-
He is the one who causes us to live, who enables us to move, and who enables us to be people

in Him: This phrase is emphasized by being first in the clause. Another way to emphasize it is:

It is in him that

move: Here the verb move refers to any activity. In some languages another verb is used to refer generally to any activity, such as “do.” If that is true in your language, you may want to use it here.

have our being: This phrase refers to being alive. God causes all people to exist. For example:

exist (Good News Translation)

17:28b

your own poets: The pronoun your refers to the Greek people.

poets: This word refer to a person who speaks or writes sayings that are meaningful, wise, well-expressed, and worthwhile to follow. Both 17:28a and 17:28b have poetic sayings. Some languages do not have a single word for this meaning or do not have a tradition of poets. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Describe the meaning in your translation. For example:

people who write good sayings
-or-
people who make ⌊sweet⌋ sayings

• Refer generally to people in your translation. You may then want to explain the literal word in a footnote. An example footnote is:

The literal word refers to a person who speaks or writes sayings that are meaningful and well-expressed. “For in him we live and move and have our being” and “We are his offspring” are examples of these kinds of sayings.

We are His offspring: This clause in Greek is literally “for of him we are also descendants/family/relatives.” Here it indicates that people originate from God. Other ways to translate this clause are:

We too are his children. (Good News Translation)
-or-
For we are indeed his offspring. (Revised Standard Version)

This clause does not indicate that God caused us to be in the same way that a father causes his children to be. In some languages a literal translation would have the wrong meaning. If that is true in your language, you may want to:

• Translate the correct meaning. For example:

we originated from God
-or-
He caused us to be and made us like him

• Translate literally and explain its meaning in a footnote. An example footnote is:

This clause indicates that people originate from God. It does not indicate that God caused us to live like a father causes his children to live.

© 2001, 2021 by SIL International®
Made available under the terms of a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License (CC BY-SA) creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0.
All Scripture quotations in this publication, unless otherwise indicated, are from The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible.
BSB is produced in cooperation with Bible Hub, Discovery Bible, OpenBible.com, and the Berean Bible Translation Committee.