Paragraph 17:22–23

17:22a

Then Paul stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: The Greek words are literally “And/Then Paul, having stood in the midst of the Areopagus, said.” The phrase “in the midst of” indicates that Paul stood before the council, or perhaps the council sat in a semicircle and Paul stood near the center. Other ways to translate this clause are:

Then Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, (New Revised Standard Version)
-or-
So Paul stood before the whole council of the Areopagus and made this speech: (New Jerusalem Bible)
-or-
Then Paul ⌊went and⌋ stood in the place to address the ⌊council of⌋ Areopagus. He said,

stood up: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as stood up often means “stop walking.” Here, Paul was probably standing with the philosophers, then he walked to the place where people spoke to the council and he stood there. Other ways to translate this Greek word are:

standing (Revised Standard Version)
-or-
went and stood/stopped

the Areopagus: The word Areopagus refers the city council of Athens. This word occurs in 17:19a. The Revised English Bible translates it here with the same phrase:

the Council of the Areopagus (Revised English Bible)

However, the Good News Translation uses an explanatory phrase in 17:19a (“the city council, the Areopagus”). The Good News Translation shortens it here to:

the city council (Good News Translation)

17:22b

Men of Athens: This was the usual respectful way to begin a speech in Athens. It politely speaks directly to the council. Paul spoke to the men of the council, but was not excluding the women who may have been listening.

In some languages a literal translation would wrongly exclude women or imply that no women were present. If that is true in your language, you may want to use the word for “people.” For example:

People of Athens (New Century Version)

I see that in every way you are very religious: Earlier Paul was distressed by all the idols. But here he spoke to leaders of the city. He wanted them to listen, so he did not imply that he was distressed here. He only told them that he observed that they were very religious. It was well known that the people of Athens were very religious. This clause does not imply a compliment or an insult. Consider how to translate this clause in that way.

in every way you are very religious: The phrase in every way refers to the ways that the people of Athens honored their gods. They used every method that they knew, included praying to them, worshiping them, and offering sacrifices to them. For example:

you are very religious in all respects (NET Bible)

In some languages being very religious already implies in every way. For example, the Good News Translation only says:

you Athenians are very religious (Good News Translation)

you are very religious: This clause indicates that the people of Athens often honored their many gods. They followed all the ways that the religion for each god required. Other ways to translate this clause are:

you faithfully do your religious activities
-or-
you thoroughly worship your gods
-or-
you know it is important to worship all your gods

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