Ancient Greek Literature Quotes in the New Testament

Did you know that the apostle Paul quoted the Greek poets that were famous in his day? I didn't, until I started doing research for my Bible study on the book of Acts. In the process I discovered that Paul quoted from the following ancient Greek poets: Epimenides, Aratus, Cleanthes, and Menander.

Now, I had never heard of these fellows, but in Paul's day they would have been well known; their quotes easily recognizable by the well-educated in the Ancient Greece of the book of Acts. I know one local pastor that would probably say that Paul "plundered" the secular sources of culture and wisdom around him and used them to help reach certain people groups, in this case educated Greeks. In today's culture some pastors attempt to do this with their sermons by quoting from current events or commercials or movies and other literature, to help us understand and make it relevant to our daily life. If you are knowledgeable at all about the Bible you are probably familiar with Paul's commitment to become "all things to all men" in 1 Corinthians 9:19-23 as a way to reach as many people as possible with the good news of the gospel. (I believe that pastors today can go too far toward trying to be "all things", but that is best left for another day.)

Let's look at these ancient Greek literature quotes in the New Testament and see where Paul used them in his writings.

In Acts 17:28 Paul gives two quotations. "'For in him we live and move and have our being.' As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'" The context is that he is speaking in Athens, at a meeting of the Areopagus. In Acts 17:21 we are given a not so flattering picture of the kind of people at this meeting: "All the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time doing nothing but talking and listening to the latest ideas."

My commentary says that the first quote 'For in him...' is a quote from the Cretan poet Epimenides (c. 600 BC) in his Cretica while 'We are his offspring' is actually quoted by at least two different poets, the Cilician poet Aratus (c.315-240) in his Phaenomena and Cleanthes (331 -233 BC) in his Hymn to Zeus. I have to say I find it very interesting that Paul, a Christian apostle, quotes from a hymn to a pagan god, and relates it to the worship of the One True God, the true Creator.

We also find the apostle Paul quoting Greek poets in two of his letters. In 1 Corinthians 15:33 he warns the Corinthian church "Do not be misled: 'Bad company corrupts good character.'" This is a quote from the comedy Thais written by the Greek poet Menander. The context of Paul's use of this quote, however, is very serious; he uses it in the midst of a very intense discussion about whether or not there is life after death.

In his letter to his son in the faith, Titus, serving in Crete, he quotes the Cretan poet Epimenides a second time: Titus 1:12: "Even one of their own prophets has said, 'Cretans are always liars, evil brutes, lazy gluttons.'" Not a very flattering picture of the Cretans Titus served! Paul goes on in the next verse to say emphatically "This testimony is true. Therefore, rebuke them sharply, so that they will be sound in the faith..." This scripture passage is the reason why calling someone a "Cretan" is considered an insult in today's vernacular.

Blessings!

Sources
Editors. Compton's Interactive Bible (software)
Philip Yancey and Tim Stafford (notes). The Student Bible. NIV Version