Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 17:25

"neither is he served by men`s hands, as though he needed anything, seeing he himself giveth to all life, and breath, and all things;" — Acts 17:25 (ASV)

Neither is worshipped with men’s hands, as though he needed any thing.—Literally, as needing anything in addition. The previous words had struck at a false theory of temples; this strikes at a false theory of worship. Men have to think of God as the supreme Giver, not as requiring anything at their hands but justice, mercy, and truth. Both Jewish and heathen writers had borne witness to the same truth: David had said, “You desire not sacrifice; else would I give it” (Psalms 51:16), and the Latin Epicurean poet had written of the Divine nature, that it was—

“Ipsa suis pollens opibus, nihil indiga nostri,
Nec bene promeritis capitur, nec tangitur ira.”
[“Strong in itself, it needs nothing of ours,
Is neither won by gifts, nor moved by wrath.”]

Lucret. ii. 649-50.

The passage is also found in some editions in i. 61, 62.

Life and breath.—If we can draw a distinction between the two words, the first may be held to mean the higher element of human life, the latter that which humans share, by virtue of their organization, with other animals. Stoics and Epicureans would, probably, both of them, so far, accept a teaching that echoed much that was taught in their own schools.