"Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seems to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached to them Jesus, and the resurrection." (Acts 17: 18)
Babbler
(σπερμολόγος) Lit., seed-picker: a bird which picks up seeds in the streets and markets; hence one who picks up and retails scraps of news. (Vincent)
"the word came to be used for an idle good for nothing fellow, and for one that picked up tales and fables, and carried them about for a livelihood. So Demosthenes, in a way of reproach, called Aeschincs by this name; and such an one was the apostle reckoned: or the metaphor is taken from little birds, as the sparrow, &c. that pick up seeds, and live upon them, and are of no value and use. Harpocratian says (d), there is a certain little bird, of the jay or jackdaw kind, which is called "Spermologos" (the word here used), from its picking up of seeds, of which Aristophanes makes mention; and that from this a base and contemptible man, and one that lives by others, is called by this name: from whence we may learn in what a contemptuous manner the apostle was used in this polite city, by these men of learning." (Gill)
Paul was no babbler. This was a false accusation. The Sophists, they were generally the babblers, and were hired for their skill in babbling! I have run into preachers in the church who seemed to be mere babblers.
Setter Forth
"He seemeth to be a setter forth." "Setter forth" is from the Greek word καταγγελεὺς (katangeleus) (1 Occurrence) and means a "proclaimer."
That is what good teachers of the bible should be! Setter forths! Proclaimers and explainers. Exegetes.
Strange Gods
"A setter forth of strange gods"
On this statement Adam Clark wrote:
"Strange gods - Ξενων δαιμονιων, Of strange or foreign demons. That this was strictly forbidden, both at Rome and Athens, see on Acts 16:21; (note). There was a difference, in the heathen theology, between θεος, god, and δαιμων, demon: the θεοι, were such as were gods by nature: the δαιμονια, were men who were deified. This distinction seems to be in the mind of these philosophers when they said that the apostles seemed to be setters forth of strange demons, because they preached unto them Jesus, whom they showed to be a man, suffering and dying, but afterwards raised to the throne of God. This would appear to them tantamount with the deification of heroes, etc., who had been thus honored for their especial services to mankind." (Commentary)
"Strange demons" is a more correct translation than "strange gods." Who were the demons? They were, as I have shown in other postings (See Who Are The Demons?, and here), summarily described by Campbell described by Campbell when he said:
"...the term demon, from simply indicating a knowing one, became the title of a human spirit when divested of the appendages of its clay tenement, because of its supposed initiation into the secrets of another world. Thus a separated spirit became a genius, a demigod, a mediator, a divinity of the ancient superstition according to its acquirements in this state of probation." (Campbell, in the second posting above)
In ancient Greek thinking there were beings called "hemitheoi" beings who were "half-gods" or demigods.
Jesus was human and was God and to the pagan Greek mind this would make Jesus a "demon god," a being who was once only human but became immortal and godlike.
