Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw the city full of idols.
ExplanationCommentary
Verse 16. Lactanius ridicules the folly of idolatry in a neat strain of irony, which he introduces by the following verses from Lucilius:
Ut pueri infantes credunt signa omnia ahena
Vivere et esse homines; sic isti omnia ficta
Vera putant, and so forth
—The poet compares these fools to children. I think them worse; for the latter only take the statues for men, they for gods. Age causes the error of the one, folly of the other. These soon cease to be deceived, but the folly of those lasts and increases always. Lact. de fals. Relig. lib. i.