Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness.
Nevertheless, х kaitoige (G2544)] - 'Although indeed.' Nevertheless, х kaitoige (G2544)] - 'Although indeed.'
He left not himself without witness. Though the heinousness of idolatry is represented as so much less in the pagan, by how much they were outside the pale of revealed religion, the apostle takes care to add, that the pagan have divine "witness" enough to leave them "without excuse."
In that he did good, х agathourgoon (G14) is preferable to - agathoupoioon (G15)] - scattering His beneficence everywhere and in a thousand forms.
And gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons - on which human subsistence and all human enjoyment depend. In Lycaonia, where rain is peculiarly scarce, as ancient writers attest, this allusion would have all the greater effect.
Filling our hearts - or 'your hearts,' according to another reading.
With food and gladness - a natural colloquialism, the heart being gladdened by the food supplied to the body.