Acts 17:30

“And the times of this ignorance God winked at, etc.] Not that he approved of, or encouraged such blindness and folly, as appeared among the Gentiles, when they worshipped idols of gold, silver, and stone, taking them for deities; but rather the sense is, he despised this, and them for it, and was displeased and angry with them; and as an evidence of such contempt and indignation, he overlooked them, and took no notice of them, and gave them no revelation to direct them, nor prophets to instruct them, and left them to their stupidity and ignorance: but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent; that is, he hath given orders, that the doctrine of repentance, as well as remission of sins,…”

“the times of this ignorance God winked at--literally (and far better), "overlooked," that is, bore with, without interposing to punish it, otherwise than suffering the debasing tendency of such worship to develop itself (compare Act 14:16, and see on Rom 1:24, &c.). but now--that a new light was risen upon the world. commandeth--"That duty--all along lying upon man estranged from his Creator, but hitherto only silently recommending itself and little felt--is now peremptory." all men every where to repent--(compare Col 1:6, Col 1:23; Tit 1:11) --a tacit allusion to the narrow precincts of favored Judaism, within which immediate and entire repentance was ever urged. The word "repentance" is…”

“And the times of this ignorance - The long period when people were ignorant of the true God, and when they worshipped stocks and stones. Paul here refers to the times preceding the gospel. God winked at - ὑπεριδὼν huperidōn. Overlooked; connived at; did not come forth to punish. In Acts 14:16 it is expressed thus: “Who in times past suffered all nations to walk in their own ways” The sense is, he passed over those times without punishing them, as if he did not see them. For wise purposes he suffered them to walk in ignorance that there might be a fair experiment to show what people would do, and how much necessity there was for a revelation to instruct them in the true know edge of God.…”

“The times of ignorance - What! does he object ignorance to the knowing Athenians? Yes, and they acknowledge it by this very altar. God overlooked - As one paraphrases, "The beams of his eye did in a manner shoot over it." He did not appear to take notice of them, by sending express messages to them as he did to the Jews. But now - This day, this hour, saith Paul, puts an end to the Divine forbearance, and brings either greater mercy or punishment. Now he commandeth all men every where to repent - There is a dignity and grandeur in this expression, becoming an ambassador from the King of heaven. And this universal demand of repentance declared universal guilt in the strongest manner, and…”

“17:30 The idea of people’s ignorance is carefully discussed both in the Old Testament law (Lev 4:2, 22, 27; 5:15, 17; Num 15:25, 27) and in the New Testament (Eph 4:18; 1 Pet 1:14; 2:15; 2 Pet 3:5, 8). Paul was particularly fervent about combatting ignorance (see Rom 10:13-15; 11:25; 1 Cor 10:1; 12:1; 2 Cor 1:8; 1 Thes 4:13). The message of Good News overcomes ignorance and summons all who hear it to repent of their sins and turn to God (see Acts 2:38).”

“the times: Act 14:16; Psa 50:21; Rom 1:28, Rom 3:23, Rom 3:25 but: Act 3:19, Act 11:18, Act 20:21, Act 26:17-20; Mat 3:2, Mat 4:17; Mar 6:12; Luk 13:5, Luk 15:10; Luk 24:47; Rom 2:4; Co2 7:10; Eph. 4:17-32, Eph 5:6-8; Tit 2:11, Tit 2:12; Pe1 1:14, Pe1 1:15, Pe1 4:3 Acts 17:31”