Who actually had the babble at Mars Hill, Paul or the philosophers?
The philosophers at Mars Hill actually had the babble, not Paul. Although they labeled Paul a babbler because his gospel seemed like foolishness to them, the context explains that Paul spoke kernels of truth while the Athenian philosophers had nothing but babble; the world had it upside down.
Les explains that when Paul came to Mars Hill and confronted the Athenian philosophers, he preached what they considered a foolish gospel about the resurrection life. They called him a babbler, but Les says in reality it was the other way around: Paul had kernels of truth, while the philosophers had nothing but babble. The world has it all upside down.
Then certain philosophers of the Epicureans, and of the Stoicks, encountered him. And some said, What will this babbler say? other some, He seemeth to be a setter forth of strange gods: because he preached unto them Jesus, and the resurrection.
More Questions
How did the philosophers in Athens respond to Paul's powerful preaching?
Paul came to Athens primed with the power of God and spoke as strongly as anywhere he had been, yet the philosophers still called him a babbler.