The New Testament with Commentary Acts 15

The Jerusalem Council

The conflict

1 Then some men came down from Judea and started teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” 2 Well this provoked serious dissension and argument between Paul and Barnabas and them, so Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with certain others of them, to go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and elders about this question. 3 So being sent on their way by the congregation, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, describing the conversion of the Gentiles; and they caused great joy to all the brothers. 4 Upon arriving in Jerusalem, they were received by the congregation and the apostles and the elders, and they reported all that God had done with them. 5 But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the Law of Moses.”*

The Council

6 So the apostles and the elders came together to consider this matter. 7 When there had been plenty of discussion, Peter got up and said to them: “Men, brothers, you know that a good while ago God made a choice among you,† that by my mouth the Gentiles should hear the message of the Gospel and believe. 8 And the heart-knowing God acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us; 9 and He made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. 10 Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples that neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? 11 Rather, we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus,‡ in the same manner as they.”§

12 Then the whole assembly kept silent and listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the ethnic nations through them. 13 Now when they finished, James reacted saying: “Men, brothers, listen to me. 14 Simeon has described how God first intervened to extract from the Gentiles a people for His name. 15 And with this the words of the prophets agree, just as it is written:

16 ‘After these things I will return,

and I will rebuild David's tent, the fallen one;

yes, I will rebuild its ruins and restore it;

17 so that the remnant of mankind may seek the Lord,

even all the Gentiles—the ones, that is, upon whom my name has been called—says the Lord who does all these things.’*

18 All His works are known to God from eternity.†

19 Therefore I judge that we should not create difficulty for those who are turning to God from among the ethnic nations,‡ 20 but that we write to them to abstain from things polluted by idols, from fornication, from what is strangled, and from blood. 21 For from ancient generations Moses has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.”

The edict

22 Then it pleased the apostles and the elders, with the whole congregation, to send chosen men from among them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas (the one called Barsabas) and Silas, leading men among the brothers. 23 They wrote by their hand the following:

“The apostles and the elders and the§ brothers, to the Gentile brothers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia:

Greetings.

24 Since we have heard that some who went out from among us have disturbed you with words, unsettling your souls, saying that you must be circumcised and keep the Law*—to whom we gave no such authorization— 25 it seemed good to us, having come to one accord, to choose men to send to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul, 26 men who have risked their lives for the sake of the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27 So we have sent Judas and Silas, who will also confirm these things by word of mouth.† 28 It seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us,‡ to place no greater burden upon you than these necessary things: 29 to abstain from things offered to idols,§ from ‘blood’, from anything strangled and from fornication;* it will be in your own best interest to keep away from these things.

Farewell.”

Good results

30 So when they were sent off they came to Antioch, and gathering the crowd they delivered the letter. 31 When they had read it, they rejoiced over the encouragement. 32 Both Judas and Silas, also being prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with many words. 33 After some time, they were released with peace from the brothers to the apostles.† 35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, teaching and preaching the Word of the Lord, with many others also.

Missionary journey II—Paul and Silas

Paul and Barnabas separate

36 Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us return now and visit our brothers in each city where we proclaimed the word of the Lord, to see how they are doing.” 37 Now Barnabas resolved to take John (the one called Mark) along as well. 38 But Paul insisted on not taking someone who had deserted them in Pamphilia and not gone with them to the work. 39 Well the contention became so sharp that they separated from each other. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus;‡ 40 while Paul chose Silas and set out, having been commended by the brothers to the grace of God.§ 41 He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the congregations.

* 15:5 In essence they were demanding that the Gentiles become Jewish proselytes, as a prior condition. Those Pharisees did not understand salvation by faith. † 15:7 I follow the best line of transmission in reading ‘you’; some 60% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘us’, as in AV and NKJV. ‡ 15:11 Some 5% of the Greek manuscripts add ‘Christ’, as in AV and NKJV. § 15:11 Peter states the crucial point: salvation comes through grace and faith, for everyone, not by keeping the Law. Legalism is out. * 15:17 See Amos 9:11-12. † 15:18 God had not changed; it was always His purpose to include the Gentiles. Perhaps 5% of the Greek manuscripts omit “all His works are known to God” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). ‡ 15:19 This way of stating it leaves an opening for making a distinction between Gentile and Jewish believers. By chapter 21 this had become a serious problem. James begins the verse saying, “I judge”, emphasizing the pronoun, and his position was a bit of a compromise; this in spite of Peter's plain statement in verse 11. In verse 23 the edict is addressed to the “Gentile brothers” (the distinction between Jew and Gentile is maintained). § 15:23 Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts, of objectively inferior quality, omit “and the” (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). This changes the meaning; the three groups are reduced to two. * 15:24 Perhaps 4% of the Greek manuscripts omit ‘saying that you must be circumcised and keep the law’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.). † 15:27 The Law required at least two witnesses. ‡ 15:28 James affirms divine approval for the decision. § 15:29 The idols represented demons, and to deliberately worship an idol would give its demon a ‘legal’ basis for working in the worshiper. * 15:29 In the Greek Text each item in the list is a single word; such brevity could give rise to ambiguity. However, items 1 and 4 seem clear enough. Item 3 presumably harks back to Genesis 9:4, where ingesting blood is forbidden. So item 2, ‘blood’, must mean something else. In the Bible ‘blood’ is repeatedly used to refer to violent death and the responsibility for it. This harks back to Genesis 9:5-6. The prohibition against fornication is implied in Genesis 2:24. That God did not accept Cain's offering (Genesis 4:3-5) implies that He had given instruction on the subject, which would presumably include idolatry. So the four items in the list are all far older than the Law of Moses and are independent of it. † 15:33 Verse 34, as in the AV, is to be found in about 30% of the Greek manuscripts, but contradicts verse 33, that seems to require that Silas returned to Jerusalem; “they were sent back…to the apostles”, and “they” refers to Judas and Silas. The ‘problem’ is that in verse 40 Paul chooses Silas to accompany him, so he had to be in Antioch, not Jerusalem. Accordingly the longer reading was created to solve the ‘problem’. The “some days” of verse 36 could well have been a month or two. From Antioch to Jerusalem would be a trip of less than 400 miles. Silas had time to go to Jerusalem and get back to Antioch. ‡ 15:39 This is the last we hear of Barnabas, but not of Mark. Barnabas was an encourager. He had seen the potential in Saul of Tarsus and helped him along on at least two occasions. Now he sees the potential in Mark and invests in him, to such good effect that Paul himself later recognizes Mark's value (2 Timothy 4:11). Peter had taken Mark under his wing and helped him write the second Gospel. § 15:40 Perhaps 3% of the Greek manuscripts have ‘Lord’ instead of ‘God’ (as in NIV, NASB, LB, TEV, etc.).