the Week of Christ the King / Proper 29 / Ordinary 34
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Read the Bible
The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible
Acts 15:31
Bible Study Resources
Concordances:
- Nave'sDictionaries:
- AmericanEncyclopedias:
- InternationalParallel Translations
When the believers read it, they were happy. The letter comforted them.
When they had redde it they reioysed of that consolacion.
When they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.
When the peoplethey">[fn] read it, they were pleased with the encouragement it brought them.it brought them">[fn]
When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
When they read it, they were very happy because of the encouraging message.
And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.
[Which] when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.
And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
When they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.
Which having read, they rejoiced for the consolation.
The people read it, and were delighted with the comfort it brought them.
which whanne thei hadden red, thei ioyden on the coumfort.
And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.
When the letter was read, everyone was pleased and greatly encouraged.
And when they had read it, the people rejoiced greatly at the encouragement and comfort [it brought them].
And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.
And after reading it, they were glad of its comfort.
After reading it, the people were delighted by its encouragement.
And having read it, they rejoiced at the consolation.
And when they had read, they rejoiced and were comforted.
And when they had read [fn] , they rejoiced and were comforted.
Which when they had read, they reioyced for the consolation.
And there was great joy throughout the church that day as they read this encouraging message.
When they read it, they were glad for the comfort and strength it brought them.
When its members read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation.
And when they had read it, they reioyced for the consolation.
And when they had read it, the people rejoiced and were comforted.
and, when they read it, they rejoiced for the consolation.
Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.
And when they read it, they rejoiced at the exhortation.
Which when they had read, they reioyced of the consolation.
When the people read it, they were filled with joy by the message of encouragement.
When they read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.
And when they read it aloud, they rejoiced at the encouragement.
And reading it , they rejoiced at the comfort.
and they having read, did rejoice for the consolation;
Whan they had red it, they were glad of that cosolacion.
they were affected with joy at the comfortable contents, as for Judas and Silas,
When they read it aloud, the people rejoiced at its encouragement.
When they had read it, they rejoiced over its encouragement.
People were whooping and hollering and waving their hats in the air at the good news.
When they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
And when they had read it, they rejoiced because of its encouragement.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
they rejoiced: Acts 15:1, Acts 15:10, Acts 16:5, Galatians 2:4, Galatians 2:5, Galatians 5:1, Philippians 3:3
consolation: or, exhortation
Reciprocal: Joshua 22:33 - the thing Acts 13:48 - they
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Which when they had read,.... That is, when the brethren of the church at Antioch had read the letter delivered to them; for not Paul and Barnabas, or Judas and Silas, who were sent with it, read it, but the brethren to whom it was sent, as was proper.
They rejoiced for the consolation, or "exhortation", as the word may be rendered, which was given them in the letter, to abstain from the above things, without being burdened with any other; and they rejoiced that there was such an agreement among the apostles, elders, and brethren at Jerusalem; and that their sentiments, and those of Paul and Barnabas, and other faithful ministers and saints at Antioch, were alike, and were opposed to the judaizing preachers and professors; and above all, they rejoiced that they were freed from the burdensome yoke of the law, and that the controversy which had been raised among them, was likely to be ended, and to issue so well.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
They rejoiced for the consolation - They acquiesced in the decision of the apostles and elders, and rejoiced that they were not to be subjected to the burdensome rites and ceremonies of the Jewish religion. This closes the account of the first Christian council. It was conducted throughout on Christian principles; in a mild, kind, conciliatory spirit, and is a model for all similar assemblages. It came together, not to promote, but to silence disputation; not to persecute the people of God, but to promote their peace; not to be a scene of harsh and angry recrimination, but to be an example of all that was mild, and tender, and kind. Those who composed it came together, not to carry a point, not to overreach their adversaries, not to be party people, but to mingle their sober counsels, to inquire what was right, and to express, in a Christian manner, what was proper to be done. Great and important principles were to be established in regard to the Christian church, and they engaged in their work evidently with a deep sense of their responsibility, and with a just view of their dependence on the aid of the Holy Spirit. How happy Would it have been if this spirit had been possessed by all professedly Christian councils; if all had really sought the peace and harmony of the churches; if none had ever been convened to kindle the fires of persecution, or to rend and destroy the church of God!
This council has been usually appealed to as the authority for councils in the church as a permanent arrangement, and especially as an authority for courts of appeal and control. But it establishes neither, and should be brought as authority for neither. For:
(1) It was not a court of appeal in any intelligible sense. It was an assembly convened for a special purpose; designed to settle an inquiry which arose in a particular part of the church, and which required the collected wisdom of the apostles and elders.
(2) It had none of the marks or appendages of a court. The term “court,” or judicature, is nowhere applied to it, nor to any assembly of Christian people in the New Testament. Nor should these terms be used now in the churches. courts of judicature imply a degree of authority which cannot be proved from the New Testament to have been conceded to any ecclesiastical body of people.
(3) There is not the slightest intimation that anything like permanency was to be attached to this council, or that it would be periodically or regularly repeated. It proves, indeed, that, when cases of difficulty occur - when Christians are perplexed and embarrassed, or when contentions arise - it is proper to refer to Christian people for advice and direction. Such was the case here, and such a course is obviously proper. If it should be maintained that it is well that Christian ministers and laymen should assemble periodically, at stated intervals, on the supposition that such cases may arise, this is conceded; but the example of the apostles and elders should not be pleaded as making such assemblies of divine right and authority, or as being essential to the existence of a church of God. Such an arrangement has been deemed to be so desirable by Christians, that it has been adopted by Episcopalians in their regular annual and triennial Conventions; by Methodists in their conferences; by Presbyterians in their General Assembly; by Friends in their Yearly Meetings; by Baptists and congregationalists in their Associations, etc.; but the example of the council summoned on a special emergency at Jerusalem should not be pleaded as giving divine authority to these periodical assemblages. They are wise and prudent arrangements, contributing to the peace of the church, and the example of the council at Jerusalem can be adduced as furnishing as reach divine authority for one as for another; that is, it does not make all or either of them of divine authority, or obligatory on the church of God.
(4) It should be added that a degree of authority (compare Acts 16:4) would, of course, be attached to the decision of the apostles and elders at that time which cannot be to any body of ministers and laymen now. Besides, it should never be forgotten - what, alas! it seems to have been the pleasure and the interest of ecclesiastics to forget that neither the apostles nor elders asserted any jurisdiction over the churches of Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia; that they did not claim a right to have these cases referred to them; that they did not attempt to “lord it” over their faith or their consciences. The case was a single, specific, definite question referred to them, and they decided it as such. They asserted no abstract right of such jurisdiction; they sought not to intermeddle With the case; they enjoined no future reference of such cases to them, to their successors, or to any ecclesiastical tribunal. They evidently regarded the churches as blessed with the most ample freedom, and contemplated no arrangement of a permanent character asserting a right to legislate on articles of faith, or to make laws for the direction of the Lord’s freemen.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 31. They rejoiced for the consolation. — It was not a matter of small moment to have a question on which such stress was laid decided by an apostolic council, over which the Spirit of God presided.
