Bible Commentaries
Acts 15

Verse 8

Acts 15:8

Witness -- Notice the way God bears witness to them. It was NOT for their salvation. God bore witness, not Cornelius. He was saved by "hearing words" and "believing." Acts 15:7. cf. Acts 10:45; Acts 11:14-18

Point: And they had not been circumcised!

Verse 9

Acts 15:9

Faith -- "the faith" cf. Galatians 1:23; 1 Timothy 5:8; Judges 1:3

The "faith" here involved "obedience to the truth" Gentiles converted in Acts 10 & 11 involved: 1) Belief Acts 10:43; 2) Repentance Acts 11:18; 3) water baptism Acts 10:48

Verse 10

Acts 15:10

Now, therefore --

why are you putting God to the test -- The argument is that God had already accepted the Gentiles (Cornelius’ household, etc.). God was continuing to show that such rites and ceremonies of the Law were now abolished [fulfilled] in Christ at the cross (Colossians 2:14). To attempt to impose the rites of the Law upon converted Gentiles would provoke God.

put a yoke upon the neck -- That which would be burdensome and oppressive, or which would infringe on their just freedom as the children of God.

It is called in Galatians 5:1, “a yoke of bondage.” Compare Matthew 23:4.

1) A “yoke” is an emblem of slavery or bondage 1 6:1;

2) or of affliction Lamentations 3:27;

3) or of punishment Lamentations 1:14;

4) or of oppressive and burdensome ceremonies, as in this place, or of the restraints of Christianity, Matthew 1:1-30. In this place those rites are called a yoke,

which neither our fathers -- The yoke were burdensome at all times. They were expensive, and painful, and oppressive; and as they had been found to be so, it was not proper to impose them on the Gentile converts, but should rather rejoice at any evidence that the people of God might be delivered from them.

were able to bear -- Which are found to be oppressive and burdensome. They were attended with great inconvenience and many transgressions, as the consequence.

Verse 18

Acts 1

Verse 20

Acts 15:20

fornication -- Sexual sins in general, but particularly the orgies associated with the worship of pagan gods. - MSB

fornication.. This injunction must not be understood as a simple repetition of a moral law binding upon all men at all times, but must be taken in connexion with the rest of the decree, and as forbidding a sin into which converts from heathenism were most prone to fall back, and which their previous lives had taught them to regard in a very different light from that in which a Jew would see it. ... Whereas among the heathen unchastity was a portion of many of their temple rites, and persons who gave themselves up to such impurities were even called by the names of the heathen divinities. To men educated in the constant contemplation of such a system, sins of unchastity would have far less guilt than in the eyes of those to whom the law of Moses was read every sabbath-day. - CBSC

fornication -- The point is always that in the Gentile world, even among its noblest men, this sin was not considered a sin but something that was entirely innocent and natural. It was a part of their idol worship. The wisdom of some of the Corinthian Christians argued that fornication was merely an external matter. The old pagan ideas about sexual impurities not being impurities kept clinging to the converts from paganism in some form or other. Hence this warning appears as the second in the list of James. Missionaries still have trouble with their converts on this score. - Lenski

pollution of idols and fornication -- Together the "pollution" seems to cover the practices of the idol temples. The new Christians were not to frequent or continue such practices as frequeting these idol temples which often included sexual encounters.

Verse 24

Acts 15:24

Since we have heard -- The brethren at Jerusalem first heard about the Judaizers at Antioch when the delegation arrived in Jerusalem from Antioch.

that some of our number -- The Judaizers were "members" (see Acts 15:1) of the Jerusalem congregation before they undertook their trip to Antioch.

They had been unaware of some Jerusalem members traveling to Antioch who demanded conformity to the Mosaic Law.

to whom we gave no instruction -- These Judaizers had no authority from the Jerusalem church, though they evidently had been claiming to have come from the mother church, sent by them on an official mission to Antioch.

The opening paragraph of the letter sent to Antioch is an official denial that the Judaizers had ever been authorized or sent by the church at Jerusalem. We cannot help but wonder if the Judaizers were present in the assemble at Antioch when this epistle was read to the congregation, and if so, what their reaction was. - Gareth L. Reese

have disturbed you with their words -- The word "disturbed" has a number of connotations. Literally, it is used of waters that are "troubled." In a figurative sense the word means to stir up, disturb, throw into confusion, be agitated, or intimidated.

words -- "Words" here might have the connotation that they were mere words, words without true doctrine. They were just words. They weren’t the truth. Nevertheless, such words can have a very serious unsettling effect on men’s minds. - GR

unsettling your souls -- This verb (ἀνασκευάζοντες, anaskeuazontes) occurs nowhere else in the N.T. In classical Greek it meant "to collect together the vessels used in a house- the household furniture and silver - for the purpose of carrying it off." Then it meant to dismantle, to overthrow. In a military connotation it was used for plundering (laying waste, or ravaging) a city.

Here the idea seems that of turning the minds of the Gentile converts upside down; throwing them into confusion like a dismantled house.

Metaphorically it can mean "to break a treaty" or "to destroy an opponent’s arguments."

Whenever a man’s salvation is called in question, and it appears that the one who has asked the questions have been teaching doctrines (the verb tense here is present tense -- they might still be at it) which unsettled the minds of the Christians, and left them disturbed and anxious.

saying "You must be circumcised and keep the law" -- This phrase is omitted from most uncial manuscripts, but found in almost all miniscule manuscripts. The NRSV places this phrase in a footnote saying, "Other ancient authorities add saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’"

Most early manuscripts end the verse with “upsetting your minds,” but some witnesses also include “saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law.’ ” The presence of this text explicitly provides the material that has confused the letter recipients. - The Lexham Textual Notes on the Bible

24 ἐξελθόντες Treg NA28 RP ] – WH

• ὑμῶν WH Treg NA28 ] + λέγοντες περιτέμνεσθαι καὶ τηρεῖν τὸν νόμον RP

[RP: The New Testament in the Original Greek: Byzantine Textform 2005, compiled and arranged by Maurice A. Robinson and William G. Pierpont (Southborough, Mass.: Chilton, 2005).]

[Apparatus for the Greek New Testament: SBL Edition]

1) While most uncial MSS omit this phrase, it can be deduced from Acts 15:1 that the apostles and Jerusalem elders did not sanction the teaching that unless the Gentiles were circumcised according to the law of Moses they could not be saved.

2) It can be observed from Acts 15:5 and this verse that the apostles and Jerusalem elders did not charge Gentiles converts to "keep the law of Moses."

Consider (Acts 15:9-10; Galatians 2:3-4; Galatians 6:12-13).

By teaching "circumcision" the Judaizers engaged the observance of the whole law of Moses.

to whom we gave no such commandment -- The Judaizers were mis-representing the Jerusalem church, they did not have such authority from the apostles or Jerusalem elders as they seemed to have claimed (Acts 15:1-2). (1 John 2:19)

The point is then that the apostles (and Jerusalem elders) had given no charge (orders) on the points which the Judaizers had raised.

15:24 This verse shows that the church in Jerusalem had become aware that some of their membership, who had no authority or official standing (cf. v. 1), were (1) traveling to these mission churches and (2) demanding conformity to the Mosaic law (cf. v. 1). The VERB (anaskeuazō) used is a strong military term used only here in the NT for plundering a city. - Utley Bible Commentary

On the fundamental matter of the theological necessity of circumcision and a Jewish lifestyle for Gentile Christians, the letter rebukes the Judaizers for going beyond their authority and assures the churches that there are no such requirements for salvation. On the practical issues of fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers in the churches and of preventing needless offense to Jews throughout the empire, the letter asks Gentile Christians to abstain from the four prohibitions mentioned in v.20 - THE EXPOSITOR’S BIBLE COMMENTARY, New Testament. Kenneth L. Barker, John R. Kohlenberger III; Zondervan

[On the differences between the Old Uncial and the Western textual readings, see C. K. Barrett, “The Apostolic Decree of Acts 15:29, ” Austrialian Biblical Review 35 (1987):50-59.]