Acts 11

The apostles and the other believers throughout Judea heard that Gentiles, people who were not Jews, had also received God's message.

1And the apostles and brethren that were in Judaea heard that the Gentiles had also received the word of God.

Note"Gentiles" translates a Greek word meaning the nations or the peoples: everyone who was not Jewish. In the King James "brethren" means fellow members of the group, women included, not male relatives.

2So when Peter came up to Jerusalem, the Jewish believers who kept the practice of circumcision argued with him.

2And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,

NoteCircumcision, the cutting away of the foreskin of a male infant, was the physical mark of belonging to Israel, commanded in Genesis 17. "They that were of the circumcision" here means Jewish believers in Jesus who held that this mark, and the whole way of life that went with it, still defined the people of God.

3They said, "You went into the home of men who are not circumcised, and you ate with them."

3Saying, Thou wentest in to men uncircumcised, and didst eat with them.

NoteThe objection is not about the conversation but about the meal. Sharing a table with a non-Jew meant eating food that might not meet Jewish dietary rules, prepared in a kitchen that did not observe them, and it was widely treated as making a Jew ritually unfit until he washed and waited. To enter such a house and eat was a public act everyone present would have understood.

4But Peter started at the beginning and explained to them, step by step, everything that had happened. He said:

4But Peter rehearsed the matter from the beginning, and expounded it by order unto them, saying,

Note"Rehearsed" in the King James means recounted or narrated, and "expounded it by order" means laid it out in sequence. Neither word carries its modern sense of practicing or of arguing a case.

5"I was in the city of Joppa, praying. While I was in a trance, I saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came right down to me.

5I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

NoteJoppa was a port on the Mediterranean, the modern Jaffa. A "vessel" in King James English is any container or object, not a ship.

6I looked closely at it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, crawling creatures, and birds of the air.

6Upon the which when I had fastened mine eyes, I considered, and saw fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.

NoteThe list matches the categories of animals set out in Leviticus 11, where God tells Israel which creatures may be eaten and which may not. Peter is describing a sheet holding animals from every category, forbidden ones mixed in with permitted ones.

7Then I heard a voice say to me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.'

7And I heard a voice saying unto me, Arise, Peter; slay and eat.

8But I said, 'No, Lord. Nothing impure or unclean has ever gone into my mouth.'

8But I said, Not so, Lord: for nothing common or unclean hath at any time entered into my mouth.

Note"Common" here does not mean ordinary or frequent. It translates a Greek word meaning shared with everyone, and so not set apart, not fit to bring near God. "Unclean" is the technical term for the animals Leviticus forbids. Peter is saying he has kept the food laws all his life.

9But the voice from heaven answered me a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.'

9But the voice answered me again from heaven, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.

10This happened three times, and then everything was pulled back up into heaven.

10And this was done three times: and all were drawn up again into heaven.

NoteThree repetitions were a standard way of marking something as settled and beyond mistaking, not a sign that Peter was slow to understand.

11Right at that moment, three men came to the house where I was staying. They had been sent to me from Caesarea.

11And, behold, immediately there were three men already come unto the house where I was, sent from Caesarea unto me.

NoteCaesarea was a harbor city built by Herod the Great on the coast, about thirty miles north of Joppa. It was the seat of Roman government in Judea and housed the Roman garrison, so its population was heavily Gentile.

12The Spirit told me to go with them and not to hesitate at all. These six brothers went with me too, and we went into the man's house.

12And the Spirit bade me go with them, nothing doubting. Moreover these six brethren accompanied me, and we entered into the man’s house:

NotePeter names the number deliberately. Jewish legal practice required witnesses to establish a disputed fact, and six of them, plus Peter, far exceeded the usual two or three. He has brought his corroboration into the room with him.

13He told us how he had seen an angel standing in his house. The angel said to him, 'Send men to Joppa and ask for Simon, who is also called Peter.

13And he shewed us how he had seen an angel in his house, which stood and said unto him, Send men to Joppa, and call for Simon, whose surname is Peter;

Note"Surname" in King James English means an additional name a person is known by, not a family name inherited from a father. Simon was his given name; Peter, meaning rock, was the name Jesus gave him.

14He will tell you a message by which you and everyone in your household will be saved.'

14Who shall tell thee words, whereby thou and all thy house shall be saved.

Note"All thy house" means the entire household as a social unit: family, dependents, servants and slaves living under one roof. In the ancient world the household, not the individual, was the ordinary unit of decision.

15As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them, just as he came on us at the beginning.

15And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.

Note"At the beginning" refers to the day of Pentecost described in Acts 2, when the Spirit first came on the followers of Jesus in Jerusalem. Peter is claiming that what happened in Caesarea was the same event, not a lesser version of it.

16Then I remembered what the Lord used to say: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'

16Then remembered I the word of the Lord, how that he said, John indeed baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost.

NoteTo baptize is to dip or wash in water. John, called the Baptist, had been immersing people in the Jordan river as a sign that they were turning from their sins.

17So if God gave them the same gift he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to stand in God's way?"

17Forasmuch then as God gave them the like gift as he did unto us, who believed on the Lord Jesus Christ; what was I, that I could withstand God?

18When they heard this, they stopped objecting. They praised God and said, "So God has also granted to people who are not Jews the turning from sin that leads to life."

18When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life.

Note"They held their peace" means they fell silent, dropping their objection; it does not mean they made peace. "Repentance" translates a Greek word meaning a change of mind that turns a person around, a reversal of direction rather than merely feeling sorry.

19Meanwhile, those who had been scattered by the persecution that began over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch. They told the message to no one but Jews.

19Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.

NoteStephen was stoned to death in Jerusalem, an event described in Acts 7, and the crackdown that followed drove believers out of the city. "Phenice" is the King James spelling of Phoenicia, the coastal strip to the north around Tyre and Sidon. Antioch, in Syria, was one of the largest cities in the Roman empire, several hundred miles from Jerusalem.

20But some of them, men from Cyprus and Cyrene, went to Antioch and began to speak to Greeks as well, telling them the good news about the Lord Jesus.

20And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the LORD Jesus.

NoteCyrene was a Greek city on the coast of North Africa, in modern Libya, with a large Jewish population. The King James "Grecians" is ambiguous, and so is the underlying Greek, where the manuscripts differ between a word meaning Greek-speaking Jews and a word meaning Greeks, that is, non-Jews. Given that verse 19 has just said the message went to Jews only and this verse marks a contrast, the sense is most likely non-Jews, but the wording itself does not settle it.

21The Lord's power was with them, and a large number of people believed and turned to the Lord.

21And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.

Note"The hand of the Lord" is a standard Hebrew idiom for God's power in action, used throughout the Old Testament. It is a figure of speech, not a description of a hand.

22News about this reached the church in Jerusalem, so they sent out Barnabas to go as far as Antioch.

22Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.

NoteThe word translated "church" means an assembly or gathering of people called together. At this date it names the community itself, not a building.

23When he arrived and saw how kind God had been to them, he was glad. He urged them all to hold on to the Lord with all their hearts.

23Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.

Note"Cleave unto" in King James English means to cling to or stick fast to, the opposite of its other old sense of splitting apart. "With purpose of heart" means with settled resolve.

24He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and full of faith. And a great many people were brought to the Lord.

24For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.

25Then Barnabas left for Tarsus to look for Saul.

25Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:

NoteTarsus was a substantial city in Cilicia, in what is now southern Turkey, and Saul's home town. Saul is the man later called Paul; both were his names from the start, Saul the Hebrew one and Paul the Roman one.

26When he found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year the two of them met with the church there and taught large numbers of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians.

26And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

Note"Christians" means partisans or followers of Christ, formed the way Roman political labels were formed. "Christ" is not a surname but a title, the Greek for anointed one, translating the Hebrew word messiah. The name was probably coined by outsiders in Antioch as a convenient label for a group that no longer looked simply like a Jewish sect.

27During those days, some prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.

27And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch.

NoteA prophet in this setting is someone who speaks a message received from God. Predicting the future is one thing such a message might do, as here, but the word does not mean fortune-teller.

28One of them, named Agabus, stood up and, through the Spirit, said that a severe famine was coming on the whole world. This did happen, in the days of Claudius Caesar.

28And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the Spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar.

Note"Dearth" is the King James word for famine. "All the world" translates a Greek term for the inhabited world, in practice the Roman empire. Claudius was emperor from 41 to 54, and ancient writers record repeated grain shortages during his reign, including one that hit Judea hard.

29So the disciples decided that each of them would give what he could, to send help to the believers living in Judea.

29Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:

30That is what they did. They sent the help to the elders, the leaders of the churches there, and Barnabas and Saul carried it.

30Which also they did, and sent it to the elders by the hands of Barnabas and Saul.

Note"Elders" translates a Greek word for the older men who governed a synagogue and its community. The early churches took the structure over ready-made, so the title describes a recognized office, not simply age.