Acts 15:28

15:28 For it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us ¹  not to place any greater burden on you than these necessary rules: ² 

Acts 16:4

16:4 As they went through the towns, ³  they passed on ⁴  the decrees that had been decided on by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ⁵  for the Gentile believers ⁶  to obey. ⁷ 

Acts 21:25

21:25 But regarding the Gentiles who have believed, we have written a letter, having decided ⁸  that they should avoid ⁹  meat that has been sacrificed to idols ¹⁰  and blood and what has been strangled ¹¹  and sexual immorality.”

Romans 2:12

2:12 For all who have sinned apart from the law ¹²  will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law.

Romans 2:14

2:14 For whenever the Gentiles, ¹³  who do not have the law, do by nature ¹⁴  the things required by the law, ¹⁵  these who do not have the law are a law to themselves.

Galatians 2:3-4

2:3 Yet ¹⁶  not even Titus, who was with me, was compelled to be circumcised, although he was a Greek. 2:4 Now this matter arose ¹⁷  because of the false brothers with false pretenses ¹⁸  who slipped in unnoticed to spy on ¹⁹  our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, to make us slaves. ²⁰ 

Galatians 2:12-14

2:12 Until ²¹  certain people came from James, he had been eating with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he stopped doing this ²²  and separated himself ²³  because he was afraid of those who were pro-circumcision. ²⁴  2:13 And the rest of the Jews also joined with him in this hypocrisy, so that even Barnabas was led astray with them ²⁵  by their hypocrisy. 2:14 But when I saw that they were not behaving consistently with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas ²⁶  in front of them all, “If you, although you are a Jew, live like a Gentile and not like a Jew, how can you try to force ²⁷  the Gentiles to live like Jews?”

Galatians 3:2

3:2 The only thing I want to learn from you is this: Did you receive the Spirit by doing the works of the law ²⁸  or by believing what you heard? ²⁹ 

¹ tn This is the same expression translated “decided” in Acts 15:22, 25. BDAG 255 s.v. δοκέω 2.b.β lists “decide” as a possible gloss for this verse, and this translation would be consistent with the translation of the same expression in Acts 15:22, 25. However, the unusually awkward “the Holy Spirit and we have decided” would result. Given this approach, it would be more natural in English to say “We and the Holy Spirit have decided,” but changing the order removes the emphasis the Greek text gives to the Holy Spirit. Thus, although the similarity to the phrases in 15:22, 25 is obscured, it is better to use the alternate translation “it seems best to me” (also given by BDAG): “it seemed best to the Holy Spirit and to us.” Again the scope of agreement is highlighted.

² tn L&N 71.39 translates “indispensable (rules)” while BDAG 358 s.v. ἐπάναγκες has “the necessary things.”

³ tn Or “cities.”

⁴ tn BDAG 762-63 s.v. παραδίδωμι 3 has “they handed down to them the decisions to observe Ac 16:4.”

⁵ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

⁶ tn Grk “for them”; the referent (Gentile believers) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁷ tn Or “observe” or “follow.”

⁸ tn L&N 13.154 has “‘having decided that they must keep themselves from food offered to idols, from blood, from an animal that has been strangled, and from sexual immorality’ Ac 21:25.”

⁹ tn This is a different Greek word than the one used in Acts 15:20, 29. BDAG 1068 s.v. φυλάσσω 3 has “to be on one’s guard against, look out for, avoid…w. acc. of pers. or thing avoided…Ac 21:25.” The Greek word used in Acts 15:20, 29 is ἀπέχω (apecw). The difference in meaning, although slight, has been maintained in the translation.

¹⁰ tn There is no specific semantic component in the Greek word εἰδωλόθυτος that means “meat” (see BDAG 280 s.v. εἰδωλόθυτος; L&N 5.15). The stem –θυτος means “sacrifice” (referring to an animal sacrificially killed) and thereby implies meat.

¹¹ sn What has been strangled. That is, to refrain from eating animals that had been killed without having the blood drained from them. According to the Mosaic law (Lev 17:13-14) Jews were forbidden to eat flesh with the blood still in it (note the preceding provision in this verse, and blood).

¹² sn This is the first occurrence of law (nomos) in Romans. Exactly what Paul means by the term has been the subject of much scholarly debate. According to J. A. Fitzmyer (Romans [AB], 131-35; 305-6) there are at least four different senses: (1) figurative, as a “principle”; (2) generic, meaning “a law”; (3) as a reference to the OT or some part of the OT; and (4) as a reference to the Mosaic law. This last usage constitutes the majority of Paul’s references to “law” in Romans.

¹³ sn Gentile is a NT term for a non-Jew.

¹⁴ tn Some (e.g. C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:135-37) take the phrase φύσει (fusei, “by nature”) to go with the preceding “do not have the law,” thus: “the Gentiles who do not have the law by nature,” that is, by virtue of not being born Jewish.

¹⁵ tn Grk “do by nature the things of the law.”

¹⁶ tn Grk “But,” translated here as “Yet” for stylistic reasons (note the use of “but” in v. 2).

¹⁷ tn No subject and verb are expressed in vv. 4-5, but the phrase “Now this matter arose,” implied from v. 3, was supplied to make a complete English sentence.

¹⁸ tn The adjective παρεισάκτους (pareisaktou"), which relates to someone joining a group with false motives or false pretenses, applies to the “false brothers.” Although the expression “false brothers with false pretenses” is somewhat redundant, it captures the emphatic force of Paul’s expression, which labels both these “brothers” as false (ψευδαδέλφους, yeudadelfou") as well as their motives. See L&N 34.29 for more information.

¹⁹ tn The verb translated here as “spy on” (κατασκοπέω, kataskopew) can have a neutral nuance, but here the connotation is certainly negative (so F. F. Bruce, Galatians [NIGTC], 112-13, and E. Burton, Galatians [ICC], 83).

²⁰ tn Grk “in order that they might enslave us.” The ἵνα (Jina) clause with the subjunctive verb καταδουλώσουσιν (katadoulwsousin) has been translated as an English infinitival clause.

²¹ tn The conjunction γάρ has not been translated here.

²² tn Grk “he drew back.” If ἑαυτόν (Jeauton) goes with both ὑπέστελλεν (Jupestellen) and ἀφώριζεν (afwrizen) rather than only the latter, the meaning would be “he drew himself back” (see BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 1.a).

²³ tn Or “and held himself aloof.”

²⁴ tn Grk “the [ones] of the circumcision,” that is, the group of Jewish Christians who insisted on circumcision of Gentiles before they could become Christians.

²⁵ tn The words “with them” are a reflection of the σύν- (sun-) prefix on the verb συναπήχθη (sunaphcqh; see L&N 31.76).

²⁶ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

²⁷ tn Here ἀναγκάζεις (anankazei") has been translated as a conative present (see ExSyn 534).

²⁸ tn Grk “by [the] works of [the] law,” a reference to observing the Mosaic law.

²⁹ tn Grk “by [the] hearing of faith.”