Acts 15:13-21

15:13 After they stopped speaking, ¹  James replied, ²  “Brothers, listen to me. 15:14 Simeon ³  has explained ⁴  how God first concerned himself ⁵  to select ⁶  from among the Gentiles ⁷  a people for his name. 15:15 The ⁸  words of the prophets agree ⁹  with this, as it is written,

15:16 ‘After this ¹⁰  I ¹¹  will return,

and I will rebuild the fallen tent ¹²  of David;

I will rebuild its ruins and restore ¹³  it,

15:17 so that the rest of humanity ¹⁴  may seek the Lord,

namely, ¹⁵  all the Gentiles ¹⁶  I have called to be my own,’ ¹⁷  says the Lord, ¹⁸  who makes these things 15:18 known ¹⁹  from long ago. ²⁰ 

15:19 “Therefore I conclude ²¹  that we should not cause extra difficulty ²²  for those among the Gentiles ²³  who are turning to God, 15:20 but that we should write them a letter ²⁴  telling them to abstain ²⁵  from things defiled ²⁶  by idols and from sexual immorality and from what has been strangled ²⁷  and from blood. 15:21 For Moses has had those who proclaim him in every town from ancient times, ²⁸  because he is read aloud ²⁹  in the synagogues ³⁰  every Sabbath.”

[15:13]  ¹ tn BDAG 922 s.v. σιγάω 1.b lists this passage under the meaning “stop speaking, become silent.”

[15:13]  ² tn Grk “answered, saying”; the redundant participle λέγων (legwn) has not been translated.

[15:14]  ³ sn Simeon is a form of the apostle Peter’s Aramaic name. James uses Peter’s “Jewish” name here.

[15:14]  ⁴ tn Or “reported,” “described.”

[15:14]  ⁵ tn BDAG 378 s.v. ἐπισκέπτομαι 3 translates this phrase in Acts 15:14, “God concerned himself about winning a people fr. among the nations.”

[15:14]  ⁶ tn Grk “to take,” but in the sense of selecting or choosing (accompanied by the preposition ἐκ [ek] plus a genitive specifying the group selected from) see Heb 5:1; also BDAG 584 s.v. λαμβάνω 6.

[15:14]  ⁷ sn In the Greek text the expression “from among the Gentiles” is in emphatic position.

[15:15]  ⁸ tn Grk “And the.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.

[15:15]  ⁹ sn The term agree means “match” or “harmonize with.” James’ point in the introduction argues that many of the OT prophets taught this. He gives one example (which follows).

[15:16]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “After these things.”

[15:16]  ¹¹ sn The first person pronoun I refers to God and his activity. It is God who is doing this.

[15:16]  ¹² tn Or more generally, “dwelling”; perhaps, “royal tent.” According to BDAG 928 s.v. σκηνή the word can mean “tent” or “hut,” or more generally “lodging” or “dwelling.” In this verse (a quotation from Amos 9:11) BDAG refers this to David’s ruined kingdom; it is possibly an allusion to a king’s tent (a royal tent). God is at work to reestablish David’s line (Acts 2:30-36; 13:32-39).

[15:16]  ¹³ tn BDAG 86 s.v. ἀνορθόω places this verb under the meaning “to build someth. up again after it has fallen, rebuild, restore,” but since ἀνοικοδομέω (anoikodomew, “rebuild”) has occurred twice in this verse already, “restore” is used here.

[15:17]  ¹⁴ tn Or “so that all other people.” The use of this term follows Amos 9:11 LXX.

[15:17]  ¹⁵ tn Here καί (kai) introduces an explanatory clause that explains the preceding phrase “the rest of humanity.” The clause introduced by καί (kai) could also be punctuated in English as a parenthesis.

[15:17]  ¹⁶ tn Or “all the nations” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same).

[15:17]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “all the Gentiles on whom my name has been called.” Based on well-attested OT usage, the passive of ἐπικαλέω (epikalew) here indicates God’s ownership (“all the Gentiles who belong to me”) or calling (“all the Gentiles whom I have called to be my own”). See L&N 11.28.

[15:17]  ¹⁸ sn A quotation from Amos 9:11-12 LXX. James demonstrated a high degree of cultural sensitivity when he cited a version of the text (the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament) that Gentiles would use.

[15:18]  ¹⁹ sn Who makes these things known. The remark emphasizes how God’s design of these things reaches back to the time he declared them.

[15:18]  ²⁰ sn An allusion to Isa 45:21.

[15:19]  ²¹ tn Or “I have decided,” “I think.” The verb κρίνω (krinw) has a far broader range of meaning than the often-used English verb “judge.” BDAG 568 s.v. κρίνω 3 places this use in Acts 15:19 in the category “judge, think, consider, look upon” followed by double accusative of object and predicate. However, many modern translations give the impression that a binding decision is being handed down by James: “it is my judgment” (NASB, NIV); “I have reached the decision” (NRSV). L&N 22.25, on the other hand, translate the phrase here “I think that we should not cause extra difficulty for those among the Gentiles.” This gives more the impression of an opinion than a binding decision. The resolution of this lies not so much in the lexical data as in how one conceives James’ role in the leadership of the Jerusalem church, plus the dynamics of the specific situation where the issue of Gentile inclusion in the church was being discussed. The major possibilities are: (1) James is handing down a binding decision to the rest of the church as the one who has ultimate authority to decide this matter; (2) James is offering his own personal opinion in the matter, which is not binding on the church; (3) James is voicing a consensus opinion of all the apostles and elders, although phrasing it as if it were his own; (4) James is making a suggestion to the rest of the leadership as to what course they should follow. In light of the difficulty in reconstructing the historical situation in detail, it is best to use a translation which maintains as many of the various options as possible. For this reason the translation “Therefore I conclude” has been used, leaving open the question whether in reaching this conclusion James is speaking only for himself or for the rest of the leadership.

[15:19]  ²² tn Or “trouble.” This term is a NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 775 s.v. παρενοχλέω).

[15:19]  ²³ tn Or “among the nations” (in Greek the word for “nation” and “Gentile” is the same).

[15:20]  ²⁴ tn The translation “to write a letter, to send a letter to” for ἐπιστέλλω (epistellw) is given in L&N 33.49.

[15:20]  ²⁵ tn Three of the four prohibitions deal with food (the first, third and fourth) while one prohibition deals with behavior (the second, refraining from sexual immorality). Since these occur in the order they do, the translation “abstain from” is used to cover both sorts of activity (eating food items, immoral behavior).

[15:20]  ²⁶ tn Or “polluted.”

[15:20]  ²⁷ 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 following provision in Acts 15:20, and from blood).

[15:21]  ²⁸ tn Grk “from generations of old”; the translation “fr. ancient times” is given by BDAG 192 s.v. γενεά 3.b.

[15:21]  ²⁹ tn The translation “read aloud” is used to indicate the actual practice; translating as “read” could be misunderstood to mean private, silent reading.

[15:21]  ³⁰ sn See the note on synagogue in 6:9.