Acts 15:28-41

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  15:29 that you abstain from meat that has been sacrificed to idols ³  and from blood and from what has been strangled ⁴  and from sexual immorality. ⁵  If you keep yourselves from doing these things, ⁶  you will do well. Farewell. ⁷ 

15:30 So when they were dismissed, ⁸  they went down to Antioch, ⁹  and after gathering the entire group ¹⁰  together, they delivered the letter. 15:31 When they read it aloud, ¹¹  the people ¹²  rejoiced at its encouragement. ¹³  15:32 Both Judas and Silas, who were prophets themselves, encouraged and strengthened the brothers with a long speech. ¹⁴  15:33 After ¹⁵  they had spent some time there, ¹⁶  they were sent off in peace by the brothers to those who had sent them. 15:34 [[EMPTY]] ¹⁷  15:35 But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, ¹⁸  teaching and proclaiming (along with many others) ¹⁹  the word of the Lord. ²⁰ 

Paul and Barnabas Part Company

15:36 After some days Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s return ²¹  and visit the brothers in every town where we proclaimed the word of the Lord ²²  to see how they are doing.” ²³  15:37 Barnabas wanted to bring John called Mark along with them too, 15:38 but Paul insisted ²⁴  that they should not take along this one who had left them in Pamphylia ²⁵  and had not accompanied them in the work. 15:39 They had ²⁶  a sharp disagreement, ²⁷  so that they parted company. Barnabas took along ²⁸  Mark and sailed away to Cyprus, ²⁹  15:40 but Paul chose Silas and set out, commended ³⁰  to the grace of the Lord by the brothers and sisters. ³¹  15:41 He passed through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening ³²  the churches.

[15:28]  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.

[15:28]  ² tn L&N 71.39 translates “indispensable (rules)” while BDAG 358 s.v. ἐπάναγκες has “the necessary things.”

[15:29]  ³ 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.

[15:29]  ⁴ tc Codex Bezae (D) and a few other witnesses lack the restriction “and from what has been strangled” (καὶ πνικτῶν, kai pniktwn), though the words are supported by a wide variety of early and important witnesses otherwise and should be considered authentic.

[15:29]  ⁵ tc Codex Bezae (D) as well as 323 614 945 1739 1891 sa and other witnesses have after “sexual immorality” the following statement: “And whatever you do not want to happen to yourselves, do not do to another/others.” By adding this negative form of the Golden Rule, these witnesses effectively change the Apostolic Decree from what might be regarded as ceremonial restrictions into more ethical demands. The issues here are quite complicated, and beyond the scope of this brief note. Suffice it to say that D and its allies here are almost surely an expansion and alteration of the original text of Acts. For an excellent discussion of the exegetical and textual issues, see TCGNT 379-83.

[15:29]  ⁶ tn Grk “from which things keeping yourselves.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, the relative pronoun (ὧν, |wn) has been replaced by a pronoun (“these things”) and a new English sentence begun. The participle διατηροῦντες (diathrounte") has been translated as a conditional adverbial participle (“if you keep yourselves”). See further L&N 13.153.

[15:29]  ⁷ tn The phrase ἔρρωσθε (errwsqe) may be understood as a stock device indicating a letter is complete (“good-bye,” L&N 33.24) or as a sincere wish that the persons involved may fare well (“may you fare well,” L&N 23.133).

[15:30]  ⁸ tn Or “sent away.”

[15:30]  ⁹ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:30]  ¹⁰ tn Or “congregation” (referring to the group of believers).

[15:31]  ¹¹ tn Grk “read it.” The translation “read aloud” is used to indicate the actual practice of public reading; translating as “read” could be misunderstood to mean private, silent, or individual reading.

[15:31]  ¹² tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[15:31]  ¹³ tn Or “at its encouraging message.”

[15:32]  ¹⁴ tn Here λόγου (logou) is singular. BDAG 599-600 s.v. λόγος 1.a.β has “in a long speech” for this phrase.

[15:33]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “And after.” 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.

[15:33]  ¹⁶ tn The word “there” is not in the Greek text, but is implied.

[15:34]  ¹⁷ tc A few mss add 15:34 “But Silas decided to stay there.” Verse 34 is lacking in Ì⁷⁴ א A B E Ψ Ï bo. It is included in a shorter form, with a few minor variations, by (C) 33 36 323 453 614 (945) 1175 1739 1891 al sa, and in a longer form (“But Silas decided to stay with them, and only Judas departed”) by D l. The verse is almost certainly not a part of the original text of Acts, but was added to harmonize with the statement about Silas in v. 40. The present translation follows NA²⁷ in omitting the verse number, a procedure also followed by a number of other modern translations.

[15:35]  ¹⁸ sn Antioch was a city in Syria (not Antioch in Pisidia).

[15:35]  ¹⁹ sn This is a parenthetical note by the author.

[15:35]  ²⁰ sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16, 1 Pet 1:25) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; here and in v. 36; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

[15:36]  ²¹ tn Grk “Returning let us visit.” The participle ἐπιστρέψαντες (epistreyante") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:36]  ²² tn See the note on the phrase “word of the Lord” in v. 35.

[15:36]  ²³ tn BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.b has “how they are” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ²⁴ tn BDAG 94 s.v. ἀξιόω 2.a has “he insisted (impf.) that they should not take him along” for this phrase.

[15:38]  ²⁵ sn Pamphylia was a province in the southern part of Asia Minor. See Acts 13:13, where it was mentioned previously.

[15:39]  ²⁶ tn Grk “There happened a sharp disagreement.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[15:39]  ²⁷ tn BDAG 780 s.v. παροξυσμός 2 has “sharp disagreement” here; L&N 33.451 has “sharp argument, sharp difference of opinion.”

[15:39]  ²⁸ tn Grk “taking along Mark sailed.” The participle παραλαβόντα (paralabonta) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:39]  ²⁹ sn Cyprus is a large island in the Mediterranean off the south coast of Asia Minor.

[15:40]  ³⁰ tn Or “committed.” BDAG 762 s.v. παραδίδωμι 2 gives “be commended by someone to the grace of the Lord” as the meaning for this phrase, although “give over” and “commit” are listed as alternatives for this category.

[15:40]  ³¹ tn Grk “by the brothers.” Here it it is highly probable that the entire congregation is in view, not just men, so the translation “brothers and sisters” has been used for the plural ἀδελφῶν (adelfwn),.

[15:41]  ³² sn Strengthening. See Acts 14:22; 15:32; 18:23.