Acts 11 is the eleventh chapter of the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its messag ...

in the

New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Chris ...

of the

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus ...

. It records that

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

defends his visit to Cornelius in

Caesarea Caesarea () ( he, קֵיסָרְיָה, ), ''Keysariya'' or ''Qesarya'', often simplified to Keisarya, and Qaysaria, is an affluent town in north-central Israel, which inherits its name and much of its territory from the ancient city of Caesar ...

and retells his vision prior to the meeting as well as the pouring of Holy Spirit during the meeting. The book containing this chapter is

anonymous Anonymous may refer to: * Anonymity, the state of an individual's identity, or personally identifiable information, being publicly unknown ** Anonymous work, a work of art or literature that has an unnamed or unknown creator or author * Anony ...

but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed that Luke composed this book as well as the

Gospel of Luke The Gospel of Luke), or simply Luke (which is also its most common form of abbreviation). tells of the origins, Nativity of Jesus, birth, Ministry of Jesus, ministry, Crucifixion of Jesus, death, Resurrection of Jesus, resurrection, and Ascensi ...

.Holman Illustrated Bible Handbook. Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. 2012.

Text

The original text was written in

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

. This chapter is divided into 30 verses.

Textual witnesses

Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are: ;In Greek *

Codex Vaticanus The Codex Vaticanus ( The Vatican, Bibl. Vat., Vat. gr. 1209), designated by siglum B or 03 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), δ 1 ( von Soden), is a fourth-century Christian manuscript of a Greek Bible, containing the majority of the Greek Old ...

(AD 325–350) *

Codex Sinaiticus The Codex Sinaiticus ( Shelfmark: London, British Library, Add MS 43725), designated by siglum [Aleph] or 01 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 2 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscript ...

(330–360) *

Codex Bezae The Codex Bezae Cantabrigiensis, designated by siglum D or 05 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 5 (in the von Soden of New Testament manuscript), is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century writ ...

(~400) *

Codex Alexandrinus The Codex Alexandrinus (London, British Library, Royal MS 1. D. V-VIII), designated by the siglum A or 02 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering of New Testament manuscripts), δ 4 (in the von Soden numbering of New Testament manuscripts), is a manu ...

(400–440) * Papyrus 127 (5th century; extant verses 2–5, 30) *

Codex Laudianus Codex Laudianus, designated by Ea or 08 (in the Gregory-Aland numbering), α 1001 ( von Soden), called ''Laudianus'' after the former owner, Archbishop William Laud. It is a diglot Latin — Greek uncial manuscript of the New Testament, palaeo ...

(~550) ;In Latin *

León palimpsest The León Palimpsest, designated l or 67 (in the Beuron system), is a 7th-century Latin manuscript pandect of the Christian Bible conserved in the cathedral of León, Spain. The text, written on vellum, is in a fragmentary condition. In some parts ...

(7th century; extant verses 1–13)Bruce M. Metzger, ''The Early Versions of the New Testament'', Oxford University Press, 1977, p. 316.

Locations

This chapter mentions the following places: *

Antioch Antioch on the Orontes (; grc-gre, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου, ''Antiókheia hē epì Oróntou'', Learned ; also Syrian Antioch) grc-koi, Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπὶ Ὀρόντου; or Ἀντιόχεια ἡ ἐπ� ...

* Joppa *

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Judea Judea or Judaea ( or ; from he, יהודה, Standard ''Yəhūda'', Tiberian ''Yehūḏā''; el, Ἰουδαία, ; la, Iūdaea) is an ancient, historic, Biblical Hebrew, contemporaneous Latin, and the modern-day name of the mountainous so ...

* Tarsus

Ratification in Jerusalem (11:1–18)

Some church members, identified as 'circumcised believers' (), objected to the reception of Gentiles into the church, using precisely the kind of 'discrimination' that Peter was warned against in (cf. ), on the issue of the 'traditional restrictions on table-fellowship between Jews and Gentiles' (as Peter himself referred in ), that was significant in the early church as written by Paul in Galatians 2:11–14. Peter emphasizes 'the role of the Spirit, the importance of not 'making a distinction' (verse 12), and the parallel with Pentecost (verse 15)' in relation to Jesus' words (verse 16; cf. ), and warns that 'withholding baptism from the Gentiles would be tantamount to hindering God' (verse 17) because each step in the development of the church is initiated by God.

Verse 17

: imon Peter said to the assembly:''“If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and relig ...

, who was I that I could withstand God?”'' The words "them" and "us" emphasize the parallel of the two cases (cf. Acts 11:15), for just as faith existed before the gift of the Spirit in the case of Peter and the Apostles, so in the case of Cornelius and his companions there should exist a degree of faith, otherwise the gift was not manifested in them. Moule, H. C. G.,

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges is a biblical commentary set published in parts by Cambridge University Press from 1882 onwards. Anglican bishop John Perowne was the general editor. The first section published was written by theologi ...

Philippians 1
Accessed 28 April 2019

Verse 18

: ''When they heard these things they became silent; and they glorified God, saying, "Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life."'' This concludes the 'unified and tightly constructed episode of Cornelius' conversion.'

The church in Antioch (11:19–26)

This section extends Acts 8:1 ('those who were scattered', following Stephen's death) as the traveling disciples 'speaking the word' (verse 19; cf. Acts 8:4) to wide regions (Phoenicia, Cyprus) and then focuses to the development in

in Syria (c. north of

). Here some of them started preaching to 'Greeks' (verse 20; Greek: , , "Hellenists"; some manuscripts, such as Papyrus 74, have , ''Hellēnas'', "Grecians"), a development from earlier Cornelius episode. The apostles reacted to the news (verse 22) similar to that in , but this time they first sent Barnabas (introduced in ) who plays important roles as the liaison to the church in Jerusalem and as the one who brings Saul (or Paul) from Tarsus (verses 25–26) to spend a year quietly engaged in 'teaching'.

Verse 26

:'' And when he (Barnabas) had found him (Saul or Paul of Tarsus), he brought him to Antioch. So it was that for a whole year they assembled with the church and taught a great many people.'' ::''And the disciples were first called Christians in Antioch.'' *"

Christians Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ� ...

": This is the first mention of the term "Christian" in the

—followed by second mention by

Herod Agrippa II Herod Agrippa II (; AD 27/28 – or 100), officially named Marcus Julius Agrippa and sometimes shortened to Agrippa, was the last ruler from the Herodian dynasty, reigning over territories outside of Judea as a Roman client. Agrippa II fled ...

( Acts 26:28) and by

Simon Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupation ...

in his first epistle ( 1 Peter 4:16)—where all three usages are considered to reflect a derisive element referring to the followers of Christ who did not acknowledge the emperor of Rome. Wuest 1973, p. 19. ''The word is used three times in the New Testament, and each time as a term of reproach or derision. Here in Antioch, the name ''Christianos'' was coined to distinguish the worshippers of the Christ from the ''Kaisarianos'', the worshippers of Caesar.''

Famine relief measures (11:27–30)

The sending of help for the famine in Judea (during the reign of

Claudius Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (; 1 August 10 BC – 13 October AD 54) was the fourth Roman emperor, ruling from AD 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Claudius was born to Drusus and Antonia Minor ...

, 41-54 CE) raises up some historical difficulties: # The placement of the narrative before the death of Herod Agrippa I (44 CE; cf. ), seems to be in conflict with the date 46—48 CE given by

Josephus Flavius Josephus (; grc-gre, Ἰώσηπος, ; 37 – 100) was a first-century Romano-Jewish historian and military leader, best known for '' The Jewish War'', who was born in Jerusalem—then part of Roman Judea—to a father of priestly ...

(Ant. 20.101). However, Acts also records the return of the relief party to Antioch after Herod's death ( Acts 12:25). # It appears to contradict Paul's claim that he visited Jerusalem only once before he attended the council there ( Galatians 2:1-10;

Acts 15 Acts 15 is the fifteenth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records Paul and Barnabas traveling to Jerusalem to attend the Council of Jerusalem and the beginning of Paul's second missionary jour ...

). If Paul's first visit was the one recorded in

Acts 9 Acts 9 is the ninth chapter of the Acts of the Apostles in the New Testament of the Christian Bible. It records Saul's conversion and the works of Saint Peter.Halley, Henry H. ''Halley's Bible Handbook'': an abbreviated Bible commentary. 23rd edit ...

, then Paul would have made an extra visit to Jerusalem against his statement in , or it is possible the

epistle to the Galatians The Epistle to the Galatians is the ninth book of the New Testament. It is a letter from Paul the Apostle to a number of Early Christian communities in Galatia. Scholars have suggested that this is either the Roman province of Galatia in southe ...

was written before the council in Jerusalem (which clarifies why Paul does not mention it) and this visit is the "private" one mentioned in the epistle

References

Sources

* * *

External links

* King James Bible - Wikisource
English Translation with Parallel Latin Vulgate''Online Bible'' at GospelHall.org
(ESV, KJV, Darby, American Standard Version, Bible in Basic English)
Multiple bible versions at ''Bible Gateway''
(NKJV, NIV, NRSV etc.) {{Acts of the Apostles 11