| Acts 15 | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Acts 15:22–24 in Latin (left column) and Greek (right column) inCodex Laudianus, written about AD 550. | |
| Book | Acts of the Apostles |
| Category | Church history |
| Christian Bible part | New Testament |
| Order in the Christian part | 5 |
Acts 15 is the fifteenth chapter of theActs of the Apostles in theNew Testament of theChristian Bible. It records "the first great controversy in the records of the Christian Church",[1] concerning the necessity ofcircumcision,Paul andBarnabas traveling toJerusalem to attend theCouncil of Jerusalem and the beginning of Paul's second missionary journey.[2] The book containing this chapter isanonymous, but early Christian tradition uniformly affirmed thatLuke composed this book as well as theGospel of Luke.[3]
The original text was written inKoine Greek.This chapter is divided into 41 verses.
Some early manuscripts containing the text of this chapter are:
This chapter mentions the following places (in order of appearance):
The journey of Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem and theCouncil of Jerusalem is generally considered to have taken place around 48[8] – 50 AD.Robert Witham dated it to 51 AD.[9]
Thecircumcision controversy began in Antioch, when 'certain men' (Greek:τινες, certain 'people' in theNIV translation) came fromJudea teaching thatsalvation was dependent on circumcision according to theMosaic law. The People's New Testament Commentary[10] called them 'the Judaizing Teachers';[11] Paul called them and others with the same teaching 'false brethren secretly brought in'.[12]
The dispute which arose resulted in a decision to send Paul and Barnabas to Jerusalem, to seek a resolution to the issue. In Jerusalem the pro-circumcision case was argued by 'some of the sect of thePharisees who believed'.[13]
The account of the Jerusalem Council is bracketed by the scenes in Antioch (verses 1–5 opening; verses 30–35 closing) as an indication that the narrator shifted from Jerusalem to Antioch as 'home ground', and might not have access to the developments in Jerusalem since Peter left that city inActs 12:17.[14]
The council listened toJames because he was the first of the three pillars of church (seeGalatians 2:9). He was the leader of thechurch in Jerusalem until he was stoned to death at the insistence of the high priest in 62 AD. James was the Lord Jesus Christ's half brother, the one who did not believe until the Lord appeared to him privately after the Resurrection (see1 Corinthians 15:7).[16]
The letter was addressed to non-Jewish believers inAntioch,Syria, andCilicia. Its wider relevance was confirmed inActs 16:4, where Paul and Silas endorse its compliance across a wider area.[21]
Armed with the apostolic decree, Paul and Barnabas triumphantly returned to Antioch, accompanied by the Jerusalem delegates, Judas (surnamed Barsabbas) and Silas (verses 22, 32), who provided encouragement and strengthening (cf.Acts 14:22), just like Barnabas, who was originally sent from Jerusalem to Antioch (Acts 11:22–24).[2]
This section opens the account of Paul's second journey (Acts 15:36–18:23), which started after an unspecified interval (verse 36: τινας ἡμέρας,tinas hēmeras, literally "some days"), and without the formal commissioning ceremony recorded for his first journey (Acts 13:3).E. H. Plumptre refers to a "commonly received chronology" according to which the journey commenced "somewhat more than a year" after the Council held in Jerusalem.[1]
The proposed tour was simply intended to revisit converts from the previous mission[21] ("the brethren", or "our brethren" in theKing James Version but not incritical Greek texts of the New Testament).[22]
Paul parted ways with Barnabas before the departure (verses 37–39), and Barnabas disappears from the remaining chapters of Acts, although Paul mentions him inhis first epistle to the Corinthians (1 Corinthians 9:6). Silas of Jerusalem (also called "Silvanus" in Latinized form), who is a 'prophet' and anointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 15:32; like Paul and Barnabas), became Paul's new companion (verse 40). Paul and Silas began the journey through theTaurus Mountains passing Paul's home territory ofCilicia (verse 41), following the route along southernAnatolia (nowTurkey) across theCilician Gates.[21] Later, they evangelizedMacedonia andAchaea (1 Thessalonians 1:1;2 Corinthians 1:19).[21]
