Acts

11:1-18

4. The gospel reaches the Gentiles, 9:32-12:25

v] Peter explains his actions

For Luke, the movement of the gospel toward the Gentiles is a significant event and so he takes time to show that it is not only authorized by the Jerusalem church, but by God himself. This passage records Peter's defense, before the Jerusalem church, for the baptism of Cornelius and his family.

In v1-3 Luke records how the news of Gentile conversions has spread among the believers in Judea. Obviously the news is one of great joy, but the related issue of the circumcised fellowshipping with the uncircumcised causes some disquiet. In v4-17 Luke records Peter's defence for his actions before the Jerusalem church, both of baptizing Cornelius, a Gentile, and of staying in his house and eating with him. Peter's argument does not directly answer the criticism implied in the question recorded in v3. Peter simply recounts what happened in his dealings with Cornelius such that against his own better judgment it was God's will that he preach the gospel to Cornelius and his household and that he stay in his home. Peter supports this contention with an account of his encounters with God, v4-14, the evidence of Cornelius' conversion ("God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ"), v15-16, and his own conclusion "who was I that I could hinder God", v17. The Jerusalem church accepts Peter's explanation and responds with praise to God, v18.

Of course, the issue of the full acceptance of Gentiles into the Christian community, and this apart from compliance with Mosaic law, has a long way to run, necessitating the Jerusalem conference and the Pauline letters of Galatians and Romans.

oiJ adelfoi (oV) "brothers" - Meaning the "believers".

oiJ onteV "-" - the ones being. The participle forms an adjectival phrase, "the apostles and brothers who were throughout Judea"

kata + acc. "throughout" - through. Here with a spacial sense; "in Judea."

oJti "[heard] that" - that. Forming a dependent statement of perception expressing what they heard.

edexanto (decomai) aor. "received" - The verb of a neuter plural subject is usually singular (the subject is treated as a collective noun) although here it is plural. This is sometimes the case in the NT, especially with persons, cf. Bruce. "The Gentiles believed the gospel."

oJte "so when" - when. Introducing a temporal clause.

anebh (anabainw) aor. "went up [to Jerusalem]" - It is interesting how different cultures use the "going up" or "going down" term. In Australia, "going up" means going North, while "going down" means going South. Jerusalem is on the highland plateau, so it is up in height from say Jericho, so "Peter went to Jerusalem."

oiJ ek peritomhV "the circumcised believers" - those from circumcision. It is unlikely they are unbelieving Jews. They are obviously believers of Jewish birth, but specifically Jewish believers who are unhappy with Peters association with ritually impure Gentiles. Given the ongoing debate over the place of the law in the life of the early church and the degree to which it should be applied to Gentile believers, it is likely that Luke intends us to understand these "believers" as members of "the circumcision party" - "those from the circumcision party."

diekrinonto (diakrinw) imperf. "criticized" - were divided = were taking issue, disputing ..... criticizing. The imperfect is durative and so ongoing criticism may be intended, although an imperfect is often used of speech as a matter of form. The word can mean entering into a controversy with someone (which is probably the meaning here), or can take a gentler tack, eg. "questioned his action", Barclay.

Rendered as a question in NRSV since it follows p45 reading the verbs as second person and therefore oJti as an interrogative.

legonteV (legw) pres. part. "and said" - saying. Attendant circumstance participle, as NIV.

oJti "-" - Introducing a dependent statement, direct speech.

econtaV (ecw) pres. part. "-" - [you entered into] having [uncircumcised men]. The participle is adjectival, limiting the assumed "house", "entered into [a house] which has uncircumcised men [in it]." "You went into the homes of uncircumcised heathens", Barclay.

sunefageV (sunesqew) aor. "ate [with them]" - you ate. In the original account we are not told that Peter eats with Cornelius, although given the substance of Peter's vision, it is probably what he did. Entering the home of a Gentile was not an acceptable act for a law-bound Jew, but eating with them was totally forbidden.

arxamenoV (arcw) aor. part. "[Peter] began" - having begun. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the imperfect verb "was explaining", as NIV. Peter details the events from the beginning. His account starts from the very first things that had happened.

kaqexhV adv. "precisely as it had happened" - in order, sequence. Peter gave an account of what had happened "point by point"

hmhn ..... proseuxomenoV (proseucomai) pres. part. "I was ...... praying" - praying. The imperfect of the verb to-be with the present participle forms an imperfect periphrastic construction, possibly emphasizing aspect; "I was in the city of Joppa engaged in prayer", Cassirer.

en ekstasei (is ewV) "in a trance" - We might say "having fallen into a trance". The en is possibly temporal, "and I saw, while in a trance, a vision".

"I saw [something]" - This "I saw" is not in the Gk. but serves to express the fact that "a certain thing coming down / something" stands in apposition to "a vision".

katabainon (katabainw) pres. part. "-" - coming down. This participle is adjectival, possibly attributive, limiting skeuoV ti, "a certain thing which was coming down", or predicative in the form of an object complement double accusative construction; "I saw .... a vision, a certain object/thing (accusative object in apposition to oJrama "vision") coming down (accusative object complement), cf. Wallace.

wJV "like [a large sheet]" - as, like [a large cloth]. Here marking a relationship, the something descending was like a sheet descending.

kaqiemenhn (kaqihmi) pres. pas. part. "being led down" - The participle is adjectival, limiting "sheet/cloth", "a sheet which was being let down."

tessarsin arcaiV dat. "by it's four corners" - by four corners. The dative is instrumental.

ek tou ouranou "from heaven" - Peter may simply mean the sky, but probably he is saying that "the heavens opened", ie. the spiritual domain became visible to human senses and displayed a visionary image.

hJlqen acri emou "it came down to where I was" - it came up to me, came near me. The sheet was lowered into Peter's presence.

atenisaV (atenizw) aor. part. "I looked [into it]" - [into it (the sheet] having looked intently. The participle is adverbial, probably temporal; "when I looked steadily at it", Moffatt.

katenooun (katanoew) imperf. "-" - I was observing. The imperfect, expressing durative action, is followed by the punctiliar aorist eidon "I saw"; "I was considering it and then I saw", Barrett.

ta qhria "wild beasts" - wild animals. An addition to the list in 11:6.

tou ouranou (oV) "[birds] of the air" - of heaven. "Birds of the sky", Barclay.

fwnhV (h) gen. "[I heard] a voice" - Genitive after a verb of perception.

legoushV (legw) gen. pres. part. "telling [me]" - saying [to me]. The participle functions as an object complement, as NIV.

anastaV (anisthmi) aor. part. "get up" - having arisen. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the imperatives, "kill" and "eat", so also imperative as NIV. "Up Peter", Barclay.

quson (quw) aor. "kill" - sacrifice. The word means to kill for the purpose of a sacrifice, but this is obviously not intended here. The spiritual significance of the occasion has probably prompted the use of this word.

mhdamwV adv. "surely not" - by no means. Certainly not. The word is a strong negation.

koinon h akaqarton "impure or unclean" - defiled or unclean. The sense is of ritually defiled or unclean, impure.

mh koinou (koinow) pres. imp. "do no call anything impure" - [you] do not call unclean. The "you" is emphatic. "Do not regard as common or defiled", cf. Cully. "Do not declare unclean that which God has cleansed", Cassirer.

ekaqarisen (kaqarizw) aor. "has made clean" - made clean, cleansed. Made suitable to be eaten. What God has declared suitable is suitable.

touto de egeneto epi triV "this happened three times" - this happened on three. Did the vision repeat itself three times or did God tell Peter to eat three times? The second option is to be preferred.

Right at that moment Peter is visited by three men, inviting him to Caesarea. Cornelius is not mentioned, but the invitation is obviously his. Peter sets of with six brothers who serve as Jewish Christian witnesses. "He", obviously Cornelius, tells of an angelic visitation and the instruction to summon Peter that he and his household may be saved, v11-14.

idou exauthV "right then" - behold at once, immediately, suddenly ... Also possibly just a transitional phrase "in the meantime".

apestalmenoi (apostellw) perf. pas. part. "who had been sent [from Caesarea]" - having been sent. The participle is adjectival, as NIV.

to pneuma "the Spirit" - Note that in v8 Peter refers to the voice as "Lord".

mhden diakrinanta "have no hesitation" - without making a distinction. A textual variant here causes a minor problem. The NIV, along with the NEB, opts for the middle diakrinomenoV "without hesitation / doubting", while NRSV sides with the UBS Geek NT. reading "without making a distinction", so Barrett.

sunelqein (sunercomai) aor. inf. "about going [with them]" - to go together. The infinitive forms a dependent statement expressing what the Spirit told Peter; "the Spirit said to me that I should accompany them without making a distinction (between Jew and Gentile)."

hJmin "[he told] us" - to us. Dative of indirect object.

staqenta (iJsthmi) aor. pas. part. "appear [and say]" - having stood [and having said]. This participle and one following are best treated as object complements; "he saw the/an angel (object) in his house, standing (object complement) and saying (object complement). "He related how he had seen an angel standing in his house and saying", Moffatt.

ton epikaloumenon (epikalew) pres. pas. part. "who is called [Peter]" - the one being called. The participle is adjectival, as NIV. "Someone named Simon Peter", CEV.

kai paV oJ oikoV sou "and all your household" - all the house of you. The salvation of households is an interesting feature in Acts. Of course, a promise to a specific group of people is not necessarily a promise to us. None-the-less, this promise does demonstrate a feature often repeated in the scriptures, namely, that God works with families, presumably because he has created the family as the fundamental unit of human association and therefore tends to act in a way that does not undermine it. So, we have here the source of a general principle, but not a rule, namely that if the head of the home is saved then all members of the family are incorporated in that individuals salvation - does this include the staff? That incorporation may involve salvation, but it may just mean they are brought under the sound of the gospel and therefore given a greater opportunity to find salvation in Christ.

As noted by Peterson, the implication is that "the Spirit came upon Cornelius and his household even before they were invited to trust in Christ and be baptized in his name." The more important implication is brought out by Peter, namely that "the Spirit's coming on the Gentiles in Caesarea was reminiscent of his coming upon the apostles in Jerusalem", Peterson.

en ... tw/ arxasqai (arcw) aor. inf. "As I began" - in to begin. This preposition with the articular infinitive usually forms a temporal clause; "after I began speaking", CEV.

lalein (lalew) pres. inf. "to speak" - to speak. The infinitive is complementary, completing the verbal aspect of the infinitive "to begin".

epepesen (epiptw) aor. "came on" - fell, fell upon. Always an interesting language problem for the modern mind. To a Jew, the Spirit obviously proceeds from an opening in the heavens and falls upon the recipient. To our mind, a spiritual confrontation involves our being surrounded and possessed.

wJsper "as" - just as. Expressing similarity.

en arch/ "at the beginning" - in beginning. ie. when first the Holy Spirit came upon the apostles, namely, the feast of Pentecost following Jesus' crucifixion.

tou kuriou (oV) "what [the Lord] had said" - [the word] of the Lord. Possibly a subjective genitive, as NIV, "the words ascribed to our Lord", Bruce, or simply adjectival, possessive, "the words of Jesus".

wJV "-" - Possibly "how he said", AV, or temporal, "when he said".

ebaptisen (baptizw) aor. "baptized" - immersed. The word "baptized" can cause problems where the type of "baptism" intended is unclear. Here it is obviously referring to water baptism, uJdati dat. = "with / by / in water". A word such as "immerse" is better than "baptize" since it is not so powerfully tied to water christening/baptizing and therefore, easily includes a figurative sense, eg. "I am immersed in my work..." NT figurative uses include: i] immersed in the Holy Spirit, as here en pneumati aJgiw/; ii] immersed in suffering; iii] immersed in the Name = the person of Jesus = his Word / teaching.

oun "so" - therefore. Drawing a logical conclusion.

ei + ind. "if" - Introducing a conditional clause, 1st class, where the condition is assumed a reality; "if, as is the case, ..... then ...."

pisteusasin (pisteuw) aor. part. "who believed" - having believed. The participle is adjectival, limiting "us" and forming and adjectival phrase "who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ". "Belief" in the NT is a very important word, meaning something like a firm resolve to take God at his word, to commit to him.

epi "in" - upon. This preposition, followed by the accusative, means movement onto. "I put the weight of my resolve onto/upon Jesus."

egw tiV hmhn dunatoV kwlusai ton qeon "who was I to think that I could oppose God?" - who was I able to hinder God. This phrase in the Greek carries two ideas prompted by "who was I" and the adjective "able/strong/possible" with the infinitive "hinder/prevent." Was Peter able to hinder God's will? Who was Peter to think that he was able to hinder God's will? Peter knew the answer to both questions and it seems his opponents did as well.

akousanteV (akouw) aor. part. "when they heard [this]" - having heard [these things]. The participle is adverbial, probably temporal, as NIV.

hJsucasan (hJsucazw) aor. "they had no further objections" - they remained quiet. A literal rendering is "they remained silent", NRSV, their doubts were satisfied.

legonteV (legw) "saying" - saying. Attendant circumstance participle expressing action accompanying the verb "glorified / praised"; "praised God and said".

a[ra "so then" - therefore. Drawing a logical conclusion.

kai "even [the Gentiles]" - even [to the Gentiles].

thn metanoian eiV zwhn "repentance unto life" - repentance to life. Interestingly, the NRSV, which tends to be a more literal translation than the NIV, has "repentance that leads to life." The TEV certainly breaks open the meaning of this phrase with its rendering "the opportunity to repent and live." eiV often expresses purpose and that sense is probably found here; "the repentance which is the way to life", Barclay.

Acts Introduction

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