Passage

Acts 15.19-20

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV

17. That the residue of men may seek after the Lord, And all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, 18. Saith the Lord, who maketh these things known from of old.

19. Wherefore my judgment is, that we trouble not them that from among the Gentiles turn to God; 20. but that we write unto them, that they abstain from the pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from what is strangled, and from blood.

For Moses from generations of old hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath. 22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: (Acts 15:17-22, ASV)

WEB

17. That the rest of men may seek after the Lord; all the Gentiles who are called by my name, says the Lord, who does all these things. 18. All of God’s works are known to him from eternity.’

19. “Therefore my judgment is that we don’t trouble those from among the Gentiles who turn to God, 20. but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood.

For Moses from generations of old has in every city those who preach him, being read in the synagogues every Sabbath.” 22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, to choose men out of their company, and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas: Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, chief men among the brothers. (Acts 15:17-22, WEB)

KJV

17. That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, upon whom my name is called, saith the Lord, who doeth all these things. 18. Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.

19. Wherefore my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God: 20. But that we write unto them, that they abstain from pollutions of idols, and from fornication, and from things strangled, and from blood.

For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day. 22. Then pleased it the apostles and elders, with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, chief men among the brethren: (Acts 15:17-22, KJV)

YLT

17. that the residue of men may seek after the Lord, and all the nations, upon whom My name hath been called, saith the Lord, who is doing all these things. 18. 'Known from the ages to God are all His works;

19. wherefore I judge: not to trouble those who from the nations do turn back to God, 20. but to write to them to abstain from the pollutions of the idols, and the whoredom, and the strangled thing; and the blood;

for Moses from former generations in every city hath those preaching him, in the synagogues every sabbath being read.' 22. Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole assembly, chosen men out of themselves to send to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas, Judas surnamed Barsabas, and Silas, leading men among the brethren (Acts 15:17-22, YLT)

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Setting

Speaker: James, presiding, delivering the decision of the Jerusalem council
Audience: the apostles, elders and assembly at Jerusalem
Location: Jerusalem
Time period: c. AD 48 to 50

Theological reading

James's ruling is the hinge of the New Testament's most consequential controversy: what, if anything, must Gentile converts do about the law of Moses.

His judgment is that we trouble not them that from among the Gentiles turn to God, followed by four abstentions: things polluted by idols, fornication, what is strangled, and blood. The structure is decisive. Circumcision, the presenting issue, is not required. Justification is not made contingent on law-keeping, which is the point Peter has just made in verses 8 to 11 by appealing to the Spirit's having fallen on Cornelius.

The four items are then best read not as a residual law-code but as the conditions under which Jewish and Gentile believers could share a table without the Jewish believers being defiled. Three of the four are ritual and one is moral, and all four correspond to prohibitions Leviticus 17 and 18 applied to resident aliens in Israel. James says as much in verse 21: Moses is read in every city.

This settles the shape of the New Testament's position. The law is not the ground of acceptance, and the four abstentions are a charity ruling that protects fellowship rather than a reduced set of works. See Mosaic Law and Justification by Faith.

The decision's method is as notable as its content: an assembly, testimony from the field, an appeal to scripture (Amos 9), and a ruling.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

No Strong's-tagged lexicon entry is curated for the key terms of this verse; the lexicon covers roughly 100 contested terms, not every word. See Lexicon Roadmap.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

Apostolic Age
Mosaic Law
Petrine Primacy, via Acts 15.13-21
Resurrection of Jesus - Minimal Facts Case, via Acts 15.13-21
Ritual Purity Laws Objection, via Acts 15.19-29

People:

James the Brother of Jesus, via Acts 15.13-21

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.