ris3n's Apologetics Codex

Passage

Acts 15.28-29

Book: Acts · ASV / WEB / KJV / YLT

Immediate context (±2 verses)

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ASV

26. men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves also shall tell you the same things by word of mouth.

28. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: 29. that ye abstain from things sacrificed to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication; from which if ye keep yourselves, it shall be well with you. Fare ye well.

  1. So they, when they were dismissed, came down to Antioch; and having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle. 31. And when they had read it, they rejoiced for the consolation. (Acts 15:26-31, ASV)
WEB

26. men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who themselves will also tell you the same things by word of mouth.

28. For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay no greater burden on you than these necessary things: 29. that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell.”

  1. So, when they were sent off, they came to Antioch. Having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the letter. 31. When they had read it, they rejoiced over the encouragement. (Acts 15:26-31, WEB)
KJV

26. Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27. We have sent therefore Judas and Silas, who shall also tell you the same things by mouth. mouth: Gr. word

28. For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things; 29. That ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well. Fare ye well.

  1. So when they were dismissed, they came to Antioch: and when they had gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle: 31. Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation. consolation: or, exhortation (Acts 15:26-31, KJV)
YLT

26. men who have given up their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ 27. we have sent, therefore, Judas and Silas, and they by word are telling the same things.

28. 'For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, no more burden to lay upon you, except these necessary things: 29. to abstain from things offered to idols, and blood, and a strangled thing, and whoredom; from which keeping yourselves, ye shall do well; be strong!'

  1. They then, indeed, having been let go, went to Antioch, and having brought the multitude together, did deliver the epistle, 31. and they having read, did rejoice for the consolation; (Acts 15:26-31, YLT)

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Setting

  • Speaker: the apostles and elders of the Jerusalem council, in their circular letter
  • Audience: the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia
  • Location: sent from Jerusalem
  • Time period: c. AD 48 to 50

Theological reading

For it seemed good to the Holy Spirit, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things.

The formula is extraordinary and it repays slow reading. A council of men writes that a decision seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us, placing divine agency and human deliberation in a single subject. There is no claim of dictation and no suggestion that the deliberation was superfluous. They argued, heard testimony, cited Amos, and reached a judgment, and they describe the outcome as the Spirit's.

This is the New Testament's clearest picture of how the earliest church understood corporate guidance, and it cuts against two opposite errors: that decisions are reached by procedure alone, and that genuine divine leading bypasses argument and evidence.

The four abstentions are repeated from James's ruling, and the letter's tone toward its recipients is warm rather than juridical: no greater burden than these necessary things, followed by fare ye well.

The clause on blood has a long afterlife. Jehovah's Witnesses extend it from dietary blood to medical transfusion, an extension the text does not support: the context is table fellowship and the Levitical prohibitions on eating blood, not the transfer of blood into a body for treatment. See Jehovahs Witnesses.

Verse 31 records the result, that the Antioch church rejoiced for the consolation, which is Luke's verdict on whether the ruling relieved or restricted them.

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.

Quoted in

Arguments and defeaters:

Concepts:

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.