Acts 10:15
in Acts 10The voice spoke to him a second time: “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And a voice came unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, make not thou common.
KJV
And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
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This verse in Acts 10
Commentary
19 notes on this verseBut when Peter saw the vision, in which the voice from heaven said to him, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common," this happened [to teach him] that the God who had, through the law, distinguished between clean and unclean, was He who had purified the Gentiles through the blood of His Son-He whom also Cornelius worshipped; to whom Peter, coming in, said, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him."
This site's exposition
I have never eaten anything
on Acts 10:14-16
Peter refuses the command, saying I have never eaten anything impure or unclean, as Ananias objected in 9:13. The voice corrects the category itself: Do not call anything impure that God has made clean, the principle Peter applies to people in verse 28. This happened three times, and the sheet was taken back up into heaven, leaving Peter to puzzle over it.
This site's exposition
that God has made clean
Albert Barnes suggests Peter first took the vision to be about food, though the events that followed showed its larger purpose. Irenaeus teaches that the God who gave the law's distinctions also cleansed the Gentiles through His Son's blood. Peter recalls this word in Acts 15:9.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
The earth is the sheet, and the creatures in it are the beasts, those from the nations. And the "kill and eat," because those too must be admitted. And the third to happen is this, the baptism. But as Peter was in confusion, the men …
Perhaps kneeling he had seen the vision: therefore the voice also said to him, "Rise, Peter, kill and eat." But it showed that what he had seen was divine by reason of his being raised into a trance of mind, and because the voice descended …
That the voice was heard a third time likewise shows the truth of the vision itself. It is clear, however, that he did not wish the utterance to be understood as concerning all foods when he says, "I have never eaten anything common or unclean," …
But when Peter saw the vision, in which the voice from heaven said to him, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common," this happened [to teach him] that the God who had, through the law, distinguished between clean and unclean, was He who had purified the Gentiles through the blood of His Son-He whom also Cornelius worshipped; to whom Peter, coming in, said, "Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, he that feareth Him, and worketh righteousness, is acceptable to Him." He thus clearly indicates, that He whom Cornelius had previously feared as God, of whom he had heard through the law and the prophets, for whose sake also he used to give alms, is, in truth, God. The knowledge of the Son was, however, wanting to him; therefore did [Peter] add, "The word, ye know, which was published throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee, after the baptism which John preached, Jesus of Nazareth, how God anointed Him with the Holy Ghost, and with power; who went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil; for God was with Him..." The apostles, therefore, did preach the Son of God, of whom men were ignorant; and His advent, to those who had been already instructed as to God; but they did not bring in another god.
Or, as is usually done, does that deity abstain from the flesh of goats because of some reverential and religious scruple, another turn with disgust from pork, while to this mutton stinks? and does this one avoid tough ox-beef that he may not overtax his …
11 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers3 voices
"And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common." "What God hath cleansed," saith it, "call not thou common." Great daring! It seems indeed to be spoken to him, but the whole is meant for the Jews. For if the teacher is rebuked, much more these.
Peter abstained from swine; "but a trance fell on him," as is written in the Acts of the Apostles, "and he saw heaven opened, and a vessel let down on the earth by the four corners, and all the four-footed beasts and creeping things of the earth and the fowls of heaven in it; and there came a voice to him, Rise, and slay, and eat. And Peter said, Not so, Lord, for I have never eaten what is common or unclean. And the voice came again to him the second time, What God hath cleansed, call not thou common." The use of them is accordingly indifferent to us. "For not what entereth into the mouth defileth the man," but the vain opinion respecting uncleanness.
Peter exhorts that the brutal and irrational sort of people be sacrificed, so that once they are cleansed what remains may become edible. The account of piety is delivered plainly, not once the divine voice having said that what God has sanctified is not common, …
The Medieval Church2 voices
What God has cleansed, do not call common. The meaning of this divine voice is indeed clear, that the Gentiles, whom Peter still considered unclean, the internal providence of their Creator already counted among the clean. But note the custom of Holy Scripture, which usually …
"Again a voice came to him: 'What God has cleansed, do not call unclean.'" Apparently, the voice is addressed to Peter, but in the meantime everything is being said to the Jews. Because if this teacher endures reproach, then all the more do they deserve …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
What God hath purified - Hath made and declared clean. Nothing but what is clean can come down from heaven. St. Peter well remembered this saying in the council at Jerusalem, chap. xv, 9.
And the voice spake unto him again the second time,....
Though the gospel has made duties which were not so by the law of nature, yet it has not, like the law of Moses, made sins that were not so. Those who command to abstain from some kinds of meat at some times of the year, and place religion in it, call that common which God hath cleansed, and in that error, more than in any truth, are the successors of Peter.
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
What God hath cleansed - What God has pronounced or declared pure. If God has commanded you to do a thing, it is not impure or wrong. Perhaps Peter would suppose that the design of this vision was to instruct him that the distinction between clean and unclean food, as recognized by the Jews, was about to be abolished, Act 10:17. But the result showed that it had a higher and more important design.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common--The ceremonial distinctions are at an end, and Gentiles, ceremonially separated from the chosen people (Ac 10:28), and debarred from that access to God in the visible ordinances of His Church which they enjoyed, are now on a perfect equality with them.
What God hath cleansed - God, who made at first the distinction between Jews and Gentiles, has a right to remove it, whenever and by whatever means he pleases: he, therefore, who made the distinction, for wise purposes, between the clean and the unclean, now pronounces all to be clean. He had authority to do the first; he has authority to do the last. God has purposed that the Gentiles shall have the Gospel preached to them: what he therefore has cleansed, “that call not thou common.”
The words behind it
14 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| καὶ | kai | And | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| φωνὴ | phone | a voice | G5456 → | 139 times |
| πάλιν | palin | [came] again | G3825 → | 139 times |
| ἐκ | ek | for | G1537 → | 911 times |
| δευτέρου | deuterou | [the] second time | G1208 → | 43 times |
| πρὸς | pros | to | G4314 → | 700 times |
| αὐτόν· | auton | him: | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἃ | ha | What | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| ὁ | ho | <the> | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| θεὸς | theos | God | G2316 → | 1312 times |
| ἐκαθάρισεν, | ekatharisen | has cleansed, | G2511 → | 31 times |
| σὺ | su | you yourself | G4771 → | 2973 times |
| μὴ | me | not | G3361 → | 1066 times |
| κοίνου. | koinou | do call common. | G2840 → | 14 times |
καὶAnd
kaiG2532 →9120 times
φωνὴa voice
phoneG5456 →139 times
πάλιν[came] again
palinG3825 →139 times
ἐκfor
ekG1537 →911 times
δευτέρου[the] second time
deuterouG1208 →43 times
πρὸςto
prosG4314 →700 times
αὐτόν·him:
autonG846 →5565 times
ἃWhat
haG3739 →1405 times
ὁ<the>
hoG3588 →19766 times
θεὸςGod
theosG2316 →1312 times
ἐκαθάρισεν,has cleansed,
ekatharisenG2511 →31 times
σὺyou yourself
suG4771 →2973 times
μὴnot
meG3361 →1066 times
κοίνου.do call common.
koinouG2840 →14 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Titus 1:15To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
it leads to
- Romans 14:14
I am convinced and fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Romans 14:20
Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a man to let his eating be a stumbling block.
- 1 Corinthians 10:23
“Everything is permissible,” but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible,” but not everything is edifying.
- Romans 14:14
Through
Matthew 15:11A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”
it leads to
- Mark 7:15
Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”
- Matthew 15:18–20
But the things that come out of the mouth come from the heart, and these things defile a man.
- James 3:5–8
In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze.
- Matthew 12:34–37
You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.
- 1 Timothy 4:4–5
For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected,
- Mark 7:15
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies7
About Acts
This page draws on 13 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Arnobius of Sicca, Against the Heathen Book 7; Bede, Retractions on Acts; Clement of Alexandria, The Instructor Book 2; Irenaeus, Against Heresies Book III; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 22; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.