Acts 15:29
in Acts 15You must abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals, and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
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.
KJV
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.
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This verse in Acts 15
Commentary
10 notes on this verseNow in these precepts where it says that no other burden ought to be imposed on Gentile believers except abstinence from the sacrifices of idols, from blood, from what has been suffocated and from fornication, homicide is not forbidden, nor adultery, nor theft, nor homosexual acts, nor other crimes that are punished by divine and human laws. But if it is saying that Christians must observe only that which it has recounted, it will appear to some that it granted license concerning the rest.
This site's exposition
seemed good to the Holy Ghost
on Acts 15:28-29
For it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us, to lay upon you no greater burden than these necessary things: the council names the Spirit as the true author of its decision, human deliberation and divine guidance held together rather than set against each other. The list repeats verse twenty exactly, that ye abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication, framed now as the decree's own text rather than James's proposal. From which if ye keep yourselves, ye shall do well closes the letter without threat, the tone throughout pastoral rather than legal.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers3 voices
For the apostle says, "All other things buy out of the shambles, asking no questions," with the exception of the things mentioned in the Catholic epistle of all the apostles, "with the consent of the Holy Ghost," which is written in the Acts of the Apostles, and conveyed to the faithful by the hands of Paul himself.
"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." For these things the New Testament did not enjoin: we nowhere find that Christ discoursed about these matters; but these things they take from the Law. "From things strangled," it says, "and from blood." Here it prohibits murder. It shows that the rest are not necessary, but superfluous, seeing these things are necessary. "From which if ye keep yourselves," it saith, "ye shall do well." It shows that nothing is lacking to them, but this is sufficient.
"It seemed good," they say, "to the Holy Spirit and to us." For nowhere did Christ discuss these matters; rather they speak of them from the law. Therefore, for fear that it seem to be of human origin, they ascribe it to the Holy Spirit. …
The Medieval Church1 voice
It is shown that there is nothing that the believers lacked; on the contrary, it is sufficient for them to "abstain from things offered to idols" and so on. By the expression "to abstain from…things strangled," murder is forbidden.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
From Adam to Noah no man ate flesh at all; consequently no man then ate blood. When God allowed Noah and his posterity to eat flesh, he absolutely forbade them to eat blood; and accordingly this, with the other six precepts of Noah, was delivered down from Noah to Moses. God renewed this prohibition by Moses, which was not repealed from the time of Moses till Christ came.
3 more voices on this verse
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
That ye abstain from meats offered to idols,.... Which explains what is meant by pollutions of idols, Act 15:20 and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication. See Gill on Act 15:
The Nineteenth Century2 voices
Ye shall do well - But, if they did not keep themselves from these things, they would do ill; that is, they would sin against God, whose Spirit had commanded them to keep from these things. And who can do any of these forbidden things, and keep either a guiltless or a tender conscience? Fare-well - An old English form of expressing good wishes and good will. It is compounded of to go, and much, well, very much. Go well, go prosperously! - tantamount with good speed! may you succeed well! may God direct you! Like to that other form of sound words, God be with you! corrupted now into good by to ye! And of the same meaning with adieu! a Dieu, to God; that is, I commend you to God. All these terms savour not only of good will, or benevolence, but also of piety. Our pious ancestors believed that nothing was safe, nothing protected, nothing prosperous, over which the shield of God was not extended; and, therefore, in their familiar good wishes, they gave each other to God. The Greek word ερῥωσθε, errhosthe, here used, from ῥωννυμι, to strengthen, make strong, has nearly the same signification: be strong, courageous, active, be in health, and be prosperous! What a pity that such benevolent and pious wishes should degenerate into cool formalities, or unmeaning compliments!
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
From meats offered to idols - This explains what is meant by “pollutions of idols,” Act 15:20. Ye shall do well - You will do what ought to be done in regard to the subjects of dispute.
The words behind it
15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἀπέχεσθαι | apechesthai | to abstain | G568 → | |
| εἰδωλοθύτων | eidolothuton | from idol-sacrifices | G1494 → | |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| αἵματος | aimatos | from blood | G129 → | 97 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πνικτῶν | pnikton | from a strangled [one] | G4156 → | 3 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πορνείας· | porneias | from sexual immorality; | G4202 → | 25 times |
| ἐξ | ex | From | G1537 → | 911 times |
| ὧν | hon | these | G3739 → | 1405 times |
| διατηροῦντες | diaterountes | keeping | G1301 → | |
| ἑαυτοὺς | he'autous | yourselves | G1438 → | 322 times |
| εὖ | eu | well | G2095 → | |
| πράξετε. | praxete | you will do. | G4238 → | 39 times |
| ἔρρωσθε.¶ | errosthe | Farewell! | G4517 → |
ἀπέχεσθαιto abstain
apechesthaiG568 →
εἰδωλοθύτωνfrom idol-sacrifices
eidolothutonG1494 →
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
αἵματοςfrom blood
aimatosG129 →97 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πνικτῶνfrom a strangled [one]
pniktonG4156 →3 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πορνείας·from sexual immorality;
porneiasG4202 →25 times
ἐξFrom
exG1537 →911 times
ὧνthese
honG3739 →1405 times
διατηροῦντεςkeeping
diaterountesG1301 →
ἑαυτοὺςyourselves
he'autousG1438 →322 times
εὖwell
euG2095 →
πράξετε.you will do.
praxeteG4238 →39 times
ἔρρωσθε.¶Farewell!
errostheG4517 →
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
Revelation 2:20But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
it leads to
- Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food…
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- 1 Kings 16:31
And as if it were not enough for him to walk in the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, he even married Jezebel the daughter of Ethbaal king of the Sidonians, and he then…
- 1 Corinthians 10:18–21
Consider the people of Israel: Are not those who eat the sacrifices fellow partakers in the altar?
- Revelation 2:14
Through
Revelation 2:14But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food…
it leads to
- Revelation 2:20
But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Numbers 31:16
“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD.
- 2 Peter 2:15
They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
- Numbers 25:1–3
While Israel was staying in Shittim, the men began to indulge in sexual immorality with the daughters of Moab,
- Revelation 2:20
Through
Leviticus 17:14For the life of all flesh is its blood. Therefore I have told the Israelites, ‘You must not eat the blood of any living thing, because the life of all flesh is its blood;…
it leads to
- Genesis 9:4
But you must not eat meat with its lifeblood still in it.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Genesis 9:4
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies3
On this verse
On this chapter
About Acts
This page draws on 11 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); Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata Book 4; John Calvin, Commentary upon the Acts of the Apostles; John Chrysostom, Homily on Acts 33; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament; Oecumenius, Commentary on Acts; Origen of Alexandria, COMMENTARY ON ROMANS 9.28 and Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Acts.