Chapter
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
Verse
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41

Acts 15:23
ESV with the following letter: "The brothers, both the apostles and the elders, to the brothers who are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia, greetings.
NIV With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.
NASB and they sent this letter with them: 'The apostles and the brothers who are elders, to the brothers and sisters in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia who are from the Gentiles: Greetings.
CSB They wrote: "From the apostles and the elders, your brothers, To the brothers and sisters among the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.
NLT This is the letter they took with them: 'This letter is from the apostles and elders, your brothers in Jerusalem. It is written to the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia. Greetings!
KJV And they wrote letters by them after this manner; The apostles and elders and brethren send greeting unto the brethren which are of the Gentiles in Antioch and Syria and Cilicia:
NKJV They wrote this letter by them: The apostles, the elders, and the brethren, To the brethren who are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, and Cilicia: Greetings.

What does Acts 15:23 mean?

The apostles and elders of the church in Jerusalem have affirmed the truth: Gentiles do not have to convert to Judaism to receive salvation through the sacrifice of Jesus. Gentiles neither need to be circumcised nor follow the Mosaic law. So that Jewish Jesus-followers feel comfortable eating with and living life with Gentiles in their church, however, Gentiles must adhere to Jewish sexual purity laws and refrain from eating blood and food sacrificed to idols (Acts 15:6–21).

To share this information, the council writes a letter. The letter is sent with representatives to the district of Syria, 300 miles to the north. The apostles mentioned here are the ten remaining original disciples of Jesus (James the son of Zebedee had been martyred; see Acts 12:2), plus Matthias who replaced Judas (Acts 1:23–26). The elders are respected men who lead the church in Jerusalem. All have been trained by Jesus or by those who were trained by Jesus.

The issue arose when Jewish Christians who had been Pharisees visited the church in Antioch, the capital of Syria. As Pharisees, they still clung to the Mosaic law, as well as the unnecessary oral law, and insisted that every Jesus-follower must do the same. Paul and Barnabas, who made their home in Antioch, disagreed, and they and other representatives from the church brought the issue to Jerusalem (Acts 15:1–3). Now, the Antiochene envoys, along with men from Jerusalem, have the privilege of accompanying the answer to Syria. Once the church in Antioch is made aware of the new policy, Paul and Silas will take the letter to the churches Paul and Barnabas planted in modern-day Asia Minor (Acts 15:40–41; 16:4).
Expand
Expand
Expand
What is the Gospel?
Download the app:
BibleRef.com is part of Got Questions Ministries

For answers to your Bible questions, please visit