Acts 11:5 - Printer Friendly

ESV: "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me.

NIV: "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.

NASB: I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was,

CSB: "I was in the town of Joppa praying, and I saw, in a trance, an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it came to me.

NLT: I was in the town of Joppa,' he said, 'and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.

KJV: I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

NKJV: “I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object descending like a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came to me.

Peter is in Jerusalem, explaining to the church why he ate with Gentiles in Caesarea Maritima. He starts his story in Joppa, where he had been called to raise Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36–43). He was staying at the home of a tanner named Simon and went to the rooftop to pray. Simon lived in Joppa, near modern-day Tel Aviv. In this verse, Peter is specifically repeating the events given in Acts 10:9–11.

On the sheet are several different types of animals, including reptiles and carrion birds which the Mosaic law forbids as food (Acts 11:6). A voice tells him to kill and eat. When Peter refuses, the voice tells him God has made unclean things clean (Acts 10:12–15).

Vision is from the Greek root word horama. It typically means the image of a prophecy one sees while still awake, like Peter and the sheet of non-kosher food (Acts 10:9–16). Dreams is translated from the Greek root word enypnion and essentially means a prophecy received while sleeping. Prophesy is from the Greek root word prophēteuō. It means "to declare information given by revelation from God."

Peter's vision taught him that as Jesus had declared all food clean (Mark 7:19), He likewise declared all people clean—not that all are saved, but that no person should be thought of as spiritually "unclean" and beyond God's salvation. Peter should welcome all the people from the four corners of the world—or sheet—to his table. In the church, the strict segregation of Jew and Gentile is nullified (Romans 10:12).

Acts 11:1–18 describes Peter defending his actions in Acts 10. The Holy Spirit led him to share Jesus' story with a house filled with Gentiles. As he had barely started, the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles and Peter had them baptized into the church. Now, he has returned to the church in Jerusalem and has some explaining to do. Despite Peter being the most prominent of Jesus' twelve disciples, the legalistic Jews have already gained significant influence in the church. It's a good reminder we must always follow God and be ready to defend our response to His leading.

Acts 11 accelerates the journey of the message of Jesus into the Gentile world. Peter returns to Jerusalem and explains to the church leaders how the Holy Spirit has fallen on a group of Gentiles in Caesarea Maritima (Acts 11:1–18). Then the church hears how Gentiles are coming to faith far north in Syrian Antioch; they send Barnabas to investigate and Barnabas brings in Saul (Acts 11:19–26). Finally, prophets travel from Jerusalem to Antioch to request aid for the Jerusalem church (Acts 11:27–30). The scene is almost set for Paul's extensive evangelism career to begin.

Until the martyrdom of Stephen (Acts 7:54–60), the story of Jesus' followers remained mostly in Jerusalem. Saul started persecuting the church and the members fled, taking Jesus' story with them. This included Philip who shared Jesus' story with Samaritans and an Ethiopian official (Acts 8). Saul's persecution even led to his own conversion (Acts 9). And Peter brought the gospel to a group of Gentiles (Acts 10). After one more story about Peter and rising persecution by the Roman government, the book of Acts will turn to Saul, who will use the Greek variation of his name, Paul, and his missionary journeys to southeast Europe.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.