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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width; initial-scale=1.0; maximum-scale=1.0; user-scalable=0;"/><title>Acts 15:12 Commentaries: All the people kept silent, and they were listening to Barnabas and Paul as they were relating what signs and wonders God had done through them among the Gentiles.</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/newcom.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /><script type="application/javascript" src="https://scripts.webcontentassessor.com/scripts/8a2459b64f9cac8122fc7f2eac4409c8555fac9383016db59c4c26e3d5b8b157"></script><script src='https://qd.admetricspro.com/js/biblehub/biblehub-layout-loader-revcatch.js'></script><script id='HyDgbd_1s' src='https://prebidads.revcatch.com/ads.js' type='text/javascript' async></script><script>(function(w,d,b,s,i){var cts=d.createElement(s);cts.async=true;cts.id='catchscript'; cts.dataset.appid=i;cts.src='https://app.protectsubrev.com/catch_rp.js?cb='+Math.random(); document.head.appendChild(cts); }) (window,document,'head','script','rc-anksrH');</script></head> <script async src="https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtag/js?id=G-LR4HSKRP2H"></script> <script> window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; function gtag(){dataLayer.push(arguments);} gtag('js', new Date()); gtag('config', 'G-LR4HSKRP2H'); </script><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../vmenus/acts/15-12.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="/bmcom/acts/15-12.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="http://biblehub.com/commentaries/">Commentaries</a> > Acts 15:12</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../acts/15-11.htm" title="Acts 15:11">◄</a> Acts 15:12 <a href="../acts/15-13.htm" title="Acts 15:13">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="topverse">Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/alford/acts/15.htm" title="Henry Alford - Greek Testament Critical Exegetical Commentary">Alford</a> • <a href="/commentaries/barnes/acts/15.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/bengel/acts/15.htm" title="Bengel's Gnomen">Bengel</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/acts/15.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/acts/15.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/acts/15.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/acts/15.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/chrysostom/acts/15.htm" title="Chrysostom Homilies">Chrysostom</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/acts/15.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/acts/15.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/acts/15.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/acts/15.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/acts/15.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/egt/acts/15.htm" title="Expositor's Greek">Exp Grk</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/acts/15.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/acts/15.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/acts/15.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/acts/15.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/acts/15.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/acts/15.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/acts/9-4.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/acts/15.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/icc/acts/15.htm" title="ICC NT Commentary">ICC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/acts/15.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kelly/acts/15.htm" title="Kelly Commentary">Kelly</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/acts/15.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/acts/15.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/acts/15.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/acts/15.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/acts/15.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/meyer/acts/15.htm" title="Meyer Commentary">Meyer</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/acts/15.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pnt/acts/15.htm" title="People's New Testament">PNT</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/acts/15.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/acts/15.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/acts/15.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/acts/15.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/acts/15.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/vws/acts/15.htm" title="Vincent's Word Studies">VWS</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/acts/15.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/acts/15.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(12) <span class= "bld">And gave audience to Barnabas and Paul.</span>—The leaders of the Church had clearly reserved their part in the debate to the last, and the two Apostles of the Gentiles were now called on to repeat more publicly what they had already narrated to the Apostles and elders (<a href="/acts/15-4.htm" title="And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.">Acts 15:4</a>). It was, perhaps, with a special view to the character of their hearers that they laid stress on the “signs and wonders” which had attested God’s acceptance of their work (<a href="/matthew/12-38.htm" title="Then certain of the scribes and of the Pharisees answered, saying, Master, we would see a sign from you.">Matthew 12:38</a>; <a href="/matthew/16-1.htm" title="The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting desired him that he would show them a sign from heaven.">Matthew 16:1</a>; <a href="/1_corinthians/1-22.htm" title="For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:">1Corinthians 1:22</a>). Miracles had been wrought among the Gentiles as freely as among the Jews, and those who wrought them, unless they were casting out devils by Beelzebub (and the Judaisers appear to have shrunk from that charge), must have been sent by God (<a href="/john/3-2.htm" title="The same came to Jesus by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do, except God be with him.">John 3:2</a>; <a href="/context/john/9-31.htm" title="Now we know that God hears not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and does his will, him he hears.">John 9:31-33</a>).<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/maclaren/acts/15.htm">MacLaren's Expositions</a></div>Acts<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">THE CHARTER OF GENTILE LIBERTY<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/acts/15-12.htm" title="Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles by them.">Acts 15:12</a> - <a href="/acts/15-29.htm" title="That you abstain from meats offered to idols, and from blood, and from things strangled, and from fornication: from which if you keep yourselves, you shall do well. Fare you well.">Acts 15:29</a></span>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> Much was at stake in the decision of this gathering of the Church. If the Jewish party triumphed, Christianity sank to the level of a Jewish sect. The question brought up for decision was difficult, and there was much to be said for the view that the Mosaic law was binding on Gentile converts. It must have been an uprooting of deepest beliefs for a Jewish Christian to contemplate the abrogation of that law, venerable by its divine origin, by its hoary antiquity, by its national associations. We must not be hard upon men who clung to it; but we should learn from their final complete drifting away from Christianity how perilous is the position which insists on the necessity to true discipleship of any outward observance.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> Our passage begins in the middle of the conference. Peter has, with characteristic vehemence, dwelt upon the divine attestation of the genuine equality of the uncircumcised converts with the Jewish, given by their possession of the same divine Spirit, and has flung fiery questions at the Judaisers, which silenced them. Then, after the impressive hush following his eager words, Barnabas and Paul tell their story once more, and clinch the nail driven by Peter by asserting that God had already by ‘signs and wonders’ given His sanction to the admission of Gentiles without circumcision. Characteristically, in Jerusalem Barnabas is restored to his place above Paul, and is named first as speaking first, and regarded by the Jerusalem Church as the superior of the missionary pair.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> The next speaker is James, not an Apostle, but the bishop of the Church in Jerusalem, of whom tradition tells that he was a zealous adherent to the Mosaic law in his own person, and that his knees were as hard as a camel’s through continual prayer. It is singular that this meeting should be so often called ‘the Apostolic council,’ when, as a fact, only one Apostle said a word, and he not as an Apostle, but as the chosen instrument to preach to the Gentiles. ‘The elders,’ of whose existence we now hear for the first time in this wholly incidental manner, were associated with the Apostles {<a href="/acts/15-6.htm" title="And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.">Acts 15:6</a>}, and the ‘multitude’ {<a href="/acts/15-12.htm" title="Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles by them.">Acts 15:12</a>} is most naturally taken to be ‘the whole Church’ {<a href="/acts/15-22.htm" title="Then pleased it the apostles and elders with the whole church, to send chosen men of their own company to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas; namely, Judas surnamed Barsabas and Silas, chief men among the brothers:">Acts 15:22</a>}. James represents the eldership, and as bishop in Jerusalem and an eager observer of legal prescriptions, fittingly speaks. His words practically determined the question. Like a wise man, he begins with facts. His use of the intensely Jewish form of the name Simeon is an interesting reminiscence of old days. So he had been accustomed to call Peter when they were all young together, and so he calls him still, though everybody else named him by his new name. What God had done by him seems to James to settle the whole question; for it was nothing else than to put the Gentile converts without circumcision on an equality with the Jewish part of the Church.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> Note the significant juxtaposition of the words ‘Gentiles’ and ‘people’-the former the name for heathen, the latter the sacred designation of the chosen nation. The great paradox which, through Peter’s preaching at Caesarea, had become a fact was that the ‘people of God’ were made up of Gentiles as well as Jews-that His name was equally imparted to both. If God had made Gentiles His people, had He not thereby shown that the special observances of Israel were put aside, and that, in particular, circumcision was no longer the condition of entrance? The end of national distinction and the opening of a new way of incorporation among the people of God were clearly contained in the facts. How much Christian narrowness would be blown to atoms if its advocates would do as James did, and let God’s facts teach them the width of God’s purposes and the comprehensiveness of Christ’s Church! We do wisely when we square our theories with facts; but many of us go to work in the opposite way, and snip down facts to the dimension of our theories.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> James’s next step is marked equally by calm wisdom and open-mindedness. He looks to God’s word, as interpreted by God’s deeds, to throw light in turn on the deeds and to confirm the interpretation of these. Two things are to be noted in considering his quotation from Amos-its bearing on the question in hand, and its divergence from the existing Hebrew text. As to the former, there seems at first sight nothing relevant to James’s purpose in the quotation, which simply declares that the Gentiles will seek the Lord when the fallen tabernacle of David is rebuilt. That period of time has at least begun, thinks James, in the work of Jesus, in whom the decayed dominion of David is again in higher form established. The return of the Gentiles does not merely synchronise with, but is the intended issue of, Christ’s reign. Lifted from the earth, He will draw all men unto Him, and they shall ‘seek the Lord,’ and on them His name will be called.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> Now the force of this quotation lies, as it seems, first in the fact that Peter’s experience at Caesarea is to be taken as an indication of how God means the prophecy to be fulfilled, namely, without circumcision; and secondly, in the <span class="ital">argumentum a silentio</span>, since the prophet says nothing about ritual or the like, but declares that moral and spiritual qualifications-on the one hand a true desire after God, and on the other receiving the proclamation of His name and calling themselves by it-are all that are needed to make Gentiles God’s people. Just because there is nothing in the prophecy about observing Jewish ceremonies, and something about longing and faith, James thinks that these are the essentials, and that the others may be dropped by the Church, as God had dropped them in the case of Cornelius, and as Amos had dropped them in his vision of the future kingdom. God knew what He meant to do when He spoke through the prophet, and what He has done has explained the words, as James says in <a href="/acts/15-18.htm" title="Known to God are all his works from the beginning of the world.">Acts 15:18</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> The variation from the Hebrew text requires a word of comment. The quotation is substantially from the Septuagint, with a slight alteration. Probably James quoted the version familiar to many of his hearers. It seems to have been made from a somewhat different Hebrew text in <a href="/acts/15-17.htm" title="That the residue of men might seek after the Lord, and all the Gentiles, on whom my name is called, said the Lord, who does all these things.">Acts 15:17</a>, but the difference is very much slighter than an English reader would suppose. Our text has ‘Edom’ where the Septuagint has ‘men’; but the Hebrew words without vowels are identical but for the addition of one letter in the former. Our text has ‘inherit’ where the Septuagint has ‘seek after’; but there again the difference in the two Hebrew words would be one letter only, so that there may well have been a various reading as preserved in the Septuagint and Acts. James adds to the Septuagint ‘seek’ the evidently correct completion ‘the Lord.’<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> Now it is obvious that, even if we suppose his rendering of the whole verse to be a paraphrase of the same Hebrew text as we have, it is a correct representation of the meaning; for the ‘inheriting of Edom’ is no mere external victory, and Edom is always in the Old Testament the type of the godless man. The conquest of the Gentiles by the restorer of David’s tabernacle is really the seeking after the Lord, and the calling of His name upon the Gentiles.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> The conclusion drawn by James is full of practical wisdom, and would have saved the Church from many a sad page in its history, if its spirit had been prevalent in later ‘councils.’ Note how the very designation given to the Gentile converts in <a href="/acts/15-19.htm" title="Why my sentence is, that we trouble not them, which from among the Gentiles are turned to God:">Acts 15:19</a> carries argumentative force. ‘They turn to God from among the Gentiles’-if they have done that, surely their new separation and new attachment are enough, and make insistence on circumcision infinitely ridiculous. They have the thing signified; what does it matter about the sign, which is good for us Jews, but needless for them? If Church rulers had always been as open-eyed as this bishop in Jerusalem, and had been content if people were joined to God and parted from the world, what torrents of blood, what frowning walls of division, what scandals and partings of brethren would have been spared!<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> The observances suggested are a portion of the precepts enjoined by Judaism on proselytes. The two former were necessary to the Christian life; the two latter were not, but were concessions to the Jewish feelings of the stricter party. The conclusion may be called a compromise, but it was one dictated by the desire for unity, and had nothing unworthy in it. There should be giving and taking on both sides. If the Jewish Christians made the, to them, immense concession of waiving the necessity of circumcision, the Gentile section might surely make the small one of abstinence from things strangled and from blood. Similarities in diet would daily assimilate the lives of the two parties, and would be a more visible and continuous token of their oneness than the single act of circumcision.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> But what does the reason in <a href="/acts/15-21.htm" title="For Moses of old time has in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day.">Acts 15:21</a> mean? Why should the reading of Moses every Sabbath be a reason for these concessions? Various answers are given: but the most natural is that the constant promulgation of the law made respect for the feelings {even if mistaken} of Jewish Christians advisable, and the course suggested the most likely to win Jews who were not yet Christians. Both classes would be flung farther apart if there were not some yielding. The general principle involved is that one cannot be too tender with old and deeply rooted convictions even if they be prejudices, and that Christian charity, which is truest wisdom, will consent to limitations of Christian liberty, if thereby any little one who believes in Him shall be saved from being offended, or any unbeliever from being repelled.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> The letter embodying James’s wise suggestion needs little further notice. We may observe that there was no imposing and authoritative decision of the Ecclesia, but that the whole thing was threshed out in free talk, and then the unanimous judgment of the community, ‘Apostles, elders and the whole Church,’ was embodied in the epistle. Observe the accurate rendering of <a href="/acts/15-25.htm" title="It seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,">Acts 15:25</a>, ‘having <span class="ital">come</span> to one accord,’ which gives a lively picture of the process. Note too that James’s proposal of a letter was mended by the addition of a deputation, consisting of an unknown ‘Judas called Barsabas’ {perhaps a relative of ‘Joseph called Barsabas,’ the unsuccessful nominee for Apostleship in <a href="/acts/1-23.htm" title="And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.">Acts 1:23</a>}, and the well-known Silas or Silvanus, of whom we hear so much in Paul’s letters. That journey was the turning-point in his life, and he henceforward, attracted by the mass and magnetism of Paul’s great personality, revolved round him, and forsook Jerusalem.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> Probably James drew up the document, which has the same somewhat unusual ‘greeting’ as his Epistle. The sharp reference to the Judaising teachers would be difficult for their sympathisers to swallow, but charity is not broken by plain repudiation of error and its teachers. ‘Subverting your souls’ is a heavy charge. The word is only here found in the New Testament, and means to unsettle, the image in it being that of packing up baggage for removal. The disavowal of these men is more complete if we follow the Revised Version in reading {<a href="/acts/15-24.htm" title="For as much as we have heard, that certain which went out from us have troubled you with words, subverting your souls, saying, You must be circumcised, and keep the law: to whom we gave no such commandment:">Acts 15:24</a>} ‘no commandment’ instead of ‘no such commandment.’<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> These unauthorised teachers ‘went’; but, in strong contrast with them, Judas and Silas are chosen out and sent. Another thrust at the Judaising teachers is in the affectionate eulogy of Paul and Barnabas as ‘beloved,’ whatever disparaging things had been said about them, and as having ‘hazarded their lives,’ while these others had taken very good care of themselves, and had only gone to disturb converts whom Paul and Barnabas had won at the peril of their lives.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> The calm matter-of-course assertion that the decision which commended itself to ‘us’ is the decision of ‘the Holy Ghost’ was warranted by Christ’s promises, and came from the consciousness that they had observed the conditions which He had laid down. They had brought their minds to bear upon the question, with the light of facts and of Scripture, and had come to a unanimous conclusion. If they believed their Lord’s parting words, they could not doubt that His Spirit had guided them. If we lived more fully in that Spirit, we should know more of the same peaceful assurance, which is far removed from the delusion of our own infallibility, and is the simple expression of trust in the veracious promises of our Lord.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span> The closing words of the letter are beautifully brotherly, sinking authority, and putting in the foreground the advantage to the Gentile converts of compliance with the injunctions. ‘Ye shall do well,’ rightly and conformably with the requirements of brotherly love to weaker brethren. And thus doing well, they will ‘fare well,’ and be strong. That is not the way in which ‘lords over God’s heritage’ are accustomed to end their decrees. Brotherly affection, rather than authority imposing its will, breathes here. Would that all succeeding ‘Councils’ had imitated this as well as ‘it seemed good to the Holy Ghost, and to us’!<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/benson/acts/15.htm">Benson Commentary</a></div><span class="bld"><a href="/context/acts/15-12.htm" title="Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles by them....">Acts 15:12-18</a></span>. <span class="ital">Then all the multitude kept silence </span>— Having nothing further to object to what had been advanced; <span class="ital">and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul </span>— Who confirmed Peter’s reasoning, by <span class="ital">declaring what miracles God had wrought among the Gentiles </span>— By their ministry; of which, the chief miracle was, that he had amply conferred the gifts of the Holy Spirit on the believing Gentiles, although they were uncircumcised. <span class="ital">After they had </span>done speaking, <span class="ital">James, </span>the son of Alpheus, one of the apostles, <span class="ital">answered </span>those who were for subjecting the Gentiles to the law, by adding, in supplement to Peter’s reasoning, that the prophets had foretold the conversion of the Gentiles; so that it was always God’s purpose to make them his people. The passage he appeals to, quoting it according to the reading of the <span class="ital">Seventy, </span>is <a href="/context/amos/9-11.htm" title="In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old:...">Amos 9:11-12</a>; where see the notes. It may be thus paraphrased: <span class="ital">After this — </span>After the Jewish dispensation expires; <span class="ital">I will return — </span>To my people in mercy; <span class="ital">and will build again the tabernacle </span>— That is, the house, or family, of David; <span class="ital">which is fallen down </span>— Is in a low, degraded state: I will do this by raising from his seed the Christ, who shall erect, on the ruins of his fallen tabernacle, a spiritual and eternal kingdom; <span class="ital">that the residue of men </span>— And not the Jews alone; <span class="ital">might seek after the Lord </span>— After an acquaintance with him, and the blessings consequent thereon; <span class="ital">and all the Gentiles upon whom my name is called </span>— Or who shall be called by my name; who shall be my people. James adds, <span class="ital">Known unto God are all his works </span>— This the apostle infers from the prophecy itself, and the accomplishment of it. And this conversion of the Gentiles, being known to him from eternity, we ought not to think a new or strange thing. It is observable, he does not speak of God’s works in the natural world, (which would have been nothing to his present purposes) but of his dispensations toward the children of men. Now he could not know these, without knowing the characters and actions of particular persons, on a correspondence with which the wisdom and goodness of those dispensations are founded. For instance, he could not know how he would deal with heathen idolaters, (whom he was now calling into his church,) without knowing there would be heathen idolaters; and yet this was a thing purely contingent, a thing as dependant on the freedom of the human mind as any we can imagine. This text, therefore, among a thousand more, is an unanswerable proof that God foreknows future contingencies, though there are difficulties relating thereto which man cannot solve.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/acts/15.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>15:7-21 We see from the words purifying their hearts by faith, and the address of St. Peter, that justification by faith, and sanctification by the Holy Ghost, cannot be separated; and that both are the gift of God. We have great cause to bless God that we have heard the gospel. May we have that faith which the great Searcher of hearts approves, and attests by the seal of the Holy Spirit. Then our hearts and consciences will be purified from the guilt of sin, and we shall be freed from the burdens some try to lay upon the disciples of Christ. Paul and Barnabas showed by plain matters of fact, that God owned the preaching of the pure gospel to the Gentiles without the law of Moses; therefore to press that law upon them, was to undo what God had done. The opinion of James was, that the Gentile converts ought not to be troubled about Jewish rites, but that they should abstain from meats offered to idols, so that they might show their hatred of idolatry. Also, that they should be cautioned against fornication, which was not abhorred by the Gentiles as it should be, and even formed a part of some of their rites. They were counselled to abstain from things strangled, and from eating blood; this was forbidden by the law of Moses, and also here, from reverence to the blood of the sacrifices, which being then still offered, it would needlessly grieve the Jewish converts, and further prejudice the unconverted Jews. But as the reason has long ceased, we are left free in this, as in the like matters. Let converts be warned to avoid all appearances of the evils which they formerly practised, or are likely to be tempted to; and caution them to use Christian liberty with moderation and prudence.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/acts/15.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Then all the multitude - Evidently the multitude of private Christians who were assembled on this occasion. That it does not refer to a synod of ministers and elders merely is apparent:<p>(1) Because the church, the brethren, are represented as having been present, and as concurring in the final opinion <a href="http://biblehub.com/acts/15-22.htm">Acts 15:22-23</a>; and,<p>(2) Because the word "multitude" τὸ πλῆθος to plēthos would not have been used in describing the collection of apostles and elders merely. Compare <a href="http://biblehub.com/luke/1-10.htm">Luke 1:10-11</a>, <a href="/luke/1-13.htm">Luke 1:13</a>; <a href="/luke/5-6.htm">Luke 5:6</a>; <a href="/luke/6-17.htm">Luke 6:17</a>; <a href="/luke/19-37.htm">Luke 19:37</a>; <a href="/john/5-3.htm">John 5:3</a>; <a href="/john/21-6.htm">John 21:6</a>; <a href="/acts/4-32.htm">Acts 4:32</a>; <a href="/acts/6-2.htm">Acts 6:2</a>; <a href="/matthew/3-7.htm">Matthew 3:7</a>.<p>Gave audience - Heard, listened attentively to.<p>Barnabas and Paul - They were deeply interested in it, and they were qualified to give a fair statement of the facts as they had occurred.<p>Declaring what miracles and wonders ... - The argument here evidently is, that God had approved their work by miracles; that he gave evidence that what they did had his approbation; and that as all this was done without imposing on them the rites of the Jews, so it would follow that those were not now to be commanded. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/acts/15.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>12. Then all … gave audience to Barnabas and Paul—On this order of the names here, see on [2021]Ac 15:25.<p>declaring what miracles and signs God wrought among the Gentiles by them—This detail of facts, immediately following up those which Peter had recalled to mind, would lead all who waited only for divine teaching to see that God had Himself pronounced the Gentile converts to be disciples in as full standing as the Jews, without circumcision; and the attesting miracles to which Paul here refers would tend, in such an assembly to silence opposition.<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/acts/15.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> <span class="bld">All the multitude; </span> the apostles and elders themselves gave attention to what Barnabas and Paul declared, and by their silence did tacitly approve of what they had said. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">Miracles and wonders; </span> the conversion of the Gentiles in itself, and not only the signs which did attend it, is truly wonderful: the saving of any one soul is a miraculous work. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/acts/15.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>Then all the multitude kept silence,.... Upon this oration of Peter's, there was a profound silence in the whole assembly, among all the brethren of the church, who were come together on this occasion; they were all satisfied with, and by their silence acquiesced in, what Peter said; and waited to hear what might be further said about this matter, by other persons in the assembly; and even those who were on the other side of the question, were confounded and nonplussed, and knew not what to say, and the more so, when they perceived that the rest of the apostles and elders were of the same mind; for Beza's most ancient copy introduces this clause thus; "then the elders agreeing to the things that were said by Peter, the whole multitude was silent": and this gave Paul and Barnabas an opportunity of being heard; who, perhaps, could not so well be heard before, for the clamour of the people against them, who might not have so good an opinion of them, and of their practices: <p>and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul; Barnabas is mentioned first, he being most known to the Jews, and of whom they might have the better opinion; and who probably gave the account of their proceedings and success among the Gentiles: <p>declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them; what wonders of grace were wrought in the conversion of multitudes of them, wherever they came; and what miracles in nature were wrought for the confirmation of the Gospel, such as the striking blind Elymas the sorcerer, at Paphos in Cyprus, and curing the cripple at Lystra; and which they ascribe not to themselves but to God, whose instruments they only were. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/acts/15.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2"><span class="cverse3">{6}</span> Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.</span><p>(6) A true pattern of a lawful council, where God's truth alone reigns.</div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/meyer/acts/15.htm">Meyer's NT Commentary</a></div><a href="/acts/15-12.htm" title="Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles by them.">Acts 15:12</a>. The result of this speech was that the whole assembled multitude (<span class="greekheb">πᾶν τὸ πλῆθος</span>) was <span class="ital">silent</span>, so that thus a new <span class="greekheb">συζήτησις</span> did not begin, and the agitation of the opponents was set at rest. A happy beginning for the happy issue. Now Barnabas and Paul could without contradiction confirm the view of Peter by the communication of their own apostolic experiences among the Gentiles,<span class="p"><br /><br /></span>Barnabas <span class="ital">first</span>, on account of his older and closer relation to the church. Comp. on <a href="/acts/15-25.htm" title="It seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,">Acts 15:25</a>.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="greekheb">σημεῖα κ</span>. <span class="greekheb">τέρατα</span>] Comp. generally also <a href="/romans/15-19.htm" title="Through mighty signs and wonders, by the power of the Spirit of God; so that from Jerusalem, and round about to Illyricum, I have fully preached the gospel of Christ.">Romans 15:19</a>; <a href="/2_corinthians/12-12.htm" title="Truly the signs of an apostle were worked among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.">2 Corinthians 12:12</a>, hence so much the less improbable (Zeller).<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/egt/acts/15.htm">Expositor's Greek Testament</a></div><a href="/acts/15-12.htm" title="Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles by them.">Acts 15:12</a>. <span class="greekheb">ἐσίγησε</span>: may mean “became silent,” “itaque antea non tacuerant” (Blass), <span class="ital">cf.</span> Burton, <span class="ital">N. T. Moods and Tenses</span>, 21, A. and R.V., “kept silence”.—<span class="greekheb">πᾶν τὸ πλῆθος</span>: implying a general assembly of the Church; on the word see <a href="/acts/2-6.htm" title="Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.">Acts 2:6</a>, <a href="/acts/4-32.htm" title="And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.">Acts 4:32</a>, etc.—<span class="greekheb">ἤκουον</span>: imperfect, marking a continuous hearing; the silence and the audience both testified to the effect produced by St. Peter’s words.—<span class="greekheb">Βαρ</span>. <span class="greekheb">καὶ Π</span>., on the order here and in <a href="/acts/15-25.htm" title="It seemed good to us, being assembled with one accord, to send chosen men to you with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,">Acts 15:25</a> <span class="ital">cf.</span> Ramsay, <span class="ital">St. Paul</span>, p. 84.—<span class="greekheb">ἐξηγουμένων</span>: setting forth in detail; see above on <a href="/acts/15-3.htm" title="And being brought on their way by the church, they passed through Phenice and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles: and they caused great joy to all the brothers.">Acts 15:3</a>, and <a href="/acts/10-8.htm" title="And when he had declared all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.">Acts 10:8</a>.—<span class="greekheb">ὅσα ἐποί</span>., <span class="ital">cf.</span> <a href="/acts/14-27.htm" title="And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.">Acts 14:27</a> and <a href="/acts/15-4.htm" title="And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.">Acts 15:4</a>. In each case the appeal is made to what God had done, and to the further answer to the prayer of <a href="/acts/4-30.htm" title="By stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus.">Acts 4:30</a> by the miracles wrought among the Gentiles: it was an answer which a Jewish audience would understand, <a href="/john/3-2.htm" title="The same came to Jesus by night, and said to him, Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that you do, except God be with him.">John 3:2</a>. The historical truthfulness of Paul and Barnabas thus recounting the facts, and leaving the actual proof of the rightfulness of their method of working to Peter and James, is to Zeller inconceivable—an objection sufficiently answered by the consideration that Luke wished to represent not so much the attitude of Paul and Barnabas, but that of the original Apostles to the Gentile-question; and in Jerusalem it was only natural that Peter and James should be the spokesmen.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/cambridge/acts/15.htm">Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges</a></div><span class="bld">12</span>. <span class="ital">Then all the multitude</span>] Though the apostles and elders are alone mentioned (<span class="ital"><a href="/acts/15-6.htm" title="And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.">Acts 15:6</a></span>) as coming together, it now appears that the assembly was a large one.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">kept silence</span>] The authority with which he could speak through whom God had first opened the door of faith to the Gentiles must have silenced opposition. For he like themselves had had prejudices to overcome before his mission to Cornelius.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">and gave audience</span>] Here the imperfect tense implies the steady continuous attention to the whole narrative of that first missionary journey of St Paul.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">what miracles</span>] The word is that usually rendered <span class="bld">signs</span>; and the two nouns are the same which occur in the prayer of the disciples (<a href="/acts/4-30.htm" title="By stretching forth your hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of your holy child Jesus.">Acts 4:30</a>) ‘that <span class="ital">signs and wonders</span> may be done through the name of thy holy servant Jesus.’ The prayer was now being answered abundantly. It is well that the English rendering should accord in these places.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="ital">by them</span>] See note on <span class="ital"><a href="/acts/15-4.htm" title="And when they were come to Jerusalem, they were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders, and they declared all things that God had done with them.">Acts 15:4</a></span> above.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/bengel/acts/15.htm">Bengel's Gnomen</a></div><a href="/acts/15-12.htm" title="Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had worked among the Gentiles by them.">Acts 15:12</a>. <span class="greekheb">Ἐξηγουμένων</span>, <span class="ital">narrating</span>) By which very narration the sentiment of Peter was confirmed.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/acts/15.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verse 12.</span> - And for <span class="accented">then</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">they hearkened</span> for <span class="accented">gave audience</span>, A.V.; <span class="accented">rehearsing what signs</span> for <span class="accented">declaring what miracles</span>, A.V. <span class="cmt_word">Kept silence</span>; marking the contrast between the noisy questionings and disputings which had preceded Peter's speech, and the quiet orderly attention with which they now listened to Paul and Barnabas, telling them of the conversion of the Gentiles. It recalls Virgil's description of the effect of the presence of a man of grave piety upon an excited crowd - <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="accented">"Tum, pielate gravem ac meritis si forte virum quem<br />Aspexere, silent, arrectisque auribus adslant."</span><br /><br />(<span class="note_acc">AEneid,' 1:152.</span>) Acts 15:12<a name="vws" id="vws"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/vws/acts/15.htm">Vincent's Word Studies</a></div>Hearkened<p>The imperfect (ἤκουον) denotes attention to a continued narrative.<p>Declaring (ἐξηγουμένων)<p>Better, as Rev., rehearsing. See on <a href="/luke/24-35.htm">Luke 24:35</a>.<p>What miracles, etc<p>Lit., how many (ὅσα). <div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/acts/15-12.htm">Acts 15:12 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br />  <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br />  <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../acts/15-11.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Acts 15:11"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Acts 15:11" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../acts/15-13.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Acts 15:13"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Acts 15:13" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>