that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell.”
Parallel Translations
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that you abstain from things sacrificed to idols, from blood, from things strangled, and from sexual immorality, from which if you keep yourselves, it will be well with you. Farewell.”
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that ye abstayne from thinges offered to ymages from bloud from strangled and fornicacion. From which yf ye kepe youre selves ye shall do well. So fare ye well.
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That is, that ye abstaine from things offered to idoles, and blood, and that that is strangled, and from fornication: from which if ye keepe your selues, ye shall doe well. Fare ye well.
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Contradictions (2)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (17)
Passages linked to Acts 15:29 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 15:20 but that we write to them that they abstain from the pollution of idols, from sexual immorality, from what is strangled, and from blood.
- Acts 21:25 But concerning the Gentiles who believe, we have written our decision that they should observe no such thing, except that they should keep themselves from food offered to idols, from blood, from strangled things, and from sexual immorality.”
- Revelation 2:14 But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to throw a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit sexual immorality.
- Revelation 2:20 But I have this against you, that you tolerate your woman, Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. She teaches and seduces my servants to commit sexual immorality, and to eat things sacrificed to idols.
- Leviticus 17:14 For as to the life of all flesh, its blood is with its life. Therefore I said to the children of Israel, “You shall not eat the blood of any kind of flesh; for the life of all flesh is its blood. Whoever eats it shall be cut off.”
- Romans 14:20-21 Don’t overthrow God’s work for food’s sake. All things indeed are clean, however it is evil for that man who creates a stumbling block by eating. It is good to not eat meat, drink wine, nor do anything by which your brother stumbles, is offended, or is made weak.
- 1 Corinthians 10:18-20 Consider Israel according to the flesh. Don’t those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar? What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God, and I don’t desire that you would have fellowship with demons.
- 1 John 5:21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.
- Jude 1:24 Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy,
- Romans 14:14-15 I know, and am persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean of itself; except that to him who considers anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Yet if because of food your brother is grieved, you walk no longer in love. Don’t destroy with your food him for whom Christ died.
- 1 Timothy 5:22 Lay hands hastily on no one. Don’t be a participant in other people’s sins. Keep yourself pure.
- James 1:27 Pure religion and undefiled before our God and Father is this: to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.
- 2 Corinthians 11:9 When I was present with you and was in need, I wasn’t a burden on anyone, for the brothers, when they came from Macedonia, supplied the measure of my need. In everything I kept myself from being burdensome to you, and I will continue to do so.
- 2 Corinthians 13:11 Finally, brothers, rejoice! Be perfected. Be comforted. Be of the same mind. Live in peace, and the God of love and peace will be with you.
- Jude 1:20-21 But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit. Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
- Luke 9:61 Another also said, “I want to follow you, Lord, but first allow me to say good-bye to those who are at my house.”
- Acts 18:21 but taking his leave of them, he said, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem, but I will return again to you if God wills.” Then he set sail from Ephesus.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain Charity is required even in things indifferent.
Charity is required even in things indifferent.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 29 That ye abstain from meats offered to idols,…
29 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.
Ver. 29. And from fornication] Some Greek copies add, "and whatsoever ye would not should be done to you, that ye do not the same to others;" which is a general rule, and a foundation of the former. As for fornication, it is here reckoned among things indifferent, because the Gentiles held it so; as the Papists now account it a very small sin; but so did not the council. See 1Co 10:8; Heb 13:4. {See Trapp on "1Co 10:8"} {See Trapp on "Heb 13:4"} A learned man telleth us, that that impostor Mahomet hath (in an apish imitation of this decree of the holy synod) forbidden his followers the self-same things, saving that he nameth swine’s flesh in the place of fornication. {See Trapp on "Act 15:20"}
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain Of these see more largely, Act 15:20.
Of these see more largely, Act 15:20.
From meats offered to idols; they were wont to carry home and feast upon part of the sacrifices they had offered unto their false gods; nay, they did not, without reproach, eat of any greater beasts, (as oxen and sheep), but they always first offered some of them unto their idols. And it was accounted no small impiety to eat αθυτα ιερα, part of any beasts which they had not first offered up to some or other of their gods.
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From blood; for this reason they might not eat of any thing that died of itself, as Deu 14:21, because the blood was not gone out of it.
From fornication; mentioned here, because so commonly practised amongst the Gentiles, and yet not esteemed a sin. Hence also, 1Th 4:3, the apostle lays a very great charge against it.
Fare ye well; the ordinary apprecation wherewith their letters were concluded, in which they wished health and strength to the party they wrote unto: instead of which word, some ancient copies read, φερομενοι εν πνευματι Αγιω; which is rendered, Walk in the Holy Ghost; or, the Holy Ghost carrying, or enabling of you: a wish or prayer becoming these holy men that made it. They who have found the necessity of the Spirit’s assistance, desire it above all things for such as they wish well unto.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain That ye abstain from meats offered to idols,.... Which…
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 15:20.
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In Beza's most ancient copy, and in three other manuscripts, and in the Complutensian edition, it follows, "and whatsoever ye would not have done to yourselves, that do ye not to another"; in like manner the Ethiopic version also reads, as in Act 15:20 "from which if ye keep yourselves ye shall do well"; it will be doing a good thing, and make for the peace of the churches; in Beza's most ancient copy it is added, "born", or "moved by the Holy Ghost": being influenced and assisted by him in this, and every good work:
fare ye well; the Syriac version adds, "in our Lord".
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain Blood - The eating which was never permitted the…
Blood - The eating which was never permitted the children of God from the beginning of the world. Nothing can be clearer than this. For,
1. From Adam to Noah no man ate flesh at all; consequently no man then ate blood.
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2. 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.
3. God renewed this prohibition by Moses, which was not repealed from the time of Moses till Christ came.
4. Neither after his coming did any presume to repeal this decree of the Holy Ghost, till it seemed good to the bishop of Rome so to do, about the middle of the eighth century.
5. From that time those Churches which acknowledged his authority held the eating of blood to be an indifferent thing. But,
6. In all those Churches which never did acknowledge the bishop of Rome's authority, it never was allowed to eat blood; nor is it allowed at this day. This is the plain fact; let men reason as plausibly as they please on one side or the other. From which keeping yourselves ye will do well - That is, ye will find a blessing. This gentle manner of concluding was worthy the apostolical wisdom and goodness. But how soon did succeeding councils of inferior authority change it into the style of anathemas! Forms which have proved an occasion of consecrating some of the most devilish passions under the most sacred names; and like some ill-adjusted weapons of war, are most likely to hurt the hand from which they are thrown.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 29. Ye shall do well.] But, if they…
Verse 29. 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 [Anglo-Saxon] to go, and [A.S.], 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 ερρωσθε, errhosthe, here used, from ρωννυμι, 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!
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain From meats offered to idols - This explains what…
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.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain From blood, and from things strangled. The use of…
From blood, and from things strangled. The use of these things, though of their own nature indifferent, were here prohibited, to bring the Jews more easily to admit of the society of the Gentiles; and to exercise the latter in obedience. But this prohibition was but temporary, and has long since ceased to oblige; more especially in the western churches. (Challoner) --- See note on ver. 20, above.
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 29. Fare ye well—The ordinary close of a letter…
29. Fare ye well—The ordinary close of a letter anciently, χαιρειν. Be ye in health and vigour.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 29. ye shall do well] Not “ye shall be…
29. ye shall do well] Not “ye shall be doing what is right,” but “it shall be well with you” (R.V.), “you shall be in a good state.”
Fare ye well] This termination and the greeting at the commencement of the letter are in the style of Western epistolary language. See above on Act_15:23.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (29) From meats offered to idols.—The specific term takes…
(29) From meats offered to idols.—The specific term takes the place of the more general word which St. James had used. The change, if the two words were not used, as is possible, as altogether equivalent, may be thought of as favouring the Gentiles by narrowing the prohibition to a single point.
Fare ye well.—The closing salutation was, like the opening, a Greek and not a Hebrew one. It meets us again in Act_23:30. Both were naturally used in a letter addressed to Greeks, and intended to be read by them and by Hellenistic Jews. It does not occur, however, in any of the Epistles of the New Testament.
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It is natural to ask, at the close of the great encyclical letter, in what relation it really stood to the life of the Apostolic Church. As a concordat between the contending parties it was framed, as has been said, with a sagacity that may well be looked on as inspired. But obviously it was not, and from the nature of the case could not be, more than that. The time had not come for proclaiming to the Church of Jerusalem the full width of St. Paul’s teaching (Gal_2:2), and accordingly, though something may be read between the lines, the decree seems to treat the precepts of Noah as perpetually binding, places moral and positive obligations on the same footing, and leaves the ground on which they are “necessary” an open question. St. Paul, who had accepted it as a satisfactory settlement of the matter in debate, never refers to it, even when he is discussing the chief point with which the decree dealt (1 Corinthians 8-10). In his narrative of what passed on this occasion (Gal_2:1-10) there is no mention of it. The private conference with the three great “pillars” of the Church was for him more than the decree of the synod, and he felt himself able to discuss the whole question again on different grounds, and with a more distinct reference to spiritual and ethical principles. It was wrong to eat things sacrificed to idols, not because the act of so eating in itself brought defilement, but because it might involve a participation in the sin of idolatry in the consciousness of the eater, or wound the conscience of the weaker brother who saw him eat. It was natural that those who lacked his largeness of view should become slaves to the letter of the rules long after the grounds on which they rested had ceased to exist, and so we find that the prohibition of blood was re-enforced in the so-called Apostolic Canons (c. 62), and in the fourth century by the Council of Gangra (c. 2), and in the seventh by that at Constantinople, known as in Trullo (c. 67), and continues to be the binding rule of the Greek Church still. In Africa and in Europe, however, truer views prevailed (August, cont. Faust. xxxii. 13), and not even the most devout believer in the inspiration of the Apostles, or in the authority of primitive antiquity. would venture to urge that the two last precepts of the four here enjoined were in any degree binding. Hooker (Eccl. Pol. iv., xi., § 5) rightly refers to this decree as a crucial instance proving that commands might be divine and yet given only for a season, binding as long as the conditions to which they applied continued, but no longer. It would almost seem, indeed, as if St. Paul felt that the terms of the decree had the effect of placing the sin of impurity on the same level with that of eating things sacrificed to idols, and things strangled, and blood, and so tended to keep men from seeing it in its true hatefulness. Those who claimed a right, which in the abstract St. Paul could not deny, to eat of things strangled or offered to idols, thought themselves free to fall back into the old license of the heathen world, and he needed far stronger motives than the canons of the council to restrain them (1Co_5:9-10; 1Co_6:15-20, and found those motives in the truths that they had been bought with a price, that the will of God was their sanctification, and that their bodies were His temple.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Things sacrificed for meats offered, A.V.; it shall be…
Things sacrificed for meats offered, A.V.; it shall be well with you for ye shall do well, A.V. The phrase eu= prassein means to" prosper," to "fare well". (comp. Eph_6:21, "How I do
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain See notes on verse 22
See notes on verse 22
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 15:29 Farewell: The letter to the churches includes this…
15:29 Farewell: The letter to the churches includes this familiar Hellenistic greeting at the end of a letter, found only here in the New Testament. Paul often ended his letters on a more theological note (e.g., 1 Cor 16:23-24; 2 Cor 13:13; see Eph 6:23-24; Phil 4:23; Col 4:18; 1 Thes 5:23-28; 1 Tim 6:21).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.