When they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly and the apostles and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done with them.
Parallel Translations
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When they had come to Jerusalem, they were received by the assembly and the apostles and the elders, and they reported everything that God had done with them.
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And when they were come to Ierusalem they were receaved of the congregacion and of the Apostles and elders. And they declared what thinges God had done by them.
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And when they were come to Hierusalem, they were receiued of the Church, and of the Apostles and Elders, and they declared what things God had done by them.
Cross-references (15)
Passages linked to Acts 15:4 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Acts 14:27 When they had arrived, and had gathered the assembly together, they reported all the things that God had done with them, and that he had opened a door of faith to the nations.
- Acts 15:12 All the multitude kept silence, and they listened to Barnabas and Paul reporting what signs and wonders God had done among the nations through them.
- Acts 15:3 They, being sent on their way by the assembly, passed through both Phoenicia and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles. They caused great joy to all the brothers.
- Acts 21:17 When we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly.
- Romans 15:18 For I will not dare to speak of any things except those which Christ worked through me, for the obedience of the Gentiles, by word and deed,
- Matthew 10:40 He who receives you receives me, and he who receives me receives him who sent me.
- Acts 18:27 When he had determined to pass over into Achaia, the brothers encouraged him, and wrote to the disciples to receive him. When he had come, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace;
- Acts 21:19 When he had greeted them, he reported one by one the things which God had worked among the Gentiles through his ministry.
- Romans 15:7 Therefore accept one another, even as Christ also accepted you, to the glory of God.
- 1 Corinthians 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am. His grace which was given to me was not futile, but I worked more than all of them; yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.
- 2 Corinthians 5:19 namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning to them their trespasses, and having committed to us the word of reconciliation.
- 2 Corinthians 6:1 Working together, we entreat also that you do not receive the grace of God in vain,
- Colossians 4:10 Aristarchus, my fellow prisoner, greets you, and Mark, the cousin of Barnabas (concerning whom you received commandments, “if he comes to you, receive him”),
- 2 John 1:10 If anyone comes to you, and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him,
- 3 John 1:8-10 We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. I wrote to the assembly, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, doesn’t accept what we say. Therefore if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words. Not content with this, neither does he himself receive the brothers, and those who would, he forbids and throws out of the assembly.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 4. They were received of the Church. By this…
4. They were received of the Church. By this word Church he meaneth the multitude itself and the whole body; that done, he assigneth a peculiar place to the apostles and elders, by whom Paul and Barnabas were specially received. Furthermore, because the apostles had no certain place of abode at Jerusalem, but went ever now and then sometimes to one place and sometimes to another, whithersoever occasion did call them, that church had elders to whom the ordinary government of the Church was committed; and what the one function differeth from the other we have before declared, (Acts 14:23.) And hereby it appeareth what brotherly courtesy there was in the apostles and elders, because they do not only courteously receive Paul and Barnabas, but so soon as they hear what success they had with their pains they took, they magnify the grace of God. Luke repeateth again that form of speech which we had before in the chapter next going before, when he saith, that they declared whatsoever things God had done with them. Wherein we must remember that which I said before, that God is not made a fellow-laborer, but all the whole praise of the work is ascribed to him. Therefore it is said, that he did that with Paul and Barnabas which he did by them, as he is said to deal mercifully with us when he helpeth our miseries.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain 4 And when they were come to Jerusalem, they…
4 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.
Ver. 4. They were received of the Church] i.e. By the body of the people; for the apostles and elders have a peculiar place assigned them.
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 They were received of the church; they were owned…
They were received of the church; they were owned with respect and thankfulness, for their great work and labour in the Lord’s vineyard.
All things that God had done with them: see Act 14:27.
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 And when they were come to Jerusalem,.... Paul and…
And when they were come to Jerusalem,.... Paul and Barnabas, and the rest that came from Antioch with them:
they were received of the church; that is, that was at Jerusalem, in a very kind and respectful manner; they were received into their houses, and accommodated with everything convenient for them:
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and of the apostles; particularly James, and Cephas, and John, who gave to Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship, in token of their approbation of them, affection for them, and agreement with them:
and elders: the other ministers of the Gospel who preached in that place:
and they declared all things that God had done with them: just as they did to the church at Antioch, when they returned from their travels; see Gill on Act 14:27, the Arabic version here adds, as there, "and that God had opened to the Gentiles the door of faith."
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 They were received - That is solemnly welcomed.
They were received - That is solemnly welcomed.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 4. They were received of the Church] The…
Verse 4. They were received of the Church] The whole body of Christian believers.
The apostles] Either the whole or part of the twelve; though we read of none but John, Peter, and James. See Ga 2:9.
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And elders] Those who were officers in the Church, under the apostles.
They declared] To this council they gave a succinct account of the great work which God had wrought by them among the Gentiles. This was St. Paul's third journey to Jerusalem after his conversion. See an account of his first journey, Ac 9:26, and of his second in Ac 11:30.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain They were received of the church - By the…
They were received of the church - By the church, in a hospitable and friendly manner. They were acknowledged as Christian brethren, and received with Christian kindness. See Gal 2:9.
And they declared - Paul and Barnabas, and those with them. That is, they stated the case; the remarkable conversion of the Gentiles, the evidence of their piety, and the origin of the present dispute.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain And when they were come to Jerusalem--This was Paul's…
And when they were come to Jerusalem--This was Paul's THIRD VISIT TO JERUSALEM after his conversion, and on this occasion took place what is related in Gal 2:1-10. (See there).
were received of the church, and the apostles and elders--evidently at a meeting formally convened for this purpose: the deputation being one so influential, and from a church of such note.
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they declared all things that God had done with them--(See on Act 14:14-27).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 4. Come to Jerusalem—Paul tells us in Gal_2:2, that…
4. Come to Jerusalem—Paul tells us in Gal_2:2, that he went up not solely by the prudential conclusion of the Church, but by or rather according to revelation. This may have been a revelation to the Church, or to Paul directing him now to go to the metropolis and obtain from the apostles the full acknowledgment of Gentile rights and his own Gentile apostleship.
They declared—That is, in general conversations before the meeting in Act_15:6. And during this interval before the general meeting Paul held his private interviews with James, Peter, and John, (Gal_2:2-9,) which, together with the public discussions, resulted in settling Paul’s equal apostleship.
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 4. they were received of the church] “The church”…
4. they were received of the church] “The church” is perhaps named first because there would on such a visit be an assembly of the whole Christian body to hear the story of the missionary labours of Paul and Barnabas before the question about which they had specially been sent from Antioch came to be discussed. The account of the spreading of the faith was for all, while the question of circumcision would be discussed only by the heads of the church, and those who could speak with authority. This preliminary meeting must have lasted for a considerable time, even if only a mere abstract of the labours, sufferings and success of Paul and Barnabas were given to those who met them. Such a recital was the best introduction that could be conceived for the question which was afterwards to be discussed and legislated on.
God had done with them] The preposition (μετὰ) implies that the Apostles deemed themselves fellow-workers with God (cp. Mar_16:20), but that they were only instruments whom God employed is also shewn below (Act_15:12) where the same labours are spoken of as “what God had wrought among the Gentiles by (διὰ) them.”
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 (4) They were received of the church, and of…
(4) They were received of the church, and of the apostles and elders.—The words imply a general gathering of the Church, members of different synagogues coining together, with the elders who presided over them. The position of the Apostles, though in some degree analogous in their relation to the elders to the later office of bishops, was yet in many ways unique. They had no local diocese, but remained at Jerusalem, guiding the progress of the Church at large, as a kind of central council, calling in the “elders,” or “presbyters,” to consult with them, and submitting the result of their deliberations to the Church at large. The three bodies stood to each other as the Boulè, or council, the Gerusia, or senate, and the Ecclesia, or assembly, in a Greek republic.
They declared all things that God had done with them.—This obviously implied a narrative of considerable length: the history of acts and sufferings, of signs and wonders, of the fruits of the Spirit as seen in the purity, and truth, and love of the Gentile converts. This took place apparently at a preliminary meeting.
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 The apostles for of the apostles, A.V.; the elders…
The apostles for of the apostles, A.V.; the elders for elders, A.V.; rehearsed for declared, A.V. They were received of the Church, etc. Being themselves the formal envoys of the Church of Antioch, they were formally received as such by the Church of Jerusalem, headed by the apostles and elders.
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 4. After a pleasant journey among rejoicing Churches, they…
4. After a pleasant journey among rejoicing Churches, they reached Jerusalem. (4) " And when they arrived in Jerusalem, they were received by the Church, and by the apostles and elders, and they declared all that God had done with them. " They proceeded, in Jerusalem, as they had upon their return to Antioch, to give a history of their missionary tour. This was done in the presence of the Church, the apostles also being present.
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 15:4-21 The first council of the church met to…
15:4-21 The first council of the church met to resolve the dispute concerning Gentiles and circumcision (15:1-2).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.