But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

World English Bible · Public Domain

Parallel Translations

  • WEB World English Bible

    But some of the sect of the Pharisees who believed rose up, saying, “It is necessary to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.”

  • TYNDALE Tyndale New Testament (1534)

    Then arose ther vp certayne that were of the secte of the Pharises and dyd beleve sayinge that it was nedfull to circucise them and to enioyne the to kepe the lawe of Moses.

  • GNV Geneva Bible (1599)

    But said they, certaine of the sect of the Pharises, which did beleeue, rose vp, saying, that it was needefull to circumcise them, and to commaund them to keepe the lawe of Moses.

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Cross-references (7)

Passages linked to Acts 15:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.

  • Galatians 5:1-3 Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, tell you that if you receive circumcision, Christ will profit you nothing. Yes, I testify again to every man who receives circumcision that he is a debtor to do the whole law.
  • Acts 15:1 Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.”
  • Philippians 3:5-8 circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the assembly; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, found blameless. However, I consider those things that were gain to me as a loss for Christ. Yes most certainly, and I count all things to be a loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I suffered the loss of all things, and count them nothing but refuse, that I may gain Christ
  • Acts 15:24 Because we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, ‘You must be circumcised and keep the law,’ to whom we gave no commandment;
  • Acts 21:20 They, when they heard it, glorified God. They said to him, “You see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have believed, and they are all zealous for the law.
  • Acts 24:5 For we have found this man to be a plague, an instigator of insurrections among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.
  • Acts 26:5-6 having known me from the first, if they are willing to testify, that after the strictest sect of our religion I lived a Pharisee. Now I stand here to be judged for the hope of the promise made by God to our fathers,

Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)

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Explain this verse (17 sources)

Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.

John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain 5. Certain of the sect of the Pharisees. It…

5. Certain of the sect of the Pharisees. It is not without cause that Luke expresseth what kind of men they were which went about to trouble or hinder Paul, even at Jerusalem also. And it is to be thought that the evil flowed from that fountain; and that Luke doth now more plainly express, that there brake out now also fans [disturbers] out of that very same sect, from whence the authors of that wicked dissension came. For though they had given Christ their names, yet there remained relics of their former nature. We know how proud the Pharisees were, how haughty, how lofty their looks were; all which they would have forgotten if they had truly put on Christ. Like as there remained no Phariseeism in Paul, but a great part had gotten the habit of stubbornness by long custom, which they could not shake off so easily by and by. Forasmuch as there reigned most of all among them hypocrisy, they were too much addicted to external rites, which are coverings for vices. They were likewise puffed up with pride, so that they did tyrannously covet to make all other men subject to their decrees. It is well-known how sore sick the monks are of both diseases. Whereby it cometh to pass, that nothing is more cruel than they to oppress the Church, nothing is more wicked or forward than they to despise the Word of God. Moreover, we see many of them which came out of those dens which have cast from them their cowl, and yet can they never forget those conditions which they learned there.

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 5 But there rose up certain of the sect…
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain If these words be taken for St. Luke’s, the…
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain That is, some Jews of the sect of the…
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain But there rose up certain of the sect of…
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain But certain Pharisees - For even believers are apt…
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. But there rose up certain of the…
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain But there rose up ... - It has been…
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain 5. There arose—started up; not in the public council,…
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. But there rose up, &c.] The margin of…
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain (5) Certain of the sect of the Pharisees which…
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain Who for which, A.V.; it is for that it…
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain 5. There rose up certain of the Pharisees. Men…
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain 5. The Judaizers did not hesitate to declare fully…
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The demand of the former Pharisees and Peter’s answer:
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Connecting Statement:
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 15:5 These Pharisees were believers, yet they retained their…

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