At this point the Church took a new departure, and the gospel broke over the walls of Jewish exclusiveness and was preached for the first time to pure-blooded Gentiles. Caesarea, built by the great Herod, was practically a Roman city, and the official seat of the Roman government in Judea. Cornelius was an officer of high rank, and it would seem naturally of noble character. He had no sympathy with the religious fables and sensuous indulgence of his time, and was attracted to the Jewish faith, which stood alone in the world for pure and undefiled conceptions of God. He adopted some of its characteristic features-its hours of prayer, its practice of fasting, and its almsgiving.
He had apparently set apart the whole of this memorable day for earnest inquiry as to the way of salvation, and as the sun was declining an angel brought the necessary indication of the steps that he should take. In the meanwhile God was about to prepare Peter to bring Cornelius into the perfect light. On the following day, as the messengers of Cornelius were nearing Joppa, the vision of a redeemed world from which Hebrew restrictions had vanished, opened to the Apostle a new and wider conception of God's purpose. [source]
Chapter Summary: Acts 10
1Cornelius, a devout man, being commanded by an angel, sends for Peter, 11who by a vision is taught not to despise the Gentiles; 17and is commanded by the Spirit to go with the messenger to Caesarea 25Cornelius shows the occasion of his sending for him 34As he preaches Christ to Cornelius and his company, 44the Holy Spirit falls on them, and they are baptized
Greek Commentary for Acts 10:15
Make not thou common [su mē Koinéou)] Note emphatic position of su (thou). Do thou stop making common what God cleansed The idiom of mē with the present active imperative Koinéou means precisely this. Peter had just called “common” what God had invited him to slay and eat. [source]
Call not thou common [σὺ μὴ κοίνου] The thought goes deeper than merely styling “common.” Lit., do not thou defile. Do not profane it by regarding and calling it common. Rev., “make not thou common. ” [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 10:15
Mark 7:19Making all meats clean [καταριζων παντα τα βρωματα] This anacoluthon can be understood by repeating he says It was a riddle to Peter as late as that day. “Christ asserts that Levitical uncleanness, such as eating with unwashed hands, is of small importance compared with moral uncleanness” (Vincent). The two chief words in both incidents, here and in Acts, are defile “What God cleansed do not thou treat as defiled” (Acts 10:15). It was a revolutionary declaration by Jesus and Peter was slow to understand it even after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus was amply justified in his astonished question: [source]
Acts 15:9Cleansing their hearts by faith [τηι πιστει καταρισας τας καρδιας αυτων] Not by works nor by ceremonies. Peter here has a thoroughly Pauline and Johannine idea of salvation for all both Jew and Greek. Cf. Acts 10:15. [source]
Acts 4:32Not one of them [ουδε εις] More emphatic than ουδεις oudeis “not even one.” Common (κοινα Koinéa). In the use of their property, not in the possession as Luke proceeds to explain. The word κοινος Koinéos is kin to συν sun (together with)=χυν xun (Epic) and so χυνοσκοινος xunoŝKoinéos See this word already in Acts 2:44. The idea of unclean (Acts 10:15) is a later development from the original notion of common to all. [source]
Acts 4:32Common [κοινα] In the use of their property, not in the possession as Luke proceeds to explain. The word κοινος Koinéos is kin to συν sun (together with)=χυν xun (Epic) and so χυνοσκοινος xunoŝKoinéos See this word already in Acts 2:44. The idea of unclean (Acts 10:15) is a later development from the original notion of common to all. [source]
Galatians 4:9Again [πάλιν ἄνωθεν] Ἄνωθεν ( ἄνω above) adds to πάλιν the idea of going back to the beginning. Its primary meaning is from above; thence, from the first, reckoning in a descending series. So Luke 1:3; Acts 26:5. Such combinations as this are not uncommon in N.T. and Class. See, for instance, Acts 18:21; Matthew 26:42; Acts 10:15; John 21:16. But these additions to πάλιν are not pleonastic. They often define and explain it. Thus, John 21:16, πάλιν marks the repetition of Jesus' question, δεύτερον the number of the repetition. He asked again, and this was the second time of asking. [source]
Hebrews 1:3When he had by himself purged our sins [καθαρισμὸν τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ποιησάμενος] Omit by himself; yet a similar thought is implied in the middle voice, ποιησάμενος , which indicates that the work of purification was done by Christ personally, and was not something which he caused to be done by some other agent. Purged, lit. having made purification. The phrase N.T.olxx, Job 7:21. Καθαρισμός purificationoccurs in Mark, Luke John, 2nd Peter, oP., and only here in Hebrews. The verb καθαρίζειν topurify is not often used in N.T of cleansing from sin. See 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 1:7,1 John 1:9. Of cleansing the conscience, Hebrews 9:14. Of cleansing meats and vessels, Matthew 23:25,Matthew 23:26,Mark 7:19,Acts 10:15; Acts 11:9. Of cleansing the heart, Acts 15:9. The meaning here is cleansing of sins. In the phrase “to cleanse from sin,” always with ἀπὸ fromIn carrying on all things toward their destined end of conformity to the divine archetype, the Son must confront and deal with the fact of sin, which had thrown the world into disorder, and drawn it out of God's order. In the thought of making purification of sins is already foreshadowed the work of Christ as high priest, which plays so prominent a part in the epistle. [source]
What do the individual words in Acts 10:15 mean?
Anda voice[came] againforthe second timetohimWhat-Godhas cleansedyounotcall common
Greek Commentary for Acts 10:15
Note emphatic position of su (thou). Do thou stop making common what God cleansed The idiom of mē with the present active imperative Koinéou means precisely this. Peter had just called “common” what God had invited him to slay and eat. [source]
The thought goes deeper than merely styling “common.” Lit., do not thou defile. Do not profane it by regarding and calling it common. Rev., “make not thou common. ” [source]
Reverse Greek Commentary Search for Acts 10:15
This anacoluthon can be understood by repeating he says It was a riddle to Peter as late as that day. “Christ asserts that Levitical uncleanness, such as eating with unwashed hands, is of small importance compared with moral uncleanness” (Vincent). The two chief words in both incidents, here and in Acts, are defile “What God cleansed do not thou treat as defiled” (Acts 10:15). It was a revolutionary declaration by Jesus and Peter was slow to understand it even after the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Jesus was amply justified in his astonished question: [source]
Not by works nor by ceremonies. Peter here has a thoroughly Pauline and Johannine idea of salvation for all both Jew and Greek. Cf. Acts 10:15. [source]
More emphatic than ουδεις oudeis “not even one.” Common (κοινα Koinéa). In the use of their property, not in the possession as Luke proceeds to explain. The word κοινος Koinéos is kin to συν sun (together with)=χυν xun (Epic) and so χυνοσκοινος xunoŝKoinéos See this word already in Acts 2:44. The idea of unclean (Acts 10:15) is a later development from the original notion of common to all. [source]
In the use of their property, not in the possession as Luke proceeds to explain. The word κοινος Koinéos is kin to συν sun (together with)=χυν xun (Epic) and so χυνοσκοινος xunoŝKoinéos See this word already in Acts 2:44. The idea of unclean (Acts 10:15) is a later development from the original notion of common to all. [source]
Ἄνωθεν ( ἄνω above) adds to πάλιν the idea of going back to the beginning. Its primary meaning is from above; thence, from the first, reckoning in a descending series. So Luke 1:3; Acts 26:5. Such combinations as this are not uncommon in N.T. and Class. See, for instance, Acts 18:21; Matthew 26:42; Acts 10:15; John 21:16. But these additions to πάλιν are not pleonastic. They often define and explain it. Thus, John 21:16, πάλιν marks the repetition of Jesus' question, δεύτερον the number of the repetition. He asked again, and this was the second time of asking. [source]
Lit. thrown away. N.T.oIn ecclesiastical writings, excommunicated. On the whole verse, comp. Acts href="/desk/?q=ac+10:15&sr=1">Acts 10:15; Romans 11:15; 1 Corinthians 10:25, 1 Corinthians 10:26, 1 Corinthians 10:30, 1 Corinthians 10:31. [source]
Comp. 1 Timothy 4:4, 1 Timothy 4:5; Acts 10:15; Mark 7:15, Mark 7:18, Mark 7:19; 1 Corinthians 10:26, 1 Corinthians 10:30; Romans 14:20. The aphorism is suggested by the commandments of men, Titus 1:14. [source]
Omit by himself; yet a similar thought is implied in the middle voice, ποιησάμενος , which indicates that the work of purification was done by Christ personally, and was not something which he caused to be done by some other agent. Purged, lit. having made purification. The phrase N.T.olxx, Job 7:21. Καθαρισμός purificationoccurs in Mark, Luke John, 2nd Peter, oP., and only here in Hebrews. The verb καθαρίζειν topurify is not often used in N.T of cleansing from sin. See 2 Corinthians 7:1; 1 John 1:7, 1 John 1:9. Of cleansing the conscience, Hebrews 9:14. Of cleansing meats and vessels, Matthew 23:25, Matthew 23:26, Mark 7:19, Acts 10:15; Acts 11:9. Of cleansing the heart, Acts 15:9. The meaning here is cleansing of sins. In the phrase “to cleanse from sin,” always with ἀπὸ fromIn carrying on all things toward their destined end of conformity to the divine archetype, the Son must confront and deal with the fact of sin, which had thrown the world into disorder, and drawn it out of God's order. In the thought of making purification of sins is already foreshadowed the work of Christ as high priest, which plays so prominent a part in the epistle. [source]