Bible Strands
Acts 10:28
He said to them, “You know how unlawful it is for a Jew to associate with a foreigner or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Peter addresses a gathered group of Gentile believers inside Cornelius’s house after arriving from the road. He explains his unhesitating entry despite the traditional prohibition against Jewish-Gentile contact.
The words — ἐπίστασθε (epistasthe) means “you know,” and ἀθέμιτον (athemiton) translates literally to “unlawful.” Peter uses these terms to acknowledge the established boundary he is now overriding by direct divine instruction.
The thread — This shift from exclusion to inclusion runs through John 4:9, Ephesians 3:6, and Galatians 2:12. Each passage records a moment where divine revelation interrupts established ethnic boundaries.
Why it lands — The text requires readers to accept that divine instruction supersedes inherited social or religious restrictions. It demands the practical refusal to label any person as unclean based on human tradition.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
And he said unto them, Ye know how that it is an unlawful thing for a man that is a Jew to keep company, or come unto one of another nation; but God hath shewed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.
Cross-references
- John 4:9 “You are a Jew,” said the woman. “How can You ask for a drink from me, a Samaritan woman?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)
- Ephesians 3:6 This mystery is that through the gospel the Gentiles are fellow heirs, fellow members of the body, and fellow partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus.
- Galatians 2:12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself, for fear of those in the circumcision group.
- Isaiah 65:5 They say, ‘Keep to yourself; do not come near me, for I am holier than you!’ Such people are smoke in My nostrils, a fire that burns all day long.
- John 4:27 Just then His disciples returned and were surprised that He was speaking with a woman. But no one asked Him, “What do You want from her?” or “Why are You talking with her?”
- John 18:28 Then they led Jesus away from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. By now it was early morning, and the Jews did not enter the Praetorium, to avoid being defiled and unable to eat the Passover.
- Acts 11:9 But the voice spoke from heaven a second time, ‘Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.’
- Luke 18:11 The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men—swindlers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.
- Acts 10:34 Then Peter began to speak: “I now truly understand that God does not show favoritism,
- Acts 11:2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him