Bible Strands
Acts 11:2
So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers took issue with him
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Peter arrives in Jerusalem following his mission to Cornelius, where the circumcised believers immediately confront him. The moment occurs after the Judean church hears that Gentiles have received God’s word, and before Peter explains his actions.
The words — διεκρίνοντο (diekrinonto) literally means were contending, capturing the active dispute over ritual boundaries. ἀνέβη (anebē) denotes Peter’s physical ascent to Jerusalem, the city of pilgrimage and authority.
The thread — The conflict over Jewish-Gentile boundaries repeats in Acts 10:45 when circumcised believers witness the Spirit’s outpouring on Gentiles, and in Acts 15:1 when similar circumcision demands trigger the Jerusalem council. Peter’s ascent also mirrors his earlier journey in Acts 10:9.
Why it lands — The text forces a reader to confront the friction between established religious boundaries and sudden divine inclusion. It requires evaluating whether ritual markers dictate community boundaries or whether obedience to God’s explicit action supersedes them.
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 when Peter was come up to Jerusalem, they that were of the circumcision contended with him,
Cross-references
- Acts 10:45 All the circumcised believers who had accompanied Peter were astounded that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.
- Acts 10:9 The next day at about the sixth hour, as the men were approaching the city on their journey, Peter went up on the roof to pray.
- Acts 15:1 Then some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
- Acts 21:20 When they heard this, they glorified God. Then they said to Paul, “You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law.
- 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.
- Acts 15:5 But some believers from the party of the Pharisees stood up and declared, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to obey the law of Moses.”