Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — Unnamed men from Judea are instructing Gentile believers in Antioch, asserting that circumcision is a prerequisite for salvation. This occurs after Paul and Barnabas' missionary work in that region.
The words — edidaskon (ἔδιδασκον), imperfect of "to teach," marks this as sustained instruction rather than a passing remark. katelthontes (κατελθόντες), aorist participle of "to come down," frames their arrival as a deliberate descent from Judea to Antioch.
The thread — Acts 15:5 records the same position voiced by Pharisaic believers in Jerusalem; Galatians 5:6 and Colossians 2:8 later dismantle the premise that circumcision or human tradition carries salvific weight.
Why it lands — The verse forces a binary: is the gospel sufficient as given, or have conditions been grafted onto it? It asks the reader to identify what "unless" clauses they have quietly attached to their own faith.
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 certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Cross-references
- Galatians 5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.
- 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.”
- Colossians 2:8 See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.
- Leviticus 12:3 And on the eighth day the flesh of the boy’s foreskin is to be circumcised.
- 1 Corinthians 7:18 Was a man already circumcised when he was called? He should not become uncircumcised. Was a man still uncircumcised when called? He should not be circumcised.
- Galatians 2:11 When Cephas came to Antioch, however, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned.
- Romans 4:8 Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him.”
- Galatians 5:1 It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.
- Galatians 6:13 For the circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, yet they want you to be circumcised that they may boast in your flesh.
- Acts 15:24 It has come to our attention that some went out from us without our authorization and unsettled you, troubling your minds by what they said.