Bible Strands
Acts 15:12
The whole assembly fell silent as they listened to Barnabas and Paul describing the signs and wonders God had done among the Gentiles through them.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Barnabas and Paul address the Jerusalem assembly immediately after Peter’s declaration on grace, reporting God’s work among Gentiles before James rises to speak. The audience is the gathered church leadership and believers receiving their account.
The words — The text records ἐσίγησεν (esigēsen), literally “kept silent,” describing the assembly’s reaction. It also notes ἤκουον (ēkouon), “were listening to,” indicating their sustained attention to the report.
The thread — The pattern of messengers reporting divine works through them appears in Acts 14:27 and Acts 15:4. The reliance on visible miracles as proof contrasts with Jesus’ statement in John 4:48 that belief must not depend on signs and wonders.
Why it lands — The verse requires readers to observe that the community’s silence signals attentive evaluation of the report, not passive awe. It demands that listeners measure accounts of God’s work against the established standard of grace rather than supernatural display.
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
Then all the multitude kept silence, and gave audience to Barnabas and Paul, declaring what miracles and wonders God had wrought among the Gentiles by them.
Cross-references
- Acts 14:27 When they arrived, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.
- Acts 15:4 On their arrival in Jerusalem, they were welcomed by the church and apostles and elders, to whom they reported all that God had done through them.
- John 4:48 Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
- Acts 21:19 Paul greeted them and recounted one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.