Bible Strands
Acts 15:31
When the people read it, they rejoiced at its encouraging message.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The congregation in Antioch receives the Jerusalem council’s letter delivered by Judas, Silas, and accompanying messengers. The text records their immediate reaction after reading the document.
The words — παρακλήσει (paraklēsei) carries the literal sense “at the encouragement,” identifying the specific content that triggered the response. ἐχαρήσαν (echarēsan) records their concrete reaction, meaning “they rejoiced.”
The thread — The letter’s subject matter addresses the same theological conflict found in Galatians 2:4 and Galatians 5:1, where false teachers challenge Christian freedom. Philippians 3:3 further illustrates the text’s focus on worshiping by the Spirit rather than relying on external markers.
Why it lands — The text states a factual report of the Antioch believers’ reaction to the council’s decree. It requires readers to acknowledge the letter’s function as an authoritative document that confirms doctrinal boundaries and strengthens the community.
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
Which when they had read, they rejoiced for the consolation.
Cross-references
- Galatians 2:4 This issue arose because some false brothers had come in under false pretenses to spy on our freedom in Christ Jesus, in order to enslave us.
- 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.
- Philippians 3:3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh—
- 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 15:10 Now then, why do you test God by placing on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
- Acts 16:5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.