Bible Strands
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.”
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Upon Paul and Barnabas’s arrival in Jerusalem, certain believers from the Pharisaic sect address the church, apostles, and elders regarding the recent Gentile mission.
The words — Ἐξανέστησαν (Exanestēsan) literally means “rose up,” signaling a formal public intervention, while αἱρέσεως (haireseōs) identifies a distinct religious faction or party.
The thread — The demand for circumcision originates in Acts 15:1, is directly countered by Galatians 5:1, and is contextualized by Philippians 3:5, which records Paul’s own Pharisaic background.
Why it lands — It requires the reader to evaluate the explicit conflict between mandatory Mosaic observance and apostolic teaching, leaving the resolution to the council’s subsequent investigation in Acts 15:6.
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
But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Cross-references
- 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.
- 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.”
- Philippians 3:5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin; a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;
- 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.
- 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.
- Acts 24:5 We have found this man to be a pestilence, stirring up dissension among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,
- Acts 26:5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I lived as a Pharisee, adhering to the strictest sect of our religion.