Act 15:20 in context
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Act 15:19      Act 15:21

Acts 15:20

but simply write a letter to them to keep away (avoid, distance themselves) from:
things defiled by idols,
[Verse 29 explains that this refers to meat sacrificed to idols. If a Gentile Christian continued to buy such meat sold in the market, their Jewish brothers and sisters in the church would wonder if they had truly given up their idolatry. Even though Gentile Christians have the freedom to eat all meat, it becomes a sin if a Christian brother falls, see 1 Cor. 10:25–28.] from sexual immorality (fornication – Gk. porneia),
[Sexual purity is something that the entire Bible talks about, and it applies to both Jews and Gentiles. Lev. 18 defines what sexual immorality is. It is forbidden to have sexual relations with close relatives, outside of marriage, with someone of the same sex, or with animals.]
from [eating] meat from strangled animals
[Meat that has not been slaughtered according to the law's requirement that the blood must drain from the slaughtered animal, see Gen. 9:4; Lev. 17:13.]
and from [eating] blood.
[The last two prohibitions were already given to Noah, see Gen. 9:4. Moses repeats them, see Lev. 17:10–16. The reason for not eating blood is out of respect for life, since life is in the blood, see Deut. 12:23. The first two commandments are also mentioned in Rev 2:14. All four of these restrictions are found centrally in Lev. 17–18.
The word 'keep away from' has the primary meaning of keeping a distance from something, such as a boat that is a distance from land, see Matt. 14:24. The verb is in the 'medium' form, which is a verb form that does not exist in the English language. We are used to using the verb forms 'active' – I do something, and 'passive' – something is done to me. Greek, on the other hand, has another form between these two, which is why it is called 'middle'. This form is a combination of the active and passive forms. What I 'actively' do is important because I will be 'passively' affected. The use of this particular form here reinforces how James urges the Gentile Christians to refrain from certain things, not just as a rule, but as something that is also in their own interest to do. For example, refraining from casual sexual relationships is not just a rule, but also something that will positively affect those who do so.]
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The greek text BETA

Nestle-Aland (NA)

ἀλλ᾽   ἐπιστεῖλαι   αὐτοῖς   τοῦ   ἀπέχεσθαι   τῶν   ἀλισγημάτων   τῶν   εἰδώλων   καὶ   τῆς   πορνείας   καὶ   τοῦ   πνικτοῦ   καὶ   τοῦ   αἵματος.  

Textus Receptus (TR)

ἀλλ᾽   ἐπιστεῖλαι   αὐτοῖς   τοῦ   ἀπέχεσθαι   ἀπὸ   τῶν   ἀλισγημάτων   τῶν   εἰδώλων   καὶ   τῆς   πορνείας   καὶ   τοῦ   πνικτοῦ   καὶ   τοῦ   αἵματος.  

Manuscript comments

NA has 18 words, TR has 19 (+1).


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Below is an interlinear translation which follows the original scripture word for word. We are still working on the lexicon. Please contact us if you want to help.





Interlinear — table

Below is an interlinear version in table form that follows the word order of the original text. Clicking on the Strongs number will show the words in their basic form (note that sometimes the grammar causes not only the endings to change, but also the initial letters of the word).


Strongs nr Greek English Grammar Code
G0235
 ἀλλ᾽ (all)
 but
Conj. Conjunktion
 CONJ
G1989
 ἐπιστεῖλαι (episteilai)
 to write
VERB Verb
aorist active inf. aorist active infinitive
V-AAN
G0846
 αὐτοῖς (aytois)
 to them
Personal Pron. Personal Pronoun
dative pl. ♂ dative plural masculine
P-DPM
G3588
 τοῦ (toy)
Definite article Definite article
gen. sing. neut. genitive singular Neutral
T-GSN
G0568
 ἀπέχεσθαι (apechesthai)
 to abstain from
VERB Verb
pres. middle inf. present middle infinitive
V-PMN
G3588
 τῶν (ton)
 the
Definite article Definite article
gen. pl. neut. genitive plural Neutral
T-GPN
G0234
 ἀλισγημάτων (alisgematon)
 pollutions
Noun Noun
gen. pl. neut. genitive plural Neutral
N-GPN
G3588
 τῶν (ton)
 of the
Definite article Definite article
gen. pl. neut. genitive plural Neutral
T-GPN
G1497
 εἰδώλων (eidolon)
 idols,
Noun Noun
gen. pl. neut. genitive plural Neutral
N-GPN
G2532
 καὶ (kai)
 and
Conj. Conjunktion
 CONJ
G3588
 τῆς (tes)
Definite article Definite article
gen. sing. ♀ genitive singular feminine
T-GSF
G4202
 πορνείας (porneias)
 sexual immorality,
Noun Noun
gen. sing. ♀ genitive singular feminine
N-GSF
G2532
 καὶ (kai)
 and
Conj. Conjunktion
 CONJ
G3588
 τοῦ (toy)
 that
Definite article Definite article
gen. sing. neut. genitive singular Neutral
T-GSN
G4156
 πνικτοῦ (pniktoy)
 which is strangled,
Adjective Adjective
gen. sing. neut. genitive singular Neutral
A-GSN
G2532
 καὶ (kai)
 and
Conj. Conjunktion
 CONJ
G3588
 τοῦ (toy)
Definite article Definite article
gen. sing. neut. genitive singular Neutral
T-GSN
G0129
 αἵματος. (aimatos.)
 from blood.
Noun Noun
gen. sing. neut. genitive singular Neutral
N-GSN

The color of the words tell you how rare the word is, the more red, the fewer uses.

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