Whom when he had saluted, he related particularly what things God had wrought among the Gentiles by his ministry.
και ασπασαμενος αυτους εξηγειτο καθ εν εκαστον ων εποιησεν ο θεος εν τοις εθνεσιν δια της διακονιας αυτου
8 Church Fathers comment on this verse
Again he tells them what had happened among the Gentiles, not out of vainglory. May it never be! He did this to show God's love for mankind and to fill them with great joy. But see what they did when they heard it. They glorified God. They did not exalt Paul or marvel at him, but glorified God, because in his account he attributed everything to God.
Paul tells them what had happened among the Gentiles, not out of vainglory, but because he wished to show God's love for mankind. "Through his ministry" means through the preaching of the gospel teaching.
Paul tells them what had happened among the Gentiles, not out of vainglory, but because he wished to show God's love for mankind. "Through his ministry" means through the preaching of the gospel teaching.
Having arrived in Jerusalem, Paul went the very next day with his companions to the Apostle James. The presbyters of the Church then gathered to him. All listened with great sympathy to what Paul told them about the working of the Gospel among the Gentiles.
James only observed that there were now several thousand believing Jews in Jerusalem who nevertheless strictly kept the law of Moses.
He added that certain Judaizers, who everywhere tried to present Paul’s actions in the worst light, had spread a rumor among them.
They claimed that Paul not only freed the Gentiles from observing the Mosaic law, but also forbade Jews living among the Gentiles to circumcise their children. They claimed he generally taught them apostasy from the law.
This accusation was unjust if it meant that Paul rejected the outward observance of Judaism in itself. He rejected it only as a means of man’s justification and sanctification.
His chief principle was this: no one should abandon the earthly, national, and civil relations in which he had lived before Christianity, unless there were weighty reasons for doing so.
In accordance with this principle, Paul also allowed Jews to remain with their Jewish institutions. The observance of the law of Moses belonged to these (1 Cor 7:17, 18).
Therefore, in order to refute this accusation by action itself, James proposed that Paul publicly bear witness, through respect for Jewish rites, that he was not an enemy of the Jewish law.
Paul accepted this proposal and resolved, with four brethren from among the Jews, to take upon himself a Nazirite vow for seven days.
Consequently, he subjected himself to the same renunciations required of Nazirites. He announced to the priests of the temple that he would pay for himself and his fellow participants the sum due from them for offering sacrifice to God at the release from the vow.
When the Apostle Paul arrived in Jerusalem, the apostles and the other brethren who were there received him cordially. They glorified God as they listened to his accounts of what God had done through his hands among the Gentiles.
Yet all were troubled by the fear that the Apostle of the Gentiles might suffer insult and violence from the Jews. They had heard of him that he taught Jews living in the Diaspora not to circumcise their children and generally not to live according to the law of Moses.
To dispel this prejudice against Paul among the Jews, and thereby deliver him from the danger threatening him, the Jerusalem presbyters gave Paul counsel. At their head was James, the brother of the Lord according to the flesh.
They advised Paul to take part in a temporary Nazirite vow held by four Christians from among the Jews. They also advised him to take part in the public performance of the rites of this vow in the temple.
The brethren received the great Apostle with joy. On the next day a solemn assembly of Christians was held under the presidency of James, the brother of the Lord. There the Apostle Paul, "having greeted them, related in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry."
“Having greeted them”: this was a solemn and heartfelt greeting, not only on behalf of Paul and his companions, but probably also on behalf of the many newly founded Christian Churches from among the Gentiles.
Of course, at this same time the aid collected by Paul and his fellow workers in the Gentile churches was handed over to the Jerusalem Church. See the notes on Acts 19:21 and Acts 20:1-4.
It was an expression of brotherly love and communion between the Churches from among the Gentiles and the mother of the Churches from among the Jews.
At this, Paul related in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. Compare Acts 14:27; Acts 15:4; Acts 15:12 and the notes.
“Again he tells them what happened among the Gentiles, not from vainglory, may it not be, but to show God’s love for mankind and to fill them with great joy” (Chrysostom).
The deliberately used word “ministry” expresses, before the assembly of Christians from among the Jews, Paul’s special calling to the work of his apostolic ministry precisely among the Gentiles.
The meeting of the Apostle Paul with James, bishop of Jerusalem, and with the presbyters was favorable. When Paul told of his preaching, the listeners glorified God.
Yet there were also some who did not fully approve of Paul’s freedom in relation to Jewish ritual practice, and even to circumcision. They condemned the fact that, by his counsel, Christians from among the Jews did not circumcise their children.
“The Judaizing teachers suggested to the zealots of the law, and they believed them, that Paul taught all Jews living among the Gentiles apostasy from Moses. The Greek expression αποστασίαν is stronger and means betrayal or treason.
They said he preached that they should not circumcise their children and should not walk according to the customs, that is, should not fulfill the rites of the law of Moses.
These are evidently the same opponents of Paul, the teachers who troubled the Church of Antioch and Jerusalem. They demanded circumcision and observance of the law of Moses even for Gentiles turning to Christ (ch. 15).
The accusation against Paul, released among the people, was slander. From all his teaching, as it is unfolded in his epistles, and from all his activity, one sees what alone he taught.
He taught that the salvation of those who believe in Christ is conditioned neither by circumcision nor by fulfillment of the law of Moses, but by faith in Christ Jesus. See the Epistles to the Romans, Galatians, and Corinthians.
This means: if you wish, keep the law of Moses; if you wish, do not. His act concerning circumcision bears witness to how he taught about it. Taking Timothy as his fellow worker, he circumcised him.
Thus the insinuation that Paul was an apostate from the law and taught others apostasy was a malicious insinuation and slander against the Apostle.”
Passages read together with this verse.
Greek text, 18 words with lemma, transliteration and Strong’s number. Tap to expand.
THEOSIS