What Does Acts 15:5 Mean?
But some from the chosen party of the separated ones, who had trusted, rose up, saying, It was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the instruction of Moses.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
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.THE KEY
The demand for an added boundary rises from people the verse already calls believers.
THE MEANING
The verse shows a demand rising inside a community already marked by trust: others are told that circumcision and keeping Moses’ instruction are necessary. You can see how a covenant sign and a body of instruction become a test placed on people whose trust is already acknowledged.
THE ROOT
πεπιστευκότες
pepisteukotes
GROWS FROM
πιστ-
pist-
Trust, rely on, or be persuaded.
“who had trusted” in this verse is pepisteukotes. The perfect participle describes these people as having come to trust. The same word-family holds trust and steadiness together, so the demand rises from within a group already named for its trust.
ALSO GROWS
pistis: Trust, reliance
πίστις
This is the noun behind the familiar idea of faith; here it highlights trust already present before the added requirement is spoken.
pistos: Firm, steady; trustworthy
πιστός
The shared stem connects trusting with steadiness, showing that this word-family describes reliance as more than agreement.
περιτέμνειν
peritemnein
GROWS FROM
τέμν-
temn-
Cut or make an incision; περί (peri) adds the sense of around.
“circumcise” in this verse is peritemnein. The demanded act is literally a cut around the body, a visible boundary called necessary for others. The Greek makes the bodily nature of that requirement concrete.
ALSO GROWS
peritomē: Circumcision; a cutting around
περιτομή
The noun names the same bodily sign as the verb, making clear that this requirement is a physical mark.
tomē: A cut, incision
τομή
This related form brings the verb back to its simple image: a cut made in the body.
τηρεῖν
tērein
GROWS FROM
τηρ-
tēr-
Watch over, guard, keep, or observe.
The word for keeping can carry both the sense of guarding something and of observing it. “Keep the instruction” therefore holds preservation and ongoing observance together.
ALSO GROWS
tērēsis: Keeping, observance
τήρησις
This noun shows how the verb can describe the continuing observance of a command.
epitēreō: Watch closely, keep watch
ἐπιτηρέω
This related verb preserves the watchful sense inside “keep,” making the instruction something actively guarded.
THE PATTERN
A covenant marker can become a test of belonging when it is declared necessary for others.
This is my covenant, which you shall guard, between me and you and your seed after you; every male among you shall be cut.Now therefore why do you test God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the learners, which neither our fathers nor we were strong enough to carry?For in Jesus, the Anointed One, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any strength, but trust that works through love.THE THREAD
But we trust that through the favor of the Lord Jesus, the Anointed One, we shall be delivered, even as they.The Greek verb translated “believed” in verse 5 appears again as “believe” here. The same trust-word stands beside deliverance through the Lord’s favor, bringing the added boundary into focus.
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