Acts 10

The TorahRooted Bible (TRB), translated directly from the Hebrew and Greek.

Cornelius the centurion

¹ There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of what was called the Italian cohort, ² a devout man and one who feared Elohim with all his household, who gave many alms to the people, and prayed to Elohim always. ³ About the ninth hour of the day he saw clearly in a vision an angel of Elohim coming in to him and saying to him, "Cornelius!" ⁴ And when he looked intently at him, he was afraid, and said, "What is it, lord?" So he said to him, "Your prayers and your alms have come up for a memorial before Elohim. ⁵ Now send men to Joppa, and send for Simon whose surname is Peter. ⁶ He is lodging with a certain Simon, a tanner, whose house is by the sea." ⁷ And when the angel who spoke to him had departed, Cornelius called two of his household servants and a devout soldier from among those who waited on him continually. ⁸ So when he had explained all these things to them, he sent them to Joppa.

Peter's vision

⁹ The next day, as they went on their journey and drew near the city, Peter went up on the housetop to pray, about the sixth hour. ¹⁰ Then he became very hungry and wanted to eat; but while they were preparing, a trance fell upon him, ¹¹ and he saw heaven opened and an object like a great sheet, bound at the four corners, descending to him and let down to the earth. ¹² In it were all the four-footed animals of the earth, and the wild beasts, and the creeping things, and the birds of the air. ¹³ And a voice came to him, "Rise, Peter; kill and eat." ¹⁴ But Peter said, "Not so, Lord! For I have never eaten anything common or unclean." ¹⁵ And a voice spoke to him again the second time, "What Elohim has cleansed you must not call common." ¹⁶ This was done three times. And the object was taken up into heaven again.

¹⁷ Now while Peter was perplexed within himself as to what the vision he had seen might mean, see, the men who had been sent from Cornelius had made inquiry for Simon's house, and stood before the gate. ¹⁸ And they called and asked whether Simon, whose surname was Peter, was lodging there. ¹⁹ While Peter thought about the vision, the Spirit said to him, "See, men are seeking you. ²⁰ But arise, go down and go with them, doubting nothing; for I have sent them." ²¹ Then Peter went down to the men and said, "See, I am the one you seek. For what reason have you come?" ²² And they said, "Cornelius the centurion, a just man, one who fears Elohim and has a good testimony among all the nation of the Jews, was divinely instructed by a holy angel to summon you to his house, and to hear words from you." ²³ Then he invited them in and lodged them. On the next day Peter went away with them, and some brothers from Joppa accompanied him.

Peter in the house of Cornelius

²⁴ And the following day they entered Caesarea. Now Cornelius was waiting for them, and had called together his relatives and close friends. ²⁵ As Peter was coming in, Cornelius met him and fell down at his feet and worshiped him. ²⁶ But Peter lifted him up, saying, "Stand up; I myself am also a man." ²⁷ And as he talked with him, he went in and found many who had come together. ²⁸ Then he said to them, "You know how unlawful it is for a Jewish man to associate with or come to one of another nation. But Elohim has shown me that I should not call any man common or unclean. ²⁹ Therefore I came without objection as soon as I was sent for. I ask, then, for what reason have you sent for me?" ³⁰ So Cornelius said, "Four days ago I was fasting until this hour; and at the ninth hour I was praying in my house, and see, a man stood before me in bright clothing, ³¹ and said, 'Cornelius, your prayer has been heard, and your alms have been remembered in the sight of Elohim. ³² Send therefore to Joppa and call Simon here, whose surname is Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea. When he comes, he will speak to you.' ³³ So I sent to you immediately, and you have done well to come. Now therefore we are all present before Elohim, to hear all the things commanded you by Elohim."

³⁴ Then Peter opened his mouth and said: "In truth I understand that Elohim shows no partiality, ³⁵ but in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is acceptable to Him. ³⁶ The word which He sent to the children of Israel, proclaiming the good news of peace through Yeshua the Messiah (He is Lord of all), ³⁷ you know it, the thing that came to pass throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached: ³⁸ how Elohim anointed Yeshua of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for Elohim was with Him. ³⁹ And we are witnesses of all things which He did both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they killed by hanging on a tree. ⁴⁰ Him Elohim raised up on the third day, and granted that He be made manifest, ⁴¹ not to all the people, but to witnesses chosen beforehand by Elohim, to us who ate and drank with Him after He rose from the dead. ⁴² And He commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that it is He who was ordained by Elohim to be Judge of the living and the dead. ⁴³ To Him all the prophets bear witness, that through His name whoever believes in Him will receive forgiveness of sins."

The Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles

⁴⁴ While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit fell upon all those who heard the word. ⁴⁵ And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as had come with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also. ⁴⁶ For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify Elohim. Then Peter answered, ⁴⁷ "Can anyone forbid water, that these should not be baptized who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?" ⁴⁸ And he commanded them to be baptized in the name of the Lord. Then they asked him to stay a few days.

Notes

• 10:2 Cornelius was a Gentile who "feared Elohim": he worshiped the Elohim of Israel, prayed at the set hours, and gave alms to the Jewish people, and he had "a good testimony among all the nation of the Jews" (verse 22), like the centurion who "loves our nation, and has built us our synagogue" (Luke 7:5). Such God-fearers, attached to the synagogues without being circumcised as proselytes, appear again in Paul's audiences (13:16, 26). His prayers and alms rising "for a memorial" (verse 4) use the language of the offerings.
• 10:9 The hours are counted from sunrise. The ninth hour, about three in the afternoon, was the time of the afternoon offering and of prayer at the temple (3:1), and Cornelius kept it (verses 3, 30). The sixth hour is about noon; the psalmist prays "Evening and morning and at noon" (Psalm 55:17), and Daniel prayed "three times a day" (Daniel 6:10). The flat roof of a house was a natural place to pray alone.
• 10:14 Peter uses two different words. Akathartos, "unclean," is the word the Greek translation of the Torah uses for the animals of Leviticus 11, which Elohim set apart "to distinguish between the unclean and the clean" (Leviticus 11:47). Koinos, "common," was used for what was considered defiled by contact or by custom. Some years after the resurrection Peter had never eaten either, and the voice answers only about the first of them, "common": "What Elohim has cleansed you must not call common" (verse 15). Peter, who first did not know what the vision meant (verse 17), explains it himself in verse 28.
• 10:28 Peter himself explains the vision: it was about people. Elohim had shown him not to call any man, any human being, common or unclean. The rule that a Jew should not associate with or visit a Gentile is not found in the Torah, which says, "There shall be one Torah for the native and for the stranger who sojourns among you" (Exodus 12:49). It reflects customs of the time, which kept apart from Gentiles at table and in their homes; some Jewish writings from before Yeshua already urged such separation, and later rabbinic sources discuss it further. Peter tells the same meaning again in Jerusalem (11:12).
• 10:35 Peter's words echo the Torah's own description of Elohim, "who shows no partiality and takes no bribe" (Deuteronomy 10:17). Elohim had always welcomed foreigners who turned to Him (1 Kings 8:41-43; Isaiah 56:6-7); what Peter now understands is that He receives people of every nation without first requiring them to become Jews, and the Spirit's coming on Cornelius's household (verse 44) confirms it.
• 10:45 "Those of the circumcision who believed" are the Jewish believers who came with Peter from Joppa (verse 23). They see happen to Gentiles what had happened to them at the beginning (11:15): the promise "I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh" (Joel 2:28) reaches beyond Israel, and the Spirit comes before any baptism in water, so that no one can stand in the way (verse 47; 11:17).

Acts 9 · Acts 11

Open in the study app