Acts 10 Chapter Introduction

Structure and Formatting

Verses 1–2 give background information about Cornelius. It may be helpful to begin a new sentence at the start of v. 2. (See: writing-background)
In verse 9, the story shifts away from Cornelius and tells how God prepared Peter to preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
In verse 24, the story brings Peter and Cornelius together.
The long sentence in verses 36–38 can be broken up into several sentences, as in the UST.

Religious and Cultural Concepts in This Chapter

Jews visiting with Gentiles

The Jews believed that they would become unclean in God’s sight if they visited or ate food with a Gentile. This was because the Pharisees had made a law against this, wanting to keep Jews from eating foods that the law of Moses said were unclean. The law of Moses did say that some foods were unclean, but it did not say that Jewish people could not visit or eat with Gentiles. (See: lawofmoses)

Baptism and the Holy Spirit

Those who were listening to Peter received the Holy Spirit even as he was speaking to them. This showed the Jewish believers that Gentiles could believe the word of God and receive the Holy Spirit just as the Jewish believers had. After that, the Gentiles were baptized.