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Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed for doing comparisons of different translations. Click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible. Please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.
Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance=normal (All still tentative.)
OET (OET-RV) Then some people came to Antioch from Yudea and were teaching the believers that according to Mosheh’ teachings, you can’t be saved unless you’ve been circumcised.
OET-LV And some having_come_down from the Youdaia, were_teaching the brothers, that If you_all _may_ not _be_circumcised to_the custom which of_Mōsaʸs/(Mosheh), you_all_are_ not _being_able to_be_saved.
SR-GNT Καί τινες κατελθόντες ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ἐδίδασκον τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ὅτι “Ἐὰν μὴ περιτμηθῆτε τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως, οὐ δύνασθε σωθῆναι.” ‡
(Kai tines katelthontes apo taʸs Youdaias, edidaskon tous adelfous, hoti “Ean maʸ peritmaʸthaʸte tōi ethei tōi Mōuseōs, ou dunasthe sōthaʸnai.”)
Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, orange:accusative/object, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the OET-RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).
ULT And certain ones coming down from Judea were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised in the custom of Moses, you are not able to be saved.”
UST But then some Jewish believers from the province of Judea arrived in Antioch. They started telling the non-Jewish believers there, “You must receive circumcision to show that you belong to God, as Moses commanded in the laws that he received from God. If you do not do that, God will not save you.”
BSB § Then some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
BLB But certain ones having come down from Judea were teaching the brothers, "Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you are not able to be saved."
AICNT And some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
OEB ¶ But certain persons came down from Judea, and began to teach the Lord’s followers that, unless they were circumcised, in accordance with the custom required by Moses, they could not be saved.
WEBBE Some men came down from Judea and taught the brothers,[fn] “Unless you are circumcised after the custom of Moses, you can’t be saved.”
15:1 The word for “brothers” here and where the context allows may also be correctly translated “brothers and sisters” or “siblings.”
WMBB (Same as above including footnotes)
NET Now some men came down from Judea and began to teach the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
LSV And certain having come down from Judea, were teaching the brothers, “If you are not circumcised after the custom of Moses, you are not able to be saved”;
FBV Then some men arrived from Judea who started teaching the believers, “Unless you're circumcised according to the rules set down by Moses, you can't be saved.”
TCNT Then some men came down from Judea and were teaching the brothers: “If you are not circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.”
T4T Then some Jewish believers went down from Judea province to Antioch. They started teaching the non-Jewish believers there, and said, “You ◄must be circumcised/must have God’s mark put on you► to indicate you belong to God, as Moses commanded in the laws that he received from God. If you do not do that, you will not be saved {God will not save you}.”
LEB And some men came down from Judea and[fn] began teaching[fn] the brothers, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom prescribed by Moses, you cannot be saved.”
15:1 *Here “and” is supplied because the previous participle (“came down”) has been translated as a finite verb
15:1 *The imperfect tense has been translated as ingressive here (“began teaching”)
BBE Now certain men came down from Judaea, teaching the brothers and saying that without circumcision, after the rule of Moses, there is no salvation.
Moff No Moff ACTs book available
Wymth But certain persons who had come down from Judaea tried to convince the brethren, saying, "Unless you are circumcised in accordance with the Mosaic custom, you cannot be saved."
ASV And certain men came down from Judæa and taught the brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
DRA And some coming down from Judea, taught the brethren: That except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved.
YLT And certain having come down from Judea, were teaching the brethren — 'If ye be not circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye are not able to be saved;'
Drby And certain persons, having come down from Judaea, taught the brethren, If ye shall not have been circumcised according to the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
RV And certain men came down from Judaea and taught the brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the custom of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
Wbstr And certain men who came down from Judea, taught the brethren, and said , Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
KJB-1769 And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved.
(And certain men which came down from Judæa taught the brethren/brothers, and said, Except ye/you_all be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye/you_all cannot be saved. )
KJB-1611 ¶ [fn]And certaine men which came downe from Iudea, taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saued.
(¶ And certain men which came down from Yudea, taught the brethren/brothers, and said, Except ye/you_all be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye/you_all cannot be saved.)
15:1 Galat.5.1.
Bshps And certayne men whiche came downe fro Iurie, taught the brethren, except ye be circumcised after the maner of Moyses, ye can not be saued.
(And certain men which came down from Yury/Yudea, taught the brethren/brothers, except ye/you_all be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye/you_all cannot be saved.)
Gnva Then came downe certaine from Iudea, and taught the brethren, saying, Except ye be circumcised after the maner of Moses, ye cannot be saued.
(Then came down certain from Yudea, and taught the brethren/brothers, saying, Except ye/you_all be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye/you_all cannot be saved. )
Cvdl And there came certayne fro Iewry, and taughte the brethren: Excepte ye be circumcysed after the maner of Moses, ye can not be saued.
(And there came certain from Yewry, and taughte the brethren/brothers: Excepte ye/you_all be circumcysed after the manner of Moses, ye/you_all cannot be saved.)
TNT Then cam certayne from Iewrie and taught the brethren: excepte ye be circumcysed after the maner of Moses ye cannot be saved.
(Then came certain from Yewrie and taught the brethren/brothers: except ye/you_all be circumcysed after the manner of Moses ye/you_all cannot be saved. )
Wycl And summe camen doun fro Judee, and tauyten britheren, That but ye ben circumcidid after the lawe of Moises, ye moun not be maad saaf.
(And some came down from Yudee, and taughtn brethren/brothers, That but ye/you_all been circumcidid after the law of Moses, ye/you_all moun not be made safe.)
Luth Und etliche kamen herab von Judäa und lehreten die Brüder: Wo ihr euch nicht beschneiden lasset nach der Weise Mose‘s, so könnet ihr nicht selig werden.
(And several came down from Yudäa and lehreten the brothers: Where you/their/her you not beschneiden let after the/of_the Weise Mose‘s, so könnet you/their/her not selig become.)
ClVg Et quidam descendentes de Judæa docebant fratres: Quia nisi circumcidamini secundum morem Moysi, non potestis salvari.
(And quidam descendentes about Yudæa docebant brothers: Because nisi circumcidamini after/second morem of_Moses, not/no potestis salvari. )
UGNT καί τινες κατελθόντες ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ἐδίδασκον τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς, ὅτι ἐὰν μὴ περιτμηθῆτε τῷ ἔθει τῷ Μωϋσέως, οὐ δύνασθε σωθῆναι.
(kai tines katelthontes apo taʸs Youdaias, edidaskon tous adelfous, hoti ean maʸ peritmaʸthaʸte tōi ethei tōi Mōuseōs, ou dunasthe sōthaʸnai.)
SBL-GNT Καί τινες κατελθόντες ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας ἐδίδασκον τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὅτι Ἐὰν μὴ ⸀περιτμηθῆτε τῷ ἔθει ⸀τῷ Μωϋσέως, οὐ δύνασθε σωθῆναι.
(Kai tines katelthontes apo taʸs Youdaias edidaskon tous adelfous hoti Ean maʸ ⸀peritmaʸthaʸte tōi ethei ⸀tōi Mōuseōs, ou dunasthe sōthaʸnai.)
TC-GNT Καί τινες κατελθόντες ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας, ἐδίδασκον τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς ὅτι Ἐὰν μὴ [fn]περιτέμνησθε τῷ ἔθει [fn]Μωϋσέως, οὐ δύνασθε σωθῆναι.
(Kai tines katelthontes apo taʸs Youdaias, edidaskon tous adelfous hoti Ean maʸ peritemnaʸsthe tōi ethei Mōuseōs, ou dunasthe sōthaʸnai. )
15:1 περιτεμνησθε ¦ περιτμηθητε CT
15:1 μωυσεως ¦ μωσεως HF ¦ μωυσεος PCK ¦ τω μωυσεως ECM† NA SBL TH WH
Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).
15:1 These men from Judea were Jewish Christians who taught the necessity of circumcision (and with it, conversion to Judaism) in order to be saved. The central issue was how Gentiles were to be received into Christian fellowship. Paul wrote his letter to the Galatians about this time to counter the same teaching in Galatia (see Galatians Book Introduction, “Date of Writing”).
Circumcision in the New Testament
Circumcision (cutting off the male foreskin) was widely practiced in the ancient Near East (see Jer 9:25-26). For Jews, it had religious significance as the sign of the covenant that God had established with the people of Israel (Gen 17:9-14; Josh 5:2; John 7:22; Acts 7:8; Sirach 44:20). It was normally performed on the eighth day of a male infant’s life (Gen 17:12; Lev 12:3; Luke 1:59; Acts 7:8). The New Testament notes the circumcision of John the Baptist, Jesus, Paul, and Timothy (Luke 1:59; 2:21; Acts 16:2-3; Phil 3:5). Circumcision became a metaphor for the renewal of a person’s relationship with God (Deut 10:16; 30:6; Jer 4:4; Rom 2:28-29). In the late 40s AD, some Jewish Christians tried to require Gentile Christians to undergo circumcision (Acts 15:1, 5; see 21:20-21; Gal 2:4, 11-13), to which Paul and Barnabas objected (Acts 15:2). The ensuing church council at Jerusalem settled the matter in favor of not requiring Gentiles to be circumcised (15:19-21, 28-29).
Paul insisted that “it makes no difference whether or not a man has been circumcised” (1 Cor 7:19). “What is important is faith expressing itself in love” (Gal 5:6). In Galatians, Paul argued against vigorous Jewish opponents and insisted that everyone enters God’s family simply through faith in Jesus Christ (Gal 2:14-21). Circumcision is not required for acceptance by God (Gal 5:6). The cross of Christ is the way that sinners enter into covenant with God (Gal 2:14-21; Col 2:11-15).
Passages for Further Study
Gen 17:9-14; Lev 12:3; Josh 5:2-9; Jer 9:25-26; Luke 1:59; 2:21; John 7:22-24; Acts 7:8; 15:1-5, 19-21, 28-31; 16:2-3; 21:18-24; Rom 2:25-29; 1 Cor 7:17-19; Gal 2:3-5, 11-21; 5:6; 6:15; Phil 3:5-9; Col 2:11-23
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit
τινες
some
Luke assumes that his readers will recognize that these were Jews who believed in Jesus. You can include this information if your readers will need it to understand this sentence. Alternate translation: [certain Jews who believed in Jesus]
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / idiom
κατελθόντες ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰουδαίας
/having/_come_down from ¬the Judea
Luke speaks of these Jews coming down to Antioch because that city is lower in elevation than Judea. Alternate translation: [who had traveled]
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
ἐδίδασκον τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς
/were/_teaching the brothers
Luke is using the term brothers to mean people who share the same faith. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [were teaching the believers]
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
ἐὰν μὴ περιτμηθῆτε
if not ˱you_all˲_/may_be/_circumcised
If your language does not use this passive form, you could state this in active form. Alternate translation: [Unless someone circumcises you]
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
οὐ δύνασθε σωθῆναι
not ˱you_all˲_/are/_being_able /to_be/_saved
If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who would do the action, it is clear from the context that it would be God. Alternate translation, as in UST: “God will not save you”