Moseus · noun — nominative singular masculine, a proper name
of
ἐκek
G1537
literal or figurative · preposition
old
ἀρχαίωνarchaiōn
G744
original or primeval · adjective — genitive plural feminine
time
γενεῶνgeneōn
G1074
a generation · noun — genitive plural feminine
hath
ἔχειechei
G2192
to hold (used in very various applications · verb — present active indicative, 3rd person singular
every
κατὰkata
G2596
(prepositionally) down (in place or time) · preposition
city
πόλινpolin
G4172
a town (properly · noun — accusative singular feminine
them
τοὺςtous
G3588
the (sometimes to be supplied · article — accusative plural masculine
preach
κηρύσσονταςkērussontas
G2784
to herald (as a public crier) · verb — present active participle, accusative plural masculine
him
αὐτὸνauton
G846
the reflexive pronoun self · personal pronoun — accusative singular masculine
read
ἀναγινωσκόμενος.¶anaginōskomenos
G314
to know again · verb — present passive participle, nominative singular masculine
in
ἐνen
G1722
"in · preposition
synagogues
συναγωγαῖςsunagōgais
G4864
an assemblage of persons · noun — dative plural feminine
every
πᾶνpan
G3956
all · adjective — accusative singular neuter
day
σάββατονsabbaton
G4521
the Sabbath (i.e. Shabbath) · noun — accusative singular neuter
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Acts 13:15 And after the reading of the law and the prophets the rulers of the synagogue sent unto them, saying, Ye men and brethren, if ye have any wo…
Acts 13:27 For they that dwell at Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they knew him not, nor yet the voices of the prophets which are read every sabba…
2 Corinthians 3:14-15 But their minds were blinded: for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is don…
Nehemiah 8:1-12 And all the people gathered themselves together as one man into the street that was before the water gate; and they spake unto Ezra the scri…
Luke 4:16 And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the sabbath day, and stood up f…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Acts 15:6-21
We have here a council called, not by writ, but by consent, on this occasion (Act 15:6): The apostles and presbyters came together, to consider this matter. They did not give their judgment separately, but came together to do it, that they might hear one another's sense in this matter; for in the multitude of counsellors there is safety and satisfaction. They did not give their judgment rashly, but considered of this matter. Though they were clear concerning it in their own minds, yet they would take time to consider of it, and to hear what might be said by the adverse party. Nor did the apostles give their judgment concerning it without the elders, the inferior ministers, to whom they thus…
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him . . . every sabbath day--thus keeping alive in every Jew those feelings which such practices would shock, and which, therefore, the Gentile converts must carefully respect if the oneness of both classes in Christ was to be practically preserved. The wisdom of these suggestions commended itself to all present.
Adam Clarke on Acts 15:21
Moses of old time hath in every city - The sense of this verse seems to be this: As it was necessary to write to the Gentiles what was strictly necessary to be observed by them, relative to these points, it was not so to the converted Jews; for they had Moses, that is, the law, preached to them, κατα πολιν, in the city, that is, Antioch; and, by the reading of the law in the synagogues every Sabbath day, they were kept in remembrance of those institutions which the Gentiles, who had not the law, could not know. Therefore, James thought that a letter to the converted Gentiles would be sufficient, as the converted Jews had already ample instruction on these points.
John Gill on Acts 15:21
For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him,.... That is, for many years past, even from the times of Ezra, the law of Moses has been publicly expounded by them, whom the Jews call Derashim, preachers, or expounders, in every city where there was a synagogue; and every city belonging to the Jews, were obliged to build a synagogue, yea, they were obliged to do it where there were but ten Israelites (n): this is given by James as a reason why the Gentiles should be wrote unto concerning the above things; because that they hearing the law read and expounded every week, would be ready to conclude that they were obliged to submit unto it, as to circumcision, and other things; un…
The Church Fathers
For Moses from ancient generations has in every city those who preach him in the synagogues; that is, and if they are not burdened by the severity of the precepts now, yet with passage of time, as they more frequently gather for reading of the law and the prophets, they will gradually adopt ways of life and the interrelated laws of mutual love to be preserved. For the primitive Church, still Judaizing, it is understood to have celebrated these on Sabbaths.
And the churches, too, will wail with a mighty lamentation, because neither "oblation nor incense" is attended to, nor a service acceptable to God; but the sanctuaries of the churches will become like a garden-watcher's hut, and the holy body and blood of Christ will not be shown in those days. The public service of God shall be extinguished, psalmody shall cease, the reading of the Scriptures shall not be heard; but for men there shall be darkness, and lamentation on lamentation, and woe on woe.
"For Moses of old time hath in every city them that preach him, being read in the synagogues every sabbath day." Since then they had heard of the Law, with good reason he enjoins these things from the Law, that he may not seem to make it of no authority. And yet observe how he does not let them be told these things from the Law, but from himself, saying, It is not that I heard these things from the Law, but how? "We have judged." Then the decree is made in common. This above all quieted them. For this cause I affirm that it is good so to write to them. Then why do we not write the same injunctions to Jews also? Moses discourses unto them. See what condescension to their weakness! Where it did no harm, he set him up as teacher, and indulged them with a gratification which hindered nothing, by permitting Jews to hear him in regard of these matters, even while leading away from him them of the Gentiles. See what wisdom! He seems to honor him, and to set him up as the authority for his own people, and by this very thing he leads away the Gentiles from him!
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Council — Spoken of counsellors who sat in public trials with the governor of a province (Acts 25:12). The Jewish councils were the Sanhedrim, or supreme council of the nation, which had subordinate to it…
Galatians, Epistle to — The genuineness of this epistle is not called in question. Its Pauline origin is universally acknowledged. Occasion of. The churches of Galatia were founded by Paul himself (Acts 16:6; Gal. 1:8;…
James — (1.) The son of Zebedee and Salome; an elder brother of John the apostle. He was one of the twelve. He was by trade a fisherman, in partnership with Peter (Matt. 20:20; 27:56). With John and Peter he…
Paul — =Saul (q.v.) was born about the same time as our Lord. His circumcision-name was Saul, and probably the name Paul was also given to him in infancy “for use in the Gentile world,” as “Saul” would be…
Pentateuch — The five-fold volume, consisting of the first five books of the Old Testament. This word does not occur in Scripture, nor is it certainly known when the roll was thus divided into five portions…
Peter — Originally called Simon (=Simeon, i.e., “hearing”), a very common Jewish name in the New Testament. He was the son of Jona (Matt. 16:17). His mother is nowhere named in Scripture. He had a younger…
Synagogue — (Gr. sunagoge, i.e., “an assembly”), found only once in the Authorized Version of Ps. 74:8, where the margin of Revised Version has “places of assembly,” which is probably correct; for while the…
Titus — Honourable, was with Paul and Barnabas at Antioch, and accompanied them to the council at Jerusalem (Gal. 2:1-3; Acts 15:2), although his name nowhere occurs in the Acts of the Apostles. He appears…
Acts 15:19-21
19. Wherefore, I think that we ought not to trouble those who of the Gentiles are turned to God: 20. But that we must write unto them, that they abstain from the filthiness of images, and from fornication, and from strangled, and from blood. 21. For Moses of old time hath those in every city which preach him, when he is read in the synagogues every Sabbath day.
19. That we must not trouble. He denieth that the Gentiles must be driven from the Church through the disagreement about ceremonies, seeing they were admitted by God; yet it [he] seemeth contrary to himself, when he denieth that they ought to be troubled, and yet prescribeth certain rites. The answer is easy, which I w…
Eating food offered to idols is sinful if it involves knowingly partaking of an idolatrous sacrifice (see Exod 20:4; Deut 5:8; 1 Cor 8:4-13; 10:14-30; Rev 2:14, 20). • Sexual immorality was common in the Greek world but is always sinful (Exod 20:14; Deut 5:18; Gal 5:19). • eating the meat of strangled animals: God’s law prohibits eating meat that has blood in it (Lev 17:13-14) or consuming blood (Lev 17:10-12), “for the life of every creature is in its blood” (Lev 17:14). Also, “It is the blood, given in exchange for a life, that makes purification possible” (see Lev 17:11 and study note). This command was first given to Noah, the ancestor of Gentiles as well as Jews (Gen 9:4).
Sabbath, The · The Scriptures to be read on — The Scriptures to be read on
Synagogue · The Scriptures were read and expoun — The Scriptures were read and expoun
Synagogues · Service of, consisted of: Reading the word of God — Service of, consisted of: Reading the word of God
Titus · Compare — Compare
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
