Acts 15:20

Bishops' Bible (1568)

But that we write vnto them, that they absteyne themselues from fylthynesse of idols, and fro fornication, and from strangled, and from blood.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

Ἀλλὰ ἐπιστεῖλαι αὐτοῖς, τοῦ ἀπέχεσθαι ἀπὸ τῶν ἀλισγημάτων τῶν εἰδώλων, καὶ τῆς πορνείας, καὶ τοῦ πνικτοῦ, καὶ τοῦ αἵματος.

Transliteration

But to episteilai to them, to apechesthai apo tōn alisgēmatōn tōn eidōlōn, and tēs porneias, and the pniktou, and the haimatos.

Grammar Details

• *alla*: conjunction - but/rather
• *episteilai*: aorist, infinitive, active - to write/send [a letter]
• *autois*: dative, masculine, plural - to them
• *tou apechesthai*: present, infinitive, middle, articular - the abstaining
• *apo*: preposition + genitive - from
• *tōn alisgēmatōn*: genitive, neuter, plural - the pollutions/defilements
• *tōn eidōlōn*: genitive, neuter, plural - of idols
• *tēs porneias*: genitive, feminine, singular - sexual immorality
• *tou pniktou*: genitive, neuter, singular - what is strangled
• *tou haimatos*: genitive, neuter, singular - the blood

Word Meanings

• *episteilai*: to write/send [a letter]/instruct
• *apechesthai*: to abstain/keep away/refrain
• *alisgēmatōn*: pollutions/defilements/contaminations
• *eidōlōn*: idols/images
• *porneias*: sexual immorality/fornication
• *pniktou*: what is strangled/strangled meat
• *haimatos*: blood

Referenced Verses

• Lev 3:17 : 17 Let it be a perpetuall statute for your generations throughout your dwellynges, yt ye eate neither fat nor blood.
• Acts 15:29 : 29 That ye abstayne from thynges offered to idols, and from blood, and from strangled, and from fornication: From which yf ye kepe your selues, ye shall do well. So fare ye well.
• Rev 2:14 : 14 But I haue a fewe thynges agaynst thee, because thou hast there, them that maynetayne the doctrine of Balaam, whiche taught in Balacke, to put a stumblyng blocke before the chyldren of Israel, that they shoulde eate of meate dedicate vnto idols, & commit fornicatio.
• Rev 2:20 : 20 Notwithstandyng, I haue a fewe thynges agaynst thee, because thou sufferest that woman Iesabel, which called her selfe a prophetisse, to teache, and to deceaue my seruauntes, to make them commit fornication, and to eate meates offred vp vnto idols.
• Gen 9:4 : 4 But flesh in the life therof which is the blood therof, shall ye not eate.
• Deut 12:16 : 16 Only ye shall not eate the blood, but powre it vpon the earth as water.
• Deut 15:23 : 23 Only eate not the blood therof: but powre it vpon the grounde as water.
• Ezek 4:14 : 14 Then sayde I, Oh Lorde God: beholde, my soule was yet neuer stayned, for fro my youth vp vnto this houre, I did neuer eate of a dead carkase, or of that whiche was slayne of wylde beastes, neither came there euer any vncleane fleshe in my mouth.
• Lev 17:10-14 : 10 And whatsoeuer man it be of the house of Israel, or of the straungers that soiourne among you, that eateth any maner of blood, I wyll set my face against that soule that eateth blood, and wyll cut hym of from among his people: 11 For the life of the fleshe is in the blood, and I haue geuen it vnto you vpon the aulter, to make an attonement for your soules: for this blood shall make an attonement for the soule. 12 Therfore I sayd vnto the chyldren of Israel: Let no soule of you eate blood, neither let any straunger that soiourneth among you, eate blood. 13 And whatsoeuer man it be of the chyldren of Israel, or of the straungers that soiourne among you, whiche hunteth and catcheth any beast or foule that may be eaten, let hym powre out the blood thereof, and couer it with dust. 14 For the lyfe of the fleshe is the blood of it ioyned with his lyfe: therefore I sayde vnto the chyldren of Israel, ye shal eate the blood of no maner of flesh, for the life of all fleshe is the blood therof: whosoeuer eateth it, shalbe cut of.
• Acts 21:25 : 25 As touchyng the Gentiles which beleue, we haue written and concluded, that they obserue no suche thyng, saue only that they kepe them selues from thynges offered to idoles, & from blood, and from strangled, & from fornication.
• 1 Cor 6:9 : 9 Knowe ye not that the vnrighteous shall not inherite the kingdome of God? Be not deceaued: neither fornicatours, nor idolatours, nor adulterers, nor weaklinges, nor abusers of them selues with mankinde,
• 1 Cor 6:18 : 18 Flee fornication. Euery synne that a man doeth, is without the body: but he that committeth fornication, sinneth against his owne body.
• Exod 34:15-16 : 15 Lest if thou make any agreement with the inhabitours of the lande, and they go a whoring after their gods, and do sacrifice vnto their gods: they call thee, and thou eate of theyr sacrifice. 16 And thou take of their daughters vnto thy sonnes, and their daughters go a whoryng after their gods, and make thy sonnes go a whoryng after their gods also.
• 1 Cor 7:2 : 2 Neuerthelesse, to auoyde fornication, let euery man haue his owne wyfe, and let euery woman haue her owne husband.
• 1 Cor 8:1 : 1 As touching thinges offred vnto idols, we are sure yt we all haue knowledge. Knowledge maketh a man swell: but loue edifieth.
• 1 Cor 8:4-9 : 4 As concerning the eating of those thinges that are offered vnto idols, we are sure that an idoll is nothing in the worlde, and that there is none other God but one. 5 And though there be that are called gods, whether in heauen or in earth, (as there be gods many, and lordes many:) 6 Yet vnto vs is there but one God, which is the father, of whom are all thinges, and we in him, and one Lorde Iesus Christe, by whom are al thinges, and we by him. 7 But euery man hath not knowledge: For some hauing conscience of the idol vntill this houre, eate as a thing offred vnto idols, and so their conscience being weake, is defiled. 8 But meate maketh vs not acceptable to God: For neither if we eate, haue we the more, neither if we eate not, haue we the lesse. 9 But take heede lest by any meanes this libertie of yours be an occasion of falling, to them that are weake. 10 For if any man see thee which hast knowledge, sit at meate in the idols temple: shal not the conscience of him which is weake, be boldened to eate those thinges which are offred to idols, 11 And through thy knowledge shal the weake brother perishe, for whom Christe dyed? 12 When ye sinne so against the brethren, and wounde their weake conscience, ye sinne against Christe. 13 Wherefore, if meate offend my brother, I wyll eate no fleshe whyle the worlde standeth, lest I shoulde offende my brother.
• 1 Cor 10:7-8 : 7 Neither be ye idolatours, as were some of them, as it is written: The people sate downe to eate and drynke, and rose vp to play. 8 Neither let vs commit fornication, as some of them committed fornication, and fell in one daye three and thirtie thousande.
• 1 Cor 10:14-28 : 14 Wherfore my deare beloued, flee from idolatrie. 15 I speake as vnto them which haue discretion, iudge ye what I say. 16 The cuppe of blessyng which we blesse, is it not ye partakyng of the blood of Christe? The bread which we breake, is it not the partakyng of the body of Christe? 17 For we that are many, are one bread and one body, in as much as we all are partakers of one bread. 18 Beholde Israel after the fleshe. Are not they which eate of the sacrifices, partakers of the aulter? 19 What say I then? that the idol is any thyng? Or that it which is offered to idols is any thyng? 20 Nay but this I saye that the thinges which the gentiles offer, they offer to deuyls, & not to God. And I woulde not that ye shoulde haue felowshippe with the deuils. 21 Ye can not drynke ye cup of the Lorde, and the cup of deuils. Ye can not be partakers of the Lordes table, and of the table of deuyls. 22 Either do we prouoke the Lorde to anger? Are we stronger then he? 23 All thynges are lawfull for me, but all thynges are not expedient: All thynges are lawfull for me, but all thynges edifie not. 24 Let no man seeke his owne: but euery man anothers wealth. 25 Whatsoeuer is solde in the market, that eate, and aske no question for conscience sake. 26 For the earth is the Lordes, and all that therin is. 27 If any of them which beleue not, byd you to a feast and ye be disposed to go, whatsoeuer is set before you, eat, asking no question for conscience sake. 28 But yf any man say vnto you, this is offred vnto idols, eate not of it for his sake that shewed it, and for conscience sake. The earth is the Lordes and all that therin is.
• 2 Cor 12:21 : 21 And that when I come agayne, my God bryng me lowe among you, and I shall bewayle many of the which haue sinned alredy, and haue not repented of the vncleannesse, and fornication, and wantonnes, which they haue comitted.
• Gal 5:19 : 19 The deedes of the flesshe are manifest, which are these, adulterie, fornication, vncleannesse, wantonnesse,
• Eph 5:3 : 3 But fornication, and all vncleannesse, or couetousnesse, let it not be once named among you, as it becommeth saintes:
• Col 3:5 : 5 Mortifie therefore your members which are vpon the earth: fornication, vncleannesse, inordinate affection, euyll concupiscence, and couetousnesse, which is worshippyng of images:
• 1 Thess 4:3 : 3 For this is the wyll of God, your holynesse, that ye should abstayne from fornication:
• 1 Tim 4:4-5 : 4 For euery creature of God is good, and nothyng to be refused, yf it be receaued with thankes geuyng. 5 For it is sanctified by the worde of God and prayer.
• Heb 12:16 : 16 Let there be no fornicator or vncleane person, as Esau, which for one morsell of meate, solde his birthryght.
• Heb 13:4 : 4 Wedlocke is honorable among all men, and the bed vndefiled: But whoremongers and adulterers God wyll iudge.
• 1 Pet 4:3 : 3 For it is sufficient for vs that we haue spent the tyme that is paste of the lyfe, after the wyll of the gentiles, walkyng in wantonnesse, lustes, in excesse of wynes, in excesse of eatyng, in excesse of drynkyng, and abominable idolatrie.
• 1 Cor 6:13 : 13 Meates are ordeyned for the belly, and the belly for meates: but God shall destroy both it, and them. Nowe the body is not for fornication: but for the Lorde, and the Lorde for the body.
• 1 Cor 5:11 : 11 But nowe I haue written vnto you, that ye companie not together, if any that is called a brother be a fornicatour, or couetous, or a worshipper of idols, or a rayler, or a drunkarde, or an extortioner: with him that is such see that ye eate not.
• Rev 9:20 : 20 And the remnaunt of the men whiche were not killed by these plagues, repented not of the deedes of their handes, that they shoulde not worship deuyls, and idoles of golde, and syluer, & brasse, and stone, and of wood, whiche neither can see, neither heare, neither go:
• Rev 10:2 : 2 And he had in his hande a litle booke open, and he put his ryght foote vpon the sea, and his left foote on the earth:
• Rev 10:8 : 8 And the voyce which I hearde from heauen, spake vnto me agayne, & sayde: Go, and take the litle booke which is open in the hande of the Angel, which standeth vpon the sea and vpon ye earth.
• Num 25:2 : 2 Whiche called the people vnto the sacrifice of their gods: And the people dyd eate, and bowed downe to their gods.
• Lev 7:23-27 : 23 Speake vnto the chyldren of Israel, and say: Ye shall eate no maner fat of beeues, of sheepe, and of goates. 24 Neuerthelater, the fat of the beast that dyeth alone, and the fat of that which is torne with wilde beastes, shalbe occupied in any maner of vse: but ye shall in no wyse eate of it. 25 For whosoeuer eateth the fat of the beast, of which men vse to bryng an offering made by fire vnto the Lorde: that soule that eateth it, shall be cut of from his people. 26 Moreouer, ye shall eate no maner of blood, whether it be of foule or of beast, in any your dwellynges. 27 Whatsoeuer soule it be that eateth any maner of blood, the same soule shall be cut of from his people.
• Gen 35:2 : 2 Then sayde Iacob vnto his householde, and to all that were with hym: put away the straunge gods that are among you, and be cleane, and chaunge your garmentes.
• Exod 20:3-5 : 3 Thou shalt haue none other Gods in my sight. 4 Thou shalt make thee no grauen image, neyther any similitude that is in heauen aboue, eyther in the earth beneath, or in the waters vnder the earth. 5 Thou shalt not bowe downe to them, neyther serue them: for I the Lord thy God, am a gelous God, and visite the sinne of the fathers vpon the chyldren, vnto the thirde and fourth generation of them that hate me:
• Exod 20:23 : 23 Ye shall not make therfore with me gods of siluer, neyther shall ye make ye gods of golde.
• Ezek 20:30-31 : 30 Wherfore speake vnto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lorde God, Are ye not defiled in the waies of your fathers, and commit ye not whoredome after their abhominations? 31 For when ye offer your giftes, & make your sonnes to passe through the fire, you are polluted with all your idols vnto this day: shall I aunswere you when I am asked, O house of Israel? As I liue saith the Lorde God, I wyll not be sought of you.
• Ezek 33:25 : 25 And therefore tel them, thus saith the Lorde God, In the blood haue ye eaten, your eyes haue ye lift vp to idols, and haue shed blood: shall ye then haue the lande in possession?
• Dan 1:8 : 8 But Daniel purposed in his heart that he woulde not defile hym selfe with the portion of the kinges meate, nor with the wyne which he dranke: therefore he required the chiefe chamberlayne that he might not defile him selfe.
• 1 Sam 14:32 : 32 And the people gat them to the spoyle, and toke sheepe, oxen, and calues, & slue them on the ground, and the people dyd eate them with the blood.
• Ps 106:37-39 : 37 Yea they sacrifised their sonnes: and their daughters vnto deuils. 38 And they shed innocent blood, euen the blood of their sonnes and of their daughters: whom they sacrifised vnto the idols of Chanaan, and the lande was defiled with blood. 39 Thus were they stayned with their owne workes: and went a whoryng with their owne inuentions.
• Deut 12:23-25 : 23 But be strong, that thou eate not the blood: for the blood is the life, and thou mayest not eate the life with the fleshe. 24 Thou shalt not eate it, but powre it vpon the earth as water. 25 Thou shalt not eate it, that it may go well with thee, and with thy chyldren after thee: But thou shalt do that whiche is ryght in the sight of the Lorde.
• Deut 14:21 : 21 Ye shall eate of nothyng that dyeth alone: But thou shalt geue it vnto the straunger that is in thy citie, that he eate it, or thou mayest sell it vnto a straunger: For thou art an holy people vnto the Lorde thy God. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mothers milke.