Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
But . . . that they abstain from pollutions of idols—that is, things polluted by having been offered in sacrifice to idols. The heathen were accustomed to give away or sell portions of such animals. From such food James would enjoin the Gentile converts to abstain, lest it should seem to the Jews that they were not entirely weaned from idolatry.
and from fornication—The characteristic sin of heathendom, unblushingly practiced by all ranks and classes, and the indulgence of which on the part of the Gentile converts would to Jews, whose Scriptures branded it as an abomination of the heathen, proclaim them to be yet joined to their old idols.
and from things strangled—which had the blood in them.
and from blood—in every form, as peremptorily forbidden to the Jews, and the eating of which, therefore, on the part of the Gentile converts, would shock their prejudices. See on Acts 15:28.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Acts 15:20:
Leviticus 17:15-16
Acts 11:21
Acts 15:28-29
Acts 15:28-29
Acts 21:25
1 Thessalonians 4:3
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