The text of the book of Acts is notable for the divergence between the Alexandrian text

and the Western text. One of the most prominent examples of this divergence is in the text of the
Apostolic Decree in Acts 15. The decree is stated in Acts 15:29, as well as being referred to
proleptically in 15:20 and retrospectively in 21:25. As one evaluates the variants in the text, one
must determine whether four prohibitions are mentioned (food sacrificed to idols, blood, things
strangled, and sexual sin) or three (omitting either things strangled or sexual sin). As well, a
determination must be made as to whether the prohibitions are ceremonial, ethical, or a
combination of the two. These two questions are not independent of each other, as certain
prohibitions may have been added or omitted for the sake of creating a certain emphasis
(whether that be ethical or cultic). It is the intent of this essay to critically analyze the text of
Acts 15:29 in order to determine that the decree consists of four items and includes both
ceremonial and ethical elements.
The text of the beginning of the verse is undisputed and reads as follows:
(to abstain from that which is sacrificed to idols and from blood).
The first area of dispute concerns the words (and from things strangled). This
reading is supported by the original reading of the mid-fourth century manuscript Codex
Sinaiticus ()*, the original reading of the fifth century manuscript Codex Alexandrinus (A*), the
fourth century manuscript Codex Vaticanus (B), the fifth century manuscript Codex Ephraemi
Rescriptus (C), a number of minuscules, including 81 (dated 1044 by its colophon), 614 (from
the eighth century), 1175 (from the tenth century) and a few others. Additionally, it is supported
by the equivalent reading of all the Coptic versions, with slight variation and the writings of the
Church Fathers Clement of Alexandria and multiple manuscripts of Jerome. An alternative
reading of is supplied by the seventh century papyrus P74, the second corrector of
Sinaiticus (2 ), the corrector of Alexandrinus (Ac), Codex E, the ninth/tenth century majuscule
, the ninth century miniscule 33, the tenth century miniscule 1739, and the Majority text. In the
ancient versions the equivalent reading is supported, with slight differences by the Vulgate and
part of the Old Latin tradition as well as all Syriac versions extant for the verse, as well as the
Church Father Cyril of Jerusalem. The words are omitted from Codex D, 1, the Latin translation
of Irenaeus in the margin of 1739, and some manuscripts of Jerome. The external evidence is
weighted toward the authenticity of . The use of the singular term in other
manuscripts may be explained as an attempt to harmonize the wording with the singular use in
15:20 ( ). As for the omission in the Western text, this may be explained as an
attempt to moralize the words of the decree. This would leave a threefold prohibition against
idolatry, fornication, and blood (or murder), to which the Western text also adds a negative
golden rule (discussed below). The overwhelming external support for some form of
allows us to conclude that the Western text omits part of the original decree (probably for the
sake of moralizing what was seen as cultic decree).
The next words of the verse, (and from fornication) are omitted by the
Vulgate manuscripts Vigilius and Gaudentius as well as Origens contra Celsum, VIII.29. P45
omits the term for 15:20 but unfortunately is not extant for 15:29. With regard to transcriptional
probabilities, the omission of the words in these manuscripts may have been deliberate. Bruce
Metzger suggests that it may have been removed as it was seen as out of place in a list
addressing food laws.1 Metzger goes on to hypothesize that may refer to mixed
1

Bruce M. Metzger. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume to the United Bible
Societies Greek New Testament. (2nd ed., New York: United Bible Societies, 1994), 380.

marriages or pagan worship. The second explanation may be more correct, as idolatrous
practices in pagan temples did include cultic prostitution. The external evidence reveals that
both of the disputed prohibitions are original to the text, giving us a fourfold decree.
The following lengthy insertion next appears in a number of Western manuscripts:
. This is supported by Codex D, the seventh century
miniscule 323, 614, the eleventh century miniscule 945, 1739, the tenth century miniscule 1891and a few
others, as well as equivalent readings in a few Latin manuscript, the Harklean text of the Syriac tradition,
and the Sahidic witnesses of the Coptic tradition. Additionally this insertion is attested by Cyprian and is
represented in the margin of 1739 by Eusebius and the Latin translation of Irenaeus. Alternative readings
in this insertion include instead of in 945, 1739, a few others, and the Harklean text of the
Syriac tradition and instead of in the second corrector of D (D2), 614, and a few others.
These same manuscripts also attest a similar insertion in 15:20. The external evidence clearly weights
against the authenticity of this variant. The question then, is: how did it arise. The insertion is a negative
form of the Golden Rule and is keeping with the ethical bent of the Western text with regard to the
Apostolic Decree.

Following this, the verse states: (keeping

yourselves from these things, you will do well). A few manuscripts change the word to
and add (being borne along by the Holy Spirit).
These witnesses include Codex D, 1, and the Latin translation of Irenaeus in the margin of 1739.
The future tense of is to be preferred both on transcriptional probability and grounds of
external evidence. The addition of the participial phrase in the
Western text may be explained in a number of ways. It may be a misplaced gloss, which was
intended to clarify in verse 30, or it may have been an attempt to add a pious
expansion to the close of the section. Finally, the verse ends with the word
(Farewell).
Having examined the external evidence for the variants in Acts 15:29 in detail, we are
ready to make some concluding remarks on the extent and nature of the Apostolic Decree. First,
as previously stated, the evidence overwhelmingly points to a fourfold prohibition. The
commands to abstain from things sacrificed to idols and from blood are undisputed. The
omission of things strangled () is most certainly a Western reading, while the vast weight
of the external evidence supports the inclusion of some form of . Additionally, the
evidence for the omission of comes only from a couple of Vulgate manuscripts and a
passage in Origen. All four prohibitions (things sacrificed to idols, blood, things strangled, and
fornication) are part of the original decree.
The question then is: are the prohibitions in the decree completely ceremonial, ethical, or
a combination of the two? There are certainly ceremonial elements to the decree. This is
made evident by the Western texts attempt to remove and insert a negative Golden
Rule. We then may see the four commands as tied together. One must abstain from food
sacrificed to idols (), from blood (as in consuming bloodabstinence from
shedding blood is not in view here) (), from that which has been strangled (or improperly
slaughtered) (), and from fornication () (which has association with pagan
temple practices). While these bear similarity to the cultic rules of the Torah, there is certainly a
moral element in play as well. The range of here is probably not limited to temple
prostitution but extents to all forms of sexual immorality. Additionally, while abstinence from
idolatry and pagan practices falls under cultic regulations, it cannot be divorced from ethics.
2

Embracing these practices is to turn ones back on God himself. In sum, we may conclude that
the decree had both cultic and ethical commands, and the original text of the verse bears this out.

Bibliography
Barrett, C.K. The Apostolic Decree of Acts 15:29, Australian Biblical Review 35 (1987): 50-9.
Metzger, Bruce M. A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament: A Companion Volume
to the United Bible Societies Greek New Testament. 2nd ed. New York: United Bible
Societies, 1994.
Savelle, Charles H. A Reexamination of the Prohibitions in Acts 15, Bibliotheca Sacra 161
(October-December 2004): 449-68.
Scott, J. Julius Textual Variants of the Apostolic Decree and Their Setting in the Early
Church, In The Living and Active Word of God. Winona Lake: Eisenbrauns, 1983.