Acts 15:4 (KJV)

What does Acts 15:4 mean?

Acts 15:4 describes the arrival of Paul, Barnabas, and their companions in Jerusalem. The believers and their leaders welcome them, and the visitors report what God has done during their work. Their report brings the experience of people outside Jerusalem into a gathering of the Jerusalem church.

The group has come from Antioch because of a dispute about whether non-Jewish believers must be circumcised, a physical mark given to Jewish males. The report in verse 4 gives the Jerusalem believers an account of God’s work before the question is discussed further.

The Greek behind Acts 15:4

• “received” — παραδέχομαι (paradechomai): The word can carry the sense of welcoming someone. Here, the visitors are met with a reception by the Jerusalem believers and their leaders.
• “church” — ἐκκλησία (ekklēsia): The word means an assembly or gathering. Here, “church” refers to the people who belong to the group of believers in Jerusalem, not a building.
• “declared” — ἀναγγέλλω (anangellō): The word means to report or tell about something. It presents the visitors’ account as news being conveyed to those gathered.

Why Acts 15:4 matters

• The welcome involves more than the leaders alone. The verse names “the church” alongside “the apostles and elders,” so the wider group of believers is included in receiving the visitors.
• The report credits God for the work while recognizing the visitors’ involvement. The KJV says what “God had done with them,” rather than presenting the events simply as the visitors’ own achievements.
• The report is part of the setting for a disagreement, not the end of it. In verse 5, some believers raise the question of circumcision and keeping the law of Moses for non-Jewish believers.