Limitless Word
In the sheet were all sorts of animals, reptiles, and birds.
Acts 10:12 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB in which were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild animals, reptiles, and birds of the sky.
  • KJV Wherein were all manner of fourfooted beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air.
  • BSB It contained all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth, as well as birds of the air.
  • NKJV In it were all kinds of four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, creeping things, and birds of the air.
  • NASB and on it were all kinds of four-footed animals and crawling creatures of the earth and birds of the sky.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The sheet contained all kinds of animals, including those forbidden under the law. The mix challenges Jewish dietary boundaries.

Overview

The presence of both clean and unclean creatures points to the heart of the lesson. Under the old covenant such distinctions separated Israel from the nations. The vision signals that those barriers are about to be set aside in Christ.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 5

  • Gen 7:8–9Clean animals, unclean animals, birds, and everything that creeps on the ground
  • Isa 11:6–9The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the young goat; The calf, the young lion, and the fattened calf together; and a little child will lead them.
  • John 7:37Now on the last and greatest day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink!
  • Isa 65:25The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox. Dust will be the serpent’s food. They will not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain,” says Yahweh.
  • 1 Cor 6:9–11Or don’t you know that the unrighteous will not inherit God’s Kingdom? Don’t be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor male prostitutes, nor homosexuals,

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (7)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Acts videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Acts 10:12YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on ActsMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Acts is the risen Christ continuing his work by the Spirit through the church, as the apostles preach that there is salvation in no other name under heaven.

How Acts 10:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.