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But they shook off the dust from their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
Acts 13:51 · New American Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came to Iconium.
  • KJV But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium.
  • BSB So they shook the dust off their feet in protest against them and went to Iconium.
  • NKJV But they shook off the dust from their feet against them, and came to Iconium.
  • NLT So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium.

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

Paul and Barnabas shake the dust off their feet against them and go to Iconium. They follow Jesus' instruction in the face of rejection.

Overview

Shaking off the dust enacts Jesus' directive to the rejected (Luke 9:5), a solemn sign that those who refuse the gospel bear their own responsibility. The gesture is not bitterness but a sober witness against unbelief. Undeterred, the missionaries press on to Iconium, continuing the mission.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Matt 10:14Whoever doesn’t receive you, nor hear your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust from your feet.
  • Acts 18:6When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!”
  • Luke 9:5As many as don’t receive you, when you depart from that city, shake off even the dust from your feet for a testimony against them.”
  • Mark 6:11Whoever will not receive you nor hear you, as you depart from there, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony against them. Assuredly, I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for that city!”
  • Acts 14:21When they had preached the Good News to that city, and had made many disciples, they returned to Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch,
  • Acts 14:1In Iconium, they entered together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spoke that a great multitude both of Jews and of Greeks believed.
  • Acts 14:19But some Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there, and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul, and dragged him out of the city, supposing that he was dead.
  • Acts 16:2The brothers who were at Lystra and Iconium gave a good testimony about him.
  • 2 Tim 3:11persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (5)

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 13:51YouTube · 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 13:51 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.