But when the Gentiles and Jews, together with their rulers, set out to mistreat and stone them,
Parallel translations
- WEB When some of both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers, made a violent attempt to mistreat and stone them,
- KJV And when there was an assault made both of the Gentiles, and also of the Jews with their rulers, to use them despitefully, and to stone them,
- NKJV And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and Jews, with their rulers, to abuse and stone them,
- NASB And when an attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers, to treat them abusively and to stone them,
- NLT Then a mob of Gentiles and Jews, along with their leaders, decided to attack and stone them.
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
Gentiles, Jews, and their rulers plotted to abuse and stone the missionaries. Hostility to the gospel hardened into a coordinated threat of violence.
Overview
Former rivals united against the shared object of their hatred, a recurring irony in Acts where opposition to Christ unites otherwise divided groups. Stoning was the prescribed penalty for blasphemy, so the plot framed the gospel as an offense against God. The threat is real but, for now, escapes them, showing God's providential timing over His servants' lives.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 8
- Acts 14:19Then some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and won over the crowds. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, presuming he was dead.
- 2 Tim 3:11my persecutions, and the sufferings that came upon me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.
- Acts 4:25–29You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: ‘Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Acts 17:5The Jews, however, became jealous. So they brought in some troublemakers from the marketplace, formed a mob, and sent the city into an uproar. They raided Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas, hoping to bring them out to the people.
- Ps 2:1–3Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?
- Luke 6:28bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
- Ps 83:5For with one mind they plot together, they form an alliance against You—
- Matt 5:44But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
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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.
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Original language
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