Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
Parallel translations
- WEB Now therefore why do you tempt God, that you should put a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
- KJV Now therefore why tempt ye God, to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples, which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear?
- BSB Now then, why do you test God by placing on the necks of the disciples a yoke that neither we nor our fathers have been able to bear?
- NASB Since this is the case, why are you putting God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our forefathers nor we have been able to bear?
- NLT So why are you now challenging God by burdening the Gentile believers with a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors were able to bear?
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
Peter asks why they would test God by laying on Gentiles a yoke no one could bear. Imposing law-keeping for salvation burdens people God has already freed.
Overview
The 'yoke' is the law as a means of being saved, a burden Israel itself never carried successfully (compare Galatians 3:10-11). To require it of Gentiles would be to resist God's clear acceptance of them by grace. Peter's words point ahead to the rest that Christ gives in place of an unbearable burden (Matthew 11:28-30).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Gal 5:1Stand firm therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and don’t be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.
- Matt 23:4For they bind heavy burdens that are grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not lift a finger to help them.
- Gal 4:9But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, why do you turn back again to the weak and miserable elemental principles, to which you desire to be in bondage all over again?
- Heb 9:9which is a symbol of the present age, where gifts and sacrifices are offered that are incapable, concerning the conscience, of making the worshiper perfect;
- Matt 11:28–30“Come to me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.
- Matt 4:7Jesus said to him, “Again, it is written, ‘You shall not test the Lord, your God.’”
- Isa 7:12But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, neither will I tempt Yahweh.”
- Heb 3:9where your fathers tested me by proving me, and saw my deeds for forty years.
- Exod 17:2Therefore the people quarreled with Moses, and said, “Give us water to drink.” Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test Yahweh?”
- Gal 4:1–5But I say that so long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a bondservant, though he is lord of all;
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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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