Acts 20:29

29 I ¹know that after my departure ²fierce wolves will come in among you, ³not sparing the flock;

Acts 20:29 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 20:29

For I know this
By divine revelation:

that after my departing;
either out of this world, or after his leaving them now, and proceeding on, his journey:

shall grievous wolves enter in among you;
false teachers, comparable to wolves, for their craft and cunning, and for their greedy, covetous, and voracious dispositions; and who would be very grievous, troublesome, and even intolerable to them; these, he knew, would enter privily, at an unawares, into their churches, and set up themselves for preachers, without being called or sent:

not sparing the flock;
fleecing it instead of feeding it, making merchandise of it, and like the Pharisees, under religious pretences, devour widows' houses, and drain the purses of men; and having as little compassion upon their souls, poisoning them with their errors and heresies, subverting their faith, and bringing them into swift ruin and destruction, as much as would in them lie.

Acts 20:29 In-Context

27 for I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God.

28 Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood.

29 I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock;

30 and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

31 Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish everyone with tears.

Cross References

• 1. [See ver. 28 above]
• 2. See Matthew 7:15
• 3. John 10:12; [Colossians 2:8]