Acts 11:2

2 And when Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the Circumcision contended with him,

Acts 11:2 Meaning and Commentary

Acts 11:2

And when Peter was come up to Jerusalem
From Caesarea, after he had stayed some certain days in Cornelius's house; so a journey from Caesarea to Jerusalem is called an ascending from the one to the other, ( Acts 25:1 ) because Jerusalem stood on higher ground, as well as was the metropolis of the country; and this was a journey of six hundred furlongs, or seventy five miles, for so far, according to Josephus ^F20, was Caesarea distant from Jerusalem:

they that were of the circumcision,
which phrase designs not only the circumcised Jews that believed in Christ, for such were all they of the church at Jerusalem, or at least proselytes that had been circumcised, for as yet there were no uncircumcised Gentiles among them; but those of them, who were most strenuous for circumcision, and made it not only a bar of church communion, but even of civil conversation:

these contended with him;
litigated the point, disputed the matter with him, complained against him, and quarrelled with him. Epiphanius says ^F21, that Cerinthus, that arch-heretic, was at the head of this contention.

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 De Bello Jud. l. 1. c. 3. sect. 5.
F21 Contr. Haeres. l. 1. Haeres. 28.

Acts 11:2 In-Context

1 And the apostles and the brethren who were in Judea heard that the Gentiles had also received the Word of God.

2 And when Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the Circumcision contended with him,

3 saying, "Thou wentest in to uncircumcised men and didst eat with them."

4 But Peter reviewed the matter from the beginning and expounded it in order unto them, saying,

5 "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. A certain vessel descended as though it had been a great sheet let down from heaven by four corners, and it came even to me.