Chapter

Acts 10:32

ESV Send therefore to Joppa and ask for Simon who is called Peter. He is lodging in the house of Simon, a tanner, by the sea.’
NIV Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. He is a guest in the home of Simon the tanner, who lives by the sea.'
NASB Therefore send some men to Joppa and invite Simon, who is also called Peter, to come to you; he is staying at the house of Simon the tanner, by the sea.’
CSB Therefore send someone to Joppa and invite Simon here, who is also named Peter. He is lodging in Simon the tanner's house by the sea.'
NLT Now send messengers to Joppa, and summon a man named Simon Peter. He is staying in the home of Simon, a tanner who lives near the seashore.’
KJV Send therefore to Joppa, and call hither Simon, whose surname is Peter; he is lodged in the house of one Simon a tanner by the sea side: who, when he cometh, shall speak unto thee.

What does Acts 10:32 mean?

Cornelius, a centurion stationed in Caesarea Maritima, the Roman capital of Judea and Samaria, is explaining why he asked Peter to come visit him. Peter had been in Joppa, near modern-day Tel Aviv, staying at the home of a Jesus-follower named Simon who was a tanner.

Cornelius is a Gentile, most likely Italian, but a faithful follower of the Jewish God. He is well known in the city for his fervent prayer and his generous giving to the needy. He has just explained to Peter that, a few days before, an angel told him God accepted his alms as a "memorial" (Acts 10:4, 31). This means that not only does God credit Cornelius' giving to Himself, God considers Cornelius worthy of having a meal with Him. The Gentile, who is "devout" but not a full convert to Judaism, is clean in God's eyes (Acts 10:1–4).

This is a bit ironic because Simon, Peter's host, is a tanner. Any animal he tans or butchers that is not permissible to eat according to the Mosaic law makes him unclean until evening (Leviticus 11:4–8). Peter was comfortable enough to stay with a Jewish Jesus-follower who was regularly unclean from his work, but the only reason he is at the home of a Gentile is because the Holy Spirit told him to go.

The instruction came after an odd vision in which God repealed the kosher food laws (Acts 10:9–16). Peter is just beginning to understand the vision wasn't entirely—or even primarily—about food. Yes, God is saying that all food is clean, but He's also saying all people can be, too.
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