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Acts 11:5
ESV “I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision, something like a great sheet descending, being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to me.
NIV I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was.
NASB I was in the city of Joppa praying; and in a trance I saw a vision, an object coming down like a great sheet lowered by four corners from the sky; and it came to where I was,
CSB "I was in the town of Joppa praying, and I saw, in a trance, an object that resembled a large sheet coming down, being lowered by its four corners from heaven, and it came to me.
NLT I was in the town of Joppa,' he said, 'and while I was praying, I went into a trance and saw a vision. Something like a large sheet was let down by its four corners from the sky. And it came right down to me.
KJV I was in the city of Joppa praying: and in a trance I saw a vision, A certain vessel descend, as it had been a great sheet, let down from heaven by four corners; and it came even to me:

What does Acts 11:5 mean?

Peter is in Jerusalem, explaining to the church why he ate with Gentiles in Caesarea Maritima. He starts his story in Joppa, where he had been called to raise Dorcas from the dead (Acts 9:36–43). He was staying at the home of a tanner named Simon and went to the rooftop to pray. Simon lived in Joppa, near modern-day Tel Aviv. In this verse, Peter is specifically repeating the events given in Acts 10:9–11.

On the sheet are several different types of animals, including reptiles and carrion birds which the Mosaic law forbids as food (Acts 11:6). A voice tells him to kill and eat. When Peter refuses, the voice tells him God has made unclean things clean (Acts 10:12–15).

Vision is from the Greek root word horama. It typically means the image of a prophecy one sees while still awake, like Peter and the sheet of non-kosher food (Acts 10:9–16). Dreams is translated from the Greek root word enypnion and essentially means a prophecy received while sleeping. Prophesy is from the Greek root word prophēteuō. It means "to declare information given by revelation from God."

Peter's vision taught him that as Jesus had declared all food clean (Mark 7:19), He likewise declared all people clean—not that all are saved, but that no person should be thought of as spiritually "unclean" and beyond God's salvation. Peter should welcome all the people from the four corners of the world—or sheet—to his table. In the church, the strict segregation of Jew and Gentile is nullified (Romans 10:12).
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