Acts 11 — Clausal Layout (English)

independentparticipialrelativepurposecausecomparativecontentconditionalphrase modifierdashed = verbless / suspended

Flush-left = a main (independent) clause. Each dependent line begins directly beneath the word it attaches to in the line above — the anchor word is dotted-underlined, and lights up when you hover its dependent clause; each tag also names the attachment. A dashed border marks verbless, elliptical, or suspended lines. Where a long sentence's staircase runs wider than the page, the diagram scrolls sideways. (In print, or without JavaScript, lines fall back to stepped indent columns.)

The charge in Jerusalem — you went in and you ate 11:1–3

Now the apostles and the brothers who were throughout Judea heardindependent — the scene shifts from Caesarea — the news outruns Peter to Jerusalem

that even the Gentiles had received the word of God.content — ascensive καί — 'even the Gentiles': the theological surprise stated as report

So when Peter went up to Jerusalem,conditional — temporal ὅτε (typed cnd; no temporal key) — leans on διεκρίνοντο; the Western text expands, greeting Peter en route

those of the circumcision were contending with him,independent — progressive imperfect — a sustained dispute; οἱ ἐκ περιτομῆς, the boundary-keepers (cf. Gal 2:12)

saying:participial — speech-participle with recitative ὅτι — the charge follows verbatim

'You went in to men who are uncircumcisedcontent — the first charge — entering the Gentile house, the purity offense of 10:28

and you ate with them.'content — the second and sharper charge — table fellowship, the most intimate boundary-crossing (cf. Gal 2:11–14)

Peter's defense — the events set out in order 11:4–17

v. 4 — the frame: one ordered recital

But Peter began and set it out to them in order, saying:independent — Lukan ἄρχομαι + imperfect ἐξετίθετο with καθεξῆς (cf. Lk 1:3) — everything to v. 17 hangs on this λέγων

vv. 5–10 — the vision retold: the sheet, the command, the reversal

'I was in the city of Joppa, praying,content — emphatic ἐγώ — the recital opens with place and piety (10:9)

and in a trance I saw a vision —content — ἐν ἐκστάσει ὅραμα — the divine-communication formula (10:10)

something like a great sheet coming down, being let down from heaven by four corners,participial — the vision's content — the sheet of 10:11 retold in Peter's own order

and it came right down to me.content — ἄχρι ἐμοῦ — the detail personal to this retelling: it came to me

Gazing into it I examined it closely,content — connective relative εἰς ἥν — ἀτενίσας, the Lukan gaze; iterative imperfect κατενόουν

and I saw the four-footed animals of the earth and the wild beasts and the reptiles and the birds of the sky.content — the creation taxonomy — clean and unclean together in one sheet (Lev 11)

And I also heard a voice saying to me:content — the auditory stage — a speech-frame nested within the recital

'Rise, Peter; kill and eat.'content — quotation within the recital — the command that cuts across the food laws

But I said:content — Peter retells his own refusal — candor before his accusers

'By no means, Lord,content — μηδαμῶς — the emphatic refusal (cf. Ezek 4:14); verbless

for nothing common or unclean has ever entered my mouth.'cause — lifelong observance pleaded — κοινὸν ἢ ἀκάθαρτον, the Levitical pair (10:14)

But the voice answered a second time from heaven:content — ἐκ δευτέρου — the divine rejoinder to the refusal

'What God has cleansed, you must not make common.'content — the reversal — God's ἐκαθάρισεν against Peter's categories; emphatic σύ (fronted relative kept in line)

And this happened three times,content — the threefold repetition — biblical certainty (cf. 10:16)

and everything was drawn up again into heaven.content — divine passive — the vision closes heavenward as it opened

vv. 11–14 — the three men, the Spirit's command, Cornelius' angel

And behold, at that very moment three men stood at the housecontent — ἰδοὺ ἐξαυτῆς — the providential timing: vision and knock coincide

in which I was,relative — the locating relative — Peter still at Simon the tanner's

sent from Caesarea to me.participial — perfect participle — the standing commission behind their arrival

And the Spirit told mecontent — the second divine agency of the recital — the Spirit's own instruction (10:19–20)

to go with them, making no distinction.content — complement infinitive — μηδὲν διακρίναντα answers the διεκρίνοντο of v. 2

And these six brothers also came with me,content — οὗτοι — the witnesses stand present in the room; six with Peter, seven in all

and we entered the man's house.content — the charged verb owned — εἰσήλθομεν, the very act of the accusation, but under orders

And he reported to uscontent — Cornelius' own account folded into Peter's

how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying:content — indirect question — the third divine agency: the angel

'Send to Joppacontent — the angel's command — quotation at the third remove

and fetch Simon who is called Peter,content — the fetch command — Peter named inside his own defense

who will speak words to yourelative — the angel's promise about Peter — his errand defined in advance

by which you will be saved, you and all your household.'relative — σωθήσῃ — salvation, not hospitality, was the errand; the recital's deepest nesting

vv. 15–17 — the Spirit falls as at the beginning: who was I to hinder God?

And as I began to speak,phrase modifier — fronted articular infinitive — leans on ἐπέπεσεν; God interrupts the sermon

the Holy Spirit fell on themcontent — the decisive event — God acts before Peter finishes

just as also on us at the beginning.comparative — elliptical — the Pentecost parallel: ἐν ἀρχῇ, the church's own beginning

And I remembered the word of the Lord,content — the event interpreted by the dominical word

how he used to say:comparative — iterative imperfect — the remembered refrain (Acts 1:5)

'John baptized with water,content — the μέν half — the forerunner's water; the word-of-the-Lord quoted within the recital

but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'content — the δέ half — now fulfilled on Gentiles too

If then God gave them the same gift as also to us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ,conditional — protasis leaning forward on the apodosis — τὴν ἴσην δωρεάν, the clinching equality

who was I, that I could hinder God?'content — the unanswerable question — κωλῦσαι, the hinder-verb of 10:47; the recital ends with God as the actor

The acceptance — life for the Gentiles too 11:18

And hearing these things,participial — preposed aorist participle — leans on ἡσύχασαν

they fell silent,independent — the dispute of v. 2 ends in one verb — ἡσύχασαν, silenced

and they were glorifying God, saying:independent — imperfect — objection turns to sustained doxology

'Then to the Gentiles also God has granted the repentance that leads to life.'content — inferential ἄρα — the Gentile mission's first official validation; καὶ τοῖς ἔθνεσιν echoes v. 1

Antioch founded — the Greeks, Barnabas, Saul, and the name 11:19–26

vv. 19–21 — the scattered ones preach to the Greeks

Now those scattered by the persecution that arose over Stephen traveled as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch,independent — μὲν οὖν resumes 8:1, 4 — the thread picked up from Stephen; substantival participle kept whole

speaking the word to no one except Jews only.participial — the restriction stated — the foil for v. 20

But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene,independent — unnamed pioneers — the Gentile church's founders left anonymous

who on coming to Antioch began speaking also to the Greeks,relative — Ἕλληνας — the chapter's prime crux: 'Greeks' (harder, surely original) against the variant Ἑλληνιστάς 'Hellenists'

proclaiming the Lord Jesus.participial — τὸν κύριον Ἰησοῦν — the title chosen for Greek ears, not 'the Christ'

And the hand of the Lord was with them,independent — the Septuagintal idiom — divine agency credited (cf. Lk 1:66)

and a great number that believed turned to the Lord.independent — believing and turning — Luke's twin conversion verbs

vv. 22–24 — Jerusalem sends Barnabas

And the report about them was heard in the ears of the church in Jerusalem,independent — the pattern of v. 1 repeats — news travels to Jerusalem, and Jerusalem responds

and they sent out Barnabasindependent — the right envoy — himself a Cypriot (4:36), for a work begun by Cypriots

to go as far as Antioch;purpose — purpose infinitive — ἕως Ἀντιοχείας echoes v. 19

who, arriving and seeing the grace of God, rejoiced,relative — the wordplay — χάριν … ἐχάρη: he saw grace and was glad

and was exhorting them all to remain with the Lord with steadfast purpose of heart;relative — coordinate within the relative — παρεκάλει: the 'son of παράκλησις' (4:36) doing his name

for he was a good man and full of the Holy Spirit and of faith.cause — the narrator's character note — the grounds of the exhortation

And a considerable crowd was added to the Lord.independent — divine passive προσετέθη — the growth refrain (2:41, 47; 5:14)

vv. 25–26 — Saul fetched from Tarsus; the year of teaching; the name

And he went out to Tarsusindependent — Barnabas remembers Saul (9:27, 30) — the fetch that changes the story

to hunt for Saul,purpose — ἀναζητῆσαι — to search up and down; Saul had to be found

and having found him,participial — preposed aorist participle — leans on ἤγαγεν

he brought him to Antioch.independent — Saul enters the Gentile church's story

And it came about that for a whole year they met with the churchindependent — ἐγένετο + infinitives — the year of partnership; ἐκκλησία now names the Antioch body

and taught a considerable crowd,content — the second infinitive under ἐγένετο — a teaching church from the start

and that in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.content — χρηματίσαι, the verb of official designations — Χριστιανοί, a Latin-style coinage (like Ἡρῳδιανοί), almost certainly an outsiders' name

Agabus and the relief for Judea 11:27–30

vv. 27–28 — the famine foretold

Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch.independent — κατῆλθον — 'down' from Jerusalem; the two churches now in living exchange

And one of them named Agabus, standing up,participial — preposed participle — leans on ἐσήμανεν; Agabus enters (he returns at 21:10)

signified through the Spiritindependent — ἐσήμανεν — prophecy as sign-giving; the Spirit the real speaker

that a great famine was about to come over the whole inhabited world —content — accusative + infinitive — λιμόν here feminine (μεγάλην), a Koine touch

which took place under Claudius.relative — Luke's aside — Acts' one synchronism with a datable event (the Judean famines c. AD 46–48)

vv. 29–30 — the collection resolved and delivered

So the disciples, as each of them prospered,comparative — preposed καθώς clause with τῶν μαθητῶν pulled forward — leans on ὥρισαν; each according to ability

determined, each of them, to send relief to the brothers dwelling in Judea;independent — διακονία — the first Gentile-church collection: the daughter church gives to the mother

which they also did,relative — connective relative on the whole resolve — Luke's brisk seal: resolve becomes act

sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul.participial — πρεσβυτέρους — elders first named in Acts; διὰ χειρός, the Semitic idiom: the pair now yoked

Analysis. Acts 11 pairs a speech with a founding, and the layout shows both shapes. Verses 1–3 run flush-left in narrative purple — the news reaches Judea, Peter goes up, the circumcision party contends — with the double charge hanging blue under λέγοντες: you went in, you ate. Then vv. 4–17 display the chapter's real architecture: one main verb (ἐξετίθετο … καθεξῆς, 'he set it out in order') and Peter's entire defense hanging as a single cnt catena beneath its λέγων, the ch. 10 events replayed in strict sequence — the vision, the voice's θῦσον καὶ φάγε and Peter's μηδαμῶς quoted inside the recital, the reversal 'what God has cleansed,' the three men at the door, the Spirit's μηδὲν διακρίναντα (answering the διεκρίνοντο of v. 2), and Cornelius' angel, whose promise of σωθήσῃ nests to the layout's deepest point at five levels down — speech within report within recital. The Spirit falls ὥσπερ καὶ ἐφ᾿ ἡμᾶς ἐν ἀρχῇ, the remembered word of the Lord (the John-with-water saying) nests as quotation-within-the-recital, and the defense ends where the argument does: a forward-leaning protasis (εἰ οὖν τὴν ἴσην δωρεάν …) over the unanswerable ἐγὼ τίς ἤμην δυνατὸς κωλῦσαι τὸν θεόν; — and v. 18 answers with silence and doxology, the mission's first official validation. The second half returns to the flush-left column: the scattered ones reach Antioch and speak πρὸς τοὺς Ἕλληνας — the text prints Ἕλληνας ('Greeks'), the harder and surely original reading against the variant Ἑλληνιστάς, the chapter's prime critical crux — Barnabas is dispatched and his exhortation is grounded in the narrator's character note (ὅτι ἦν ἀνὴρ ἀγαθός), Saul is fetched from Tarsus, and the year of teaching issues in the outsiders' coinage Χριστιανοί (χρηματίσαι, the verb of official designations). Agabus closes the chapter with the famine ἥτις ἐγένετο ἐπὶ Κλαυδίου — Acts' one synchronism with a datable external event — and the relief resolve (καθὼς ηὐπορεῖτό τις, each by ability) enacted διὰ χειρὸς Βαρναβᾶ καὶ Σαύλου.