Verse Lens · Expanded explanation
Acts 15:36 Explained in Context
Use this verse as a doorway into the larger passage—not as an isolated saying.
Verse 36. 36And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do.
King James Version — public domain in the United States · Bible text and permissions
Quick Meaning
Records Paul's proposal to revisit every previously evangelized city.
Read It With
- Acts 15:36–15:41
Read Acts 15:36 with 15:36–15:41. In isolation, this contribution—records Paul's proposal to revisit every previously evangelized city—can be mistaken for the scene's whole claim, detached from its speaker or narrator, or separated from its outcome. The complete unit establishes: Paul proposes revisiting communities, Barnabas insists on John Mark, a sharp disagreement divides them, Barnabas sails with Mark, and Paul travels with Silas under the brothers' commendation.
Why This Verse Appears Here
Records Paul's proposal to revisit every previously evangelized city. This precise contribution belongs inside “Paul and Barnabas separate over John Mark” because Paul proposes revisiting communities, Barnabas insists on John Mark, a sharp disagreement divides them, Barnabas sails with Mark, and Paul travels with Silas under the brothers' commendation.
Follow the Context
- Paul proposes revisiting communities, Barnabas insists on John Mark, a sharp disagreement divides them, Barnabas sails with Mark, and Paul travels with Silas under the brothers' commendation.
- The unit distinguishes narrated event, participant speech, the narrator's framing, material uncertainty, and the ethical boundary: The separation does not sanctify quarrels, justify character attacks, or teach that organizational growth excuses relational harm.
What This Verse Is Not Saying
This verse does not detach its specific contribution—records Paul's proposal to revisit every previously evangelized city—from Acts 15:36–15:41 or negate the unit's explicit boundary: The separation does not sanctify quarrels, justify character attacks, or teach that organizational growth excuses relational harm.
What Remains True
Acts 15:36's particular contribution—records Paul's proposal to revisit every previously evangelized city—shows that faithful witness remains accountable to the verse's speaker, narrated setting, affected people, and the complete movement of Acts 15:36–15:41.
How It Can Shape Life
- Practice Acts 15:36's particular contribution—records Paul's proposal to revisit every previously evangelized city—through this passage-controlled response: Acknowledge serious team conflict without declaring either leader wholly righteous; protect the mission, the people involved, and the possibility of later growth.
Teach It Back
Explain Acts 15:36's precise role in Acts 15:36–15:41. Distinguish narrator and speaker, include the first Jewish, Gentile, household, disabled, enslaved, imprisoned, or Roman horizon as relevant, disclose the material uncertainty, and name one conclusion this verse does not authorize.
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Continue in Context
The full thought-unit study remains the final contextual authority for this Verse Lens.
Read Acts 15:36–15:41 — Paul and Barnabas separate over John MarkSources used for this Verse Lens
How certain is this explanation? probable
These are the sources used directly for this lens. Language, grammar, disagreements, and the complete source shelf remain attached to the full thought-unit research record.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact displayed KJV wording, order, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and unit coverage.
Exact location: Acts 15:36–15:41, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM-derived repository corpus
Open source ↗Greek textual evidence
The Greek New Testament: SBL Edition
Michael W. Holmes, editor; Society of Biblical Literature and Logos
Society of Biblical Literature and Logos Bible Software, 2010
Supports: Greek wording and punctuation control, without pretending one edition is a complete apparatus.
Exact location: SBLGNT official text, Acts 15:36-15:41
Open the Acts Greek text file ↗Lexical and grammatical evidence
STEP Bible Data
Tyndale House Cambridge
Tyndale House Cambridge, repository snapshot verified 2026
Supports: Morphology and lexical cross-check for words explicitly discussed in this unit.
Exact location: STEP Bible Data, TAGNT rows for Acts 15:36-15:41
Open source ↗open translation and translator notes
NET Bible First Edition Notes: Acts
Biblical Studies Press
Biblical Studies Press, 2006
Supports: Verse-attached textual, translation, language, geography, chronology, and historical notes actually printed for the unit.
Exact location: NET Bible First Edition Acts PDF, printed pp. 2104-2205, exact tn/tc/sn entries attached to 15:36–15:41
Open source ↗open university bible study course
Acts of the Apostles Course and Study Guides
Yale Divinity School faculty
Yale Bible Study, 2019
Supports: Introductory critical orientation to the unit's place in Luke-Acts, with contested judgments retained as interpretations.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study Acts course, course unit 'Holding the Church Together,' Acts 13-15 study guide
Open source ↗open confessional commentary
The Acts of the Apostles
Alan J. Thompson
The Gospel Coalition, 2023
Supports: One complete confessional commentary reading, independently checked against the text and critical controls.
Exact location: Thompson, online Acts commentary, heading and paragraphs explicitly covering Acts 15:36–15:41
Open source ↗