Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 15:8
And God which knoweth the hearts - Ο καρδιογνωϚης Θεος . We had this epithet of the Divine Being once before; see Acts 1:24 , and the note there: it occurs no where else in the New Testament. Bare them witness - Considered them as proper or fit to receive the Gospel of Christ. It is properly remarked by learned men, that μαρτυρειν τινι , to bear witness to any person, signifies to approve, to testify in behalf of. Here it signifies that, as God evidently sent the Gospel to the... read more
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Acts 15:7
When there had been much disputing - By those of the sect of the believing Pharisees; for they strongly contended for circumcision, and at the head of these, tradition tells us, was Cerinthus, a name famous in the primitive Church, as one who labored to unite the law and the Gospel, and to make the salvation promised by the latter dependent on the performance of the rites and ceremonies prescribed by the former. Though the apostles and elders were under the inspiration of the Almighty, and... read more