Acts 15:22 - Exposition

It seemed good to for pleased it, A.V. ; the elders for elders, A.V. ; to choose men out of their company and send them, etc., for to send chosen men of their own company, A.V.; Barsabbas for Barsabas, A.V. and T.R., as Acts 1:23 . To choose men , etc. This is a necessary, change, because the middle aorist ( ἐκκεξαμένους ) cannot have a passive meaning (chosen); see verse 40. Chief men ( ἡγουμένους ) ; literally, leaders. So in Luke 22:26 ὁ ἡγούμενος is rendered, "He that is chief." In Hebrews 13:7 , οἱ ἡγούμενοι ὑμῶν is, "Them which have the rule over you;" your spiritual rulers. Silas seems to be a contraction of Silvanus, like Lucas for Lucanus. In the Acts he is always called Silas , in the Epistles of St. Paul and St. Peter, Silvanus. Going as direct emissaries from James and the Church of Jerusalem, and Judas would have great weight with the Jews in Syria and Cilicia.