Acts 15:5

But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.

But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed - `of the believing Pharisees;' just the quarter from which such zealots might be expected to arise. Saying, That it was needful to circumcise them - that is, the whole Gentile converts of Antioch, whose accession to Christianity the deputies had just "declared."

And to command them to keep the law of Moses. They did not question the reality of their conversion, nor the propriety of recognizing them as believers, but contended that their right to the blessings of the Abrahamic covenant and their standing in the church was incomplete without circumcision.