Acts 15:24

λέγοντες περιτέμνεσθαι καὶ τηρεῖν τὸν νόμον omitted with אABD. Not represented in Vulg.

24. ἐξελθόντες, which went out. Some ancient MSS. omit this word, but it seems to have a distinct and necessary force. The disturbing teachers had come from Jerusalem, but their want of any authority is contrasted strongly with the commission of Judas and Silas (Acts 15:27). The first men went of themselves, the new messengers were the choice of the Church.

ἀνασκευάζοντες τὰς ψυχὰς ὑμῶν, subverting your souls. The verb ἀνασκευάζειν is found in N.T. only here, and not at all in the LXX. In classical Greek it is applied mostly to an entire removal of goods and chattels either by the owners or by a plundering enemy. The devastation wrought in the minds of the Gentile converts through the new teaching is compared to an utter overthrow.

οἶς οὐ διεστειλάμεθα, to whom we gave no commandment. The Church of Jerusalem disclaims any connexion of any kind with the disturbing teachers. The sentence becomes thus much more forcible than it is with the additions of the Text. recept.