Acts 10:35

ἀλλʼ ἐν παντὶ ἔθνει κ. τ. λ. The words are taken by Ramsay to mean that Cornelius was regarded as a proselyte by Peter, and that only on that condition could he be admitted to the Christian Church, i.e., through Judaism; so apparently St. Paul, pp. 42, 43. On the other hand the general expression ἐργαζ. δικαι. inclines Weiss to refer all the words to the piety attainable by a heathen, who need not be a proselyte. Bengel's words should always be borne in mind: “non indifferentissimus religionum sed indifferentia nationum hic asseritur,” see also below, and Knabenbauer, p. 193. δεκτὸς : “acceptable to him,” R.V., and this is best, because it better expresses the thought that fearing God and working righteousness place a man in a state preparatory for the salvation received through Christ, a reception no longer conditioned by nationality, but by the disposition of the heart. St. Peter does not speak of each and every religion, but of each and every nation, and Acts 10:43 plainly shows that he by no means loses sight of the higher blessedness of the man whose sin is forgiven through conscious belief in Christ; cf. the language of St Paul, Romans 10:9-14. δεκτὸς only in Luke and Paul in N.T., in LXX frequently, and once in the recently discovered Sayings of Jesus, No. 6, which agrees remarkably with St.Luke 4:24.