Acceptability and Purity in Acts 10:35

What is it about?

The beginning of Peter's speech in Cornelius's house in Acts 10 states that those who fear God and practice righteousness are "acceptable" to God (Acts 10:35). "Acceptable" in this verse the term dektos, which may be understood as a term from the Jewish purity and consecration system. With a high degree of consistency, the terms ratson and ratsah in the Hebrew Bible are translated in Greek with words of the dek- word group when they describe an offering or consecrated object, or a person by whom or for whom an offering is made. While verbs of this word group are common in Greek from earlier periods, adjectives of this word group are uncommon outside of Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible prior to the New Testament, establishing the use of dek- adjectives in Greek translation of the Hebrew bible as the primary context for the use of "acceptable" in Acts 10:35. This interpretation is consistent with themes of purity and consecration in the Cornelius episode and throughout Luke-Acts.

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