Acts 18:6

Translations

King James Version (KJV)

And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads; I am clean; from now on I will go to the Gentiles.

American King James Version (AKJV)

And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said to them, Your blood be on your own heads; I am clean; from now on I will go to the Gentiles.

American Standard Version (ASV)

And when they opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

Basic English Translation (BBE)

And when they put themselves against him, and said evil words, he said, shaking his clothing, Your blood be on your heads, I am clean: from now I will go to the Gentiles.

Webster's Revision

And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook his raiment, and said to them, Your blood be upon your own heads: I am clean: from henceforth I will go to the Gentiles.

World English Bible

When they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook out his clothing and said to them, "Your blood be on your own heads! I am clean. From now on, I will go to the Gentiles!"

English Revised Version (ERV)

And when they opposed themselves, and blasphemed, he shook out his raiment, and said unto them, Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean: from henceforth I will go unto the Gentiles.

Definitions for Acts 18:6

Gentiles - A people; nations other than Israel.
Henceforth - From this time forth; from now on.
Raiment - Clothing; apparel; covering.

Clarke's Acts 18:6 Bible Commentary

When they opposed - Αντιτασσομενων, Systematically opposing, putting themselves in warlike order against him: so the word implies.

And blasphemed - This is precisely the way in which they still act. They have no arguments against Jesus being the Messiah; but, having made a covenant with unbelief, as soon as they are pressed on this point, they rail and blaspheme. - See the Tela ignea Satanae, by Wagenseil.

He shook his raiment - This was an action similar to that of shaking the dust of the feet; see on Matthew 10:14 (note). See a parallel act, and its signification, in Nehemiah 5:13 : Also I Shook My Lap, and said, So shall God Shake every man From His House and From his Labor; even thus shall he be Shaken Out and Emptied. St. Paul's act on this occasion seems to have been the same with this of Nehemiah, and with the same signification; and it is likely that he was led by a Divine impulse to do it - thus signifying the shaking and emptying out of this disobedient people, which took place about sixteen years afterwards.

Your blood be upon your own heads - That is, ye alone are the cause of the destruction that is coming upon yourselves and upon your country.

I am clean - Καθαρος εγω, I am pure or innocent of your death and ruin. I have proposed to you the Gospel of Jesus Christ - the only means by which ye can be saved, and ye have utterly rejected it. I shall labor no more with you; and, from henceforth, shall confine my labors to the Gentiles. St. Paul must refer to the Jews and Gentiles of Corinth particularly; for he preached to the Jews occasionally in other places; see Acts 19:8, Acts 19:9; and several were brought to the knowledge of the truth. But it seems as if the Jews from this time systematically opposed the Gospel of Christ; and yet, general tenders of this salvation were made to them wherever the apostles came; and when they rejected them, the word was sent to the Gentiles; see Acts 19:8, Acts 19:9.

Pure from blood, or pure from guilt, is commonly expressed by καθαρος; thus Heliodorus, lib. i. p. 49: Εις δευρο διετελεσα καθαραν εμαυτην απο σης ὁμιλιας φυλαττουσα, Until now I have lived, preserving myself pure: and Alciphron, lib. i. epist. 7, ad. fin.: Ουδε μιαναι λυθρῳ τας χειρας, ἁς ἡ θαλαττα εκ παιδος εις δευρο καθαρας αδικηματων εφυλαξε, Nor to stain with pollution the hands which a seafaring life has kept from a child until now pure from iniquity.

Barnes's Acts 18:6 Bible Commentary

And when they opposed themselves - To him and his message.

And blasphemed - See the notes on Acts 13:45.

He shook his raiment - As an expressive act of shaking off the guilt of their condemnation. Compare Acts 13:45. He shook his raiment to show that he was resolved henceforward to have nothing to do with them; perhaps, also, to express the fact that God would soon slake them off, or reject them (Doddridge).

Your blood ... - The guilt of your destruction is your own. You only are the cause of the destruction that is coming upon you. See the notes on Matthew 27:25.

I am clean - I am not to blame for your destruction. I have done my duty. The gospel had been fairly offered and deliberately rejected; and Paul was not to blame for their ruin, which he saw was coming upon them.

I will go ... - See Acts 13:46.

Wesley's Acts 18:6 Bible Commentary

18:6 He shook his raiment - To signify he would from that time refrain from them: and to intimate, that God would soon shake them off as unworthy to be numbered among his people. I am pure - None can say this but he that has borne a full testimony against sin. From henceforth I will go to the Gentiles - But not to them altogether. He did not break off all intercourse with the Jews even at Corinth. Only he preached no more in their synagogue.