Yeah here’s what I got
You’re absolutely right to question that — and you’re correct.
In
Acts 13:42, the word ἔθνη (ethnē) is not in the Greek text.
Your NASB lexicon screenshot shows it accurately. The Greek of Acts 13:42 reads (in the critical text):
Ἐξιόντων δὲ αὐτῶν παρεκάλουν εἰς τὸ μεταξὺ σάββατον λαληθῆναι αὐτοῖς τὰ ῥήματα ταῦτα.
Literally:
“As they were going out, they were begging that these words be spoken to them the next Sabbath.”
There is no noun like ἔθνη (Gentiles) in that verse.
So Why Does the NKJV Say “the Gentiles”?
The NKJV follows the Textus Receptus (TR).
The TR Greek text actually reads differently in this verse:
Ἐξιόντων δὲ ἐκ τῆς συναγωγῆς τῶν Ἰουδαίων, παρεκάλουν τὰ ἔθνη…
Which explicitly includes:
τὰ ἔθνη = “the Gentiles”
So the Textus Receptus uses the word Ethene and the Critical Text doesn’t and that why there was a mixup.
Looking thru the passage Paul addresses men of Israel and those who fear God. The only reason I can see gentiles going to a synagogue is if they’re interested in learning about Judaism. Seeing that the following sabbath the Jews became angry and jealous and ran Paul & Barnabas out of the city for preaching the gospel I think it’s safe to say that they weren’t allowing Christians to gather in the synagogue to worship Jesus.
This is what my chat said about your chat
1) The two different Greek texts
There are
two manuscript traditions behind our English Bibles:
Textus Receptus (TR → NKJV/KJV)
Used by
King James Version and
New King James Version
Includes:
So it reads:
Critical Text (NA/UBS → NASB/ESV/CSB/etc.)
Used by
New American Standard Bible,
English Standard Version, etc.
Does
not include ἔθνη.
It simply reads:
So:
“As they were going out, they were begging that these words be spoken…”
No subject specified.
2) So who is “they”?
Even without ἔθνη, the context strongly suggests
Gentiles anyway.
Look at the flow in
Acts of the Apostles 13:
v16
Paul addresses:
“Men of Israel, and you who fear God”
“Those who fear God” = Gentile God-fearers.
v42–44
- they beg to hear more
- next Sabbath almost the whole city gathers
- Jews become jealous
That reaction makes more sense if
large numbers of Gentiles were responding.
So even without the word ἔθνη, the narrative naturally points to Gentiles.
3) Why would the TR add “Gentiles”?
Most scholars think:
A scribe probably
added clarification.
When the text said only:
A copyist may have thought:
“Who is ‘they’? Oh — the Gentiles.”
So they inserted:
This is a very common scribal habit:
explanatory additions.
It’s much less likely someone would accidentally delete “Gentiles,” but very likely someone would add it for clarity.
That’s one reason modern critical editions omit it.
“If Gentiles were in the synagogue and keeping Sabbath, they must have been converting to Judaism.”
Biblically, that conclusion isn’t necessary.
Step 1 — What Isaiah 56 actually describes
Let’s read it closely.
Isaiah 56:6–7 says:
“Also the sons of the foreigner
who join themselves to the LORD…
to love the name of the LORD…
everyone who keeps from defiling the Sabbath…
even them I will bring to My holy mountain…
for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”
Notice what it
does NOT say:
It does NOT say:
- become Israelites
- get circumcised
- convert to Judaism
- take on Jewish identity
Instead it says:
- join themselves to the LORD
- serve Him
- love His name
- keep His Sabbath
That’s covenant loyalty to God, not ethnic conversion.
So Isaiah’s picture is:
foreigners remaining foreigners
yet worshiping Yahweh
obeying His commandments
welcomed in His house
In other words:
Not “become Jews”
but
“belong to God”
That’s a big difference.
Step 2 — Sabbath is not uniquely “Judaism”
This is an important theological correction you’re making.
Biblically:
The Sabbath:
- begins at Creation (Genesis 2)
- before Israel existed
- before Sinai
- before Moses
- before Judaism as a nation
So Sabbath is:
- God’s day
- part of creation order
- not an ethnic badge
Isaiah 56 confirms this by giving Sabbath to
foreigners.
If Sabbath were strictly “Jewish identity,” Isaiah couldn’t say that.
So your statement is solid:
Sabbath keeping = fearing God
not
converting to Judaism
Step 3 — Who were the people in Acts 13?
Now let’s go to Acts.
When Paul preaches, he says:
“Men of Israel, and you who fear God…”
“You who fear God” is a technical phrase Luke uses for Gentiles attached to synagogue worship.
These were not necessarily:
- circumcised
- full converts (proselytes)
- ethnically Jewish
Instead they were:
- worshiping Israel’s God
- attending synagogue
- learning Scripture
- keeping moral commandments
- observing Sabbath
That matches Isaiah 56 almost perfectly.
They are:
“sons of the foreigner who join themselves to the LORD”
Not converts — but worshipers.
Step 4 — Acts 13:42 and the manuscript issue
As we discussed earlier:
Critical text (NASB/ESV)
Textus Receptus (NKJV/KJV)
“the Gentiles were begging…”
Whether “Gentiles” is explicit or implied, the group is still:
- the God-fearers
- the interested listeners
- the non-Jewish worshipers
So the scene is:
Gentile God-worshipers in a synagogue on Sabbath begging Paul to teach more.
That is exactly Isaiah 56 happening in real life.
Step 5 — Were they converting to Judaism?
Here’s where we reconsider carefully.
If they were converting fully to Judaism, Luke normally says:
But here he repeatedly says:
- “God-fearers”
- “Gentiles”
- “nations”
Which suggests:
They were
not becoming Jews, but remaining Gentiles who worshiped Israel’s God.
That fits Isaiah better anyway.
Isaiah doesn’t say:
It says:
foreigners join themselves to the LORD
So the biblical model is:
- covenant relationship with God
- not ethnic change
Step 6 — Why this matters theologically
This actually clarifies something big.
Acts is not showing:
“Gentiles first become Jews, then Christians”
Instead it shows:
“Gentiles who already fear God recognize the Messiah”
So the flow is:
Isaiah 56 → Gentiles worship Yahweh
↓
Synagogues full of God-fearers
↓
Paul preaches Messiah
↓
They believe immediately
Which makes sense — they already believed the Scriptures.
Step 7 — Final conclusion
So after reconsidering everything with Isaiah 56 included:
No — these Gentiles were probably
not converting to Judaism.
More accurately:
They were:
- foreigners
- worshiping Yahweh
- keeping Sabbath
- fearing God
- attending synagogue
Exactly as Isaiah predicted.
Sabbath keeping here isn’t “becoming Jewish”
It’s simply:
loyalty to the Creator
obedience to God’s commandments
Acts 13 looks less like “conversion to Judaism” and more like
Isaiah 56 being fulfilled in real time.
If you want, we can next trace how this same Isaiah 56 pattern appears again with Cornelius the Centurion in Acts 10 — he’s another perfect example of a Gentile who feared God without becoming Jewish.
It still means Gentiles and they were still attending synagogue to “hear the word of God” on the Sabbath, not the first day. The conclusion of your Chat is not Scripture nor does it explain all the other Sabbath-keeping by Gentiles nor does it explain if the apostles were converting everyone to Christians and Sunday is the “Christian Sabbath” as so many people claim, why did the apostles not tell
one person that and when the Gentiles asked for more gospel preaching the next Sabbath and correct them or anyone? The apostles were correcting everyone about circumcision, but not taught one person that corporate worship is on day one now and not the Sabbath. I know you do not see the difference between the law of Moses and one of the finger written commandments of God, but I can assure you the apostles did. Jesus was
crucified because He was keeping the Sabbath wrong according to the Jews because He was not keeping their sabbath, but changing the day and not one word about it in
all of Scripture?? That’s because it didn’t happen, only after as we were warned Dan7:25 Acts 20:29 Isa 8:20 what was according to the principles of the world and not according to Christ- Jesus is LORD of the
Sabbath day, not the first day, the Sabbath is
the holy day of the LORD Isa 58:13 the saints keep
the commandments of God and faith
of Jesus Rev14:12 I do not change. Mal3:6 What is sad instead of anyone proving by Scripture that the apostles kept the Lords day on day one and taught one person this, which doesn’t exist in Scripture, spend all their time trying to tear down God’s Sabbath, what Jesus is LORD of, that is clearly written in our Bibles in OT and NT starting from creation Exo20:11 ending in the new heaven and new earth Isa66:22-23, kept by Jesus and the apostles because it IS according to Christ- He personally spoke it He personally wrote it and claimed in His own voice, the Testimony of God, the God of everything that they are His commandments and the Sabbath is blessed and sanctified by God, no other day was. Exo20:6 Gen2:3 Exo20:11 No man can take away God’s blessings because man is not equal or greater than God. Num 23:19-20 Who are we to tell God the Sabbath is not one of Your commandments when He wrote it, its under His mercy seat, its His Testimony Exo31:18 Exo25:21 in heaven Rev15:5 Rev11:19 Paul would never, he was His servant, not corrector, according to God’s own words His servants
keep the Sabbath Isa 56:6 not dismantle it, that's not something that comes from God. Dan7:25 Isa 8:20.
This whole debate shows me how powerful the Sabbath is. Who would not want God’s people to be sanctified and have a sign between them and God and join themselves to the LORD, to receive His blessings. It’s not God. The devil was so powerful he caused 1/3 of the holy angels in heaven to fall. Our only safeguard is what does God say. Did God ever take back His Sabbath that He no longer wants to spend sacred time with His children so He can bless us and sanctify us? Not once in all of Scripture, He said the opposite. That’s where my faith is. I guess everyone will have to choose who they serve and who will they join themself to.
