Acts 11:3

Wentest in. See on ch. 10:28.

Men uncircumcised. This expression, as used by a Jew, was the essence of scorn. Indeed, it shows the strength of feeling that had arisen against Peter. The men with whom he had mixed are not called Gentiles, but “the uncircumcised,” words of profound reproach in the mouth of a pious Jew.

Didst eat. Peter had eaten with men among whom there would ordinarily be no regard as to kinds of food and ways in which it was prepared — things very important to the Jew. This charge was the real issue. Compare the Pharisees’ accusations against Christ (Luke 5:30; 15:1, 2; etc.). The Jewish attitude in regard to eating with Gentiles is strikingly revealed by a passage in the book of Jubilees, probably from the late 3d century B.C.:

“And do thou, my son Jacob, remember my words,

And observe the commandments of Abraham, thy father:

Separate thyself from the nations,

And eat not with them” (22:16; in R. H. Charles, The Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha of the Old Testament, vol. 2, p. 46).