The surprising work of God among the Gentiles forces Peter to defend his acts, as he is accused by “the circumcised believers” (11:2) upon his return to Jerusalem. The accusation that Peter “went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them” (11:3) does not exactly repeat the earlier account of Peter’s vision and his interaction with Cornelius, but it does point to the central issue of contention. Peter already realized that a Jew is not supposed to associate with a Gentile (10:28), but through a vision of unclean animals God forced Peter to realize that Gentiles are now considered “clean” in the eyes of God (10:15), and Peter is therefore urged to have table fellowship with the Gentiles.

Peter’s reply (11:5–18) does not simply repeat the earlier account; he also highlights the …