The Hyperlinked Bible
Intertextuality Pair
Allusion
Later text
The words of the prophets agree with this, as it is written: ‘After this I will return and rebuild the fallen tent of David. Its ruins I will rebuild, and I will restore it, so that the remnant of men may seek the Lord, and all the Gentiles who are called by My name, says the Lord who does these things that have been known for ages.’
Earlier text
Isaiah 45:21BSB
Speak up and present your case—yes, let them take counsel together. Who foretold this long ago? Who announced it from ancient times? Was it not I, the LORD? There is no other God but Me, a righteous God and Savior; there is none but Me.
James' closing statement in Acts 15:18 — "known from of old" (gnōsta ap' aiōnos) — echoes the divine declaration in Isa 45:21: "Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the LORD?" (mi higgid mizze'az?). In Isa 45, the context is Yahweh's proof of his uniqueness: he alone declared the future "from ancient times" (me'az), and his announcement of Cyrus as deliverer proves this. The Acts 15:18 echo draws this logic into the Jerusalem council's deliberation: the inclusion of Gentiles is not a surprise development but was "known from of old" in God's plan — the same argument Isa 45:21 makes about salvation coming to "all the ends of the earth" (Isa 45:22). The gnōsta language positions James as applying Isaiah's "declaration from of old" epistemology to the present Gentile mission.