Peter's Vision: Is Acts 10 About Dietary Law?
Peter’s vision in Acts 10 is often interpreted as evidence of the nullification of the Torah’s dietary laws. Yet a closer reading reveals a different story. Further, this episode reads like a Midrash on Gentile inclusion, shaped by Biblical imagery and a distinctly Rabbinic style of storytelling.
In popular readings, Peter’s vision in Acts 10 serves as a go-to text that the Biblical dietary laws, known as kashrut, were rendered obsolete. When stacked with other passages, such as Mark 7, where Jesus declared all foods clean¹, the case seems to be closed.
Yet when we read this story carefully, and through a Jewish lens, the popular interpretation has some problems.
Aside from Peter's own reaction, this story also uses some familiar Midrashic elements that are worth exploring. It seems the author wanted to communicate something greater than dietary liberty.
Let's look deeper.
Peter's Vision
In Acts 10, we find Peter praying on a rooftop in Yafo, a beautiful and ancient city on the Mediterranean coast of Israel. The text mentions that he is hungry when he receives this vision:
He saw heaven opened and an object, something like a large sheet, descending, being let down to earth by its four corners. In it were all kinds of four-footed animals and reptiles of the earth and wild birds.
- Acts 10:11-12
A Divine voice, a Bat Kol, commands, “Rise, Peter; kill and eat.” But he refuses, affirming his ongoing obedience to the Torah's dietary laws.
If the Apostolic writers intended to abrogate the Biblical dietary laws, known as Kashrut, this was their big moment.
But they don't. And Peter does not pause to ask whether the law has changed. Instead of seeking out his first unclean food experience, the Apostle senses a deeper meaning and meditates on the hidden message.
“Peter was inwardly perplexed as to what the vision might mean.” - Acts 10:17
There is important symbolism here that many readers miss.
The Symbolism of the Number Four
The first thing we notice is that the number four is mentioned several times. Four often represents the four corners of the Earth, a euphemism for the world, and sometimes, the Gentile Nations.
This is why certain prayers and rituals, such as the shaking of the Lulav during Sukkot, are said while pivoting and facing the four cardinal directions: North, East, West, and South.
The four corners of the Earth are associated with the Messianic era from which the exiles will be gathered:
“He will assemble the scattered of Judah from the four corners of the earth.” - Numbers Rabbah 23:14