Charles Ellicott Commentary Acts 15:30

"So they, when they were dismissed, came down to Antioch; and having gathered the multitude together, they delivered the epistle." — Acts 15:30 (ASV)

When they were dismissed, they came to Antioch.—It is natural, in the absence of anything to the contrary, to infer that they returned, as they had come, through Samaria and Phoenicia, and gladdened the hearts of the disciples there by telling them of the triumph which had been won at Jerusalem for the cause of freedom.

They delivered the epistle.—We can picture to ourselves the eager excitement of that moment: the listening crowds; the letter, which as a formal missive would be sealed and tied around with thread, solemnly opened and read aloud; mortification and murmurs on one side, clamorous applause on the other, as each sentence repudiated the claims of the Judaizers and confirmed the principles and work of St. Paul and Barnabas. To the Gentile converts it was, indeed—won, as it had been, after a hard battle—the great charter of their freedom.