Mar 26, 2022
NUMBERS 27-28:
Yesterday we heard of the second registration
of Israel's troops.
PSALM 42:
This
Psalm contains words we often sing. It is a song about renewing
hope in the Lord after discouragement.
ACTS 3:
Yesterday we heard the conclusion of Peter's
first sermon. 3,000 believed in Christ that day and were baptized.
And the believers devoted themselves totally to the apostles'
teaching.
GNT Translation notes:
Num. 27:1 Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah were the daughters of Zelophehad[. Zelophehad traced his genealogy as the] son of Hepher, son of Gilead, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, son of Joseph.
2 [His daughters//They] went and
stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders, and the whole
community at the entrance of the Tent of the Lord's presence and
said,
====
Ps.
42 [I hope that you remember who the clan of Korah was! Note that
the presence of this Psalm is an interesting proof that God forgave
and accepted the service of Korah’s clan.
This is another Psalm where the writer speaks
honorific fashion to the Lord, speaking to him using the third
person. To us, this makes it seem that the writer switches back and
forth rapidly to talking about the Lord and talking to the Lord. I
agree with CEV in adapting this Psalm to modern English and
maintaining the perception that the whole poem is a prayer. Rather
than reading from the CEV, I have simply made the required changes
in the GNT at verses 4-9, and verse 11.]
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Act. 3:6 But Peter said to him, “I have no
money at all, but I give you what I have: [by the power//in the
name] of Jesus Christ of Nazareth I order you to get up and
walk!”
16 GNT:
It was the power of [Jesus//his name] that gave strength to this
lame man. [This miracle that you can plainly//What you] see and
know was done by [believing in Him//faith in his name]; it was
[belief//faith] in Jesus that has made him well, as you can all
see.
16 revised NLT: “Through [fully
believing//faith] in [Jesus//the name of
Jesus], this man was
healed—and you know how crippled he was before.
[Fully believing in Jesus//Faith in Jesus’ name]
has healed him before your very
eyes.
[Peter uses a common Jewish metonymy here—
where ‘name’ stands for the whole person of Jesus. We use metonymy
in English (in sayings like “The _pen_ is mightier than the
_sword_.”) While many English speakers will understand ‘name of
Jesus’ to simply refer to Jesus himself, others (and especially
some of my podcast listeners from other cultures) could mistakenly
think that the Bible teaches followers of Christ use ‘the name of
Jesus’ like magic words.
NET has this note at 3:6: In the
name. … The reference to “the name” is not like a magical
incantation, but is designed to indicate the _agent_ who performs
the healing. The theme is quite frequent in Acts (2:38 plus 21
other times).
If
any of you say, “I’ve never heard ‘in the name of Jesus’ used like
magic words!” I answer: Start listening! It’s happening all the
time.]