Hi all,
Covid-19 has kept me away from this forum for quite awhile (at least, that's part of the reason), but now I have a question that I need help with from people who have really been studying the Bible:
Acts 3:23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’
This is in context to Peter addressing the people, saying that Deuteronomy 18 prophesied a coming Prophet, and anyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off as a Jew.
But then I read the corresponding Deuteronomy 18 verse which Peter quoted, directly from Deuteronomy itself:
Deuteronomy 18:19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.
This comes from the Masoretic text. The Septuagint reads, "Anyone who does not listen to him, I will take My vengeance on."
In spite of Peter's quoting of Deuteronomy 18 to the crowd being different from the Deuteronomy 18 we read in our Bibles today, there is no record of the crowd contesting Peter. They seemed to accept his wording as the Law.
Over and over again, we hear that the discrepancies between the different texts and manuscripts is almost always immaterial (e.g. spelling differences of proper names, etc.). But this one materially impacts our faith. Being cut off as a Jew for not listening to Jesus, vs. being called to account are not the same thing. And God taking vengeance on them is yet a third thing. Codex Sinaiticus reads yet a fourth rendering, from Acts 3:23: "Anyone who does not listen shall be utterly destroyed from among the people."
So we've got cut off, destroyed, will be called to account, will be avenged. How do we account for the discrepancy between the different OT and NT texts? This sure looks like a material difference to me. There's a big difference between a cut off Jew, vs. a destroyed Jew, vs. a disciplined Jew.
Covid-19 has kept me away from this forum for quite awhile (at least, that's part of the reason), but now I have a question that I need help with from people who have really been studying the Bible:
Acts 3:23 Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from their people.’
This is in context to Peter addressing the people, saying that Deuteronomy 18 prophesied a coming Prophet, and anyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off as a Jew.
But then I read the corresponding Deuteronomy 18 verse which Peter quoted, directly from Deuteronomy itself:
Deuteronomy 18:19 I myself will call to account anyone who does not listen to my words that the prophet speaks in my name.
This comes from the Masoretic text. The Septuagint reads, "Anyone who does not listen to him, I will take My vengeance on."
In spite of Peter's quoting of Deuteronomy 18 to the crowd being different from the Deuteronomy 18 we read in our Bibles today, there is no record of the crowd contesting Peter. They seemed to accept his wording as the Law.
Over and over again, we hear that the discrepancies between the different texts and manuscripts is almost always immaterial (e.g. spelling differences of proper names, etc.). But this one materially impacts our faith. Being cut off as a Jew for not listening to Jesus, vs. being called to account are not the same thing. And God taking vengeance on them is yet a third thing. Codex Sinaiticus reads yet a fourth rendering, from Acts 3:23: "Anyone who does not listen shall be utterly destroyed from among the people."
So we've got cut off, destroyed, will be called to account, will be avenged. How do we account for the discrepancy between the different OT and NT texts? This sure looks like a material difference to me. There's a big difference between a cut off Jew, vs. a destroyed Jew, vs. a disciplined Jew.
