In the Acts Chpt 18 I find the phrase "that Jesus was Christ" and the "was Christ" raises a question as this appears to be a reference to an earlier and stand alone entity that is perhaps buried in the Old Testament - is this the case?
the NIV says that Jesus is the Christ not was, but was does not always indicate past tense, as in someone who lived before. It can mean that the "argument" connects the two words before and after in an emphatic way.
Hello Roy. The rendering of Acts 18:5 in the KJV is a little misleading, as the two words therein, "that & was" are placed in italics. That means that the translators added those words which were not in the original; & they thought best that those extra words would give better meaning to the original text. Looking at the Greek, that verse would read (in a disjointed way to us): "When now came down from Macedonia both Silas and Timothy(;) was occupied with the word, Paul earnestly testifying to the Jews to be the Christ Jesus".
So, it is understood that Paul was in deep earnest when he was giving out his witness of Jesus. It seems that these Jews were aware of this 'Jesus' but were in grave doubt to the authenticity of His Messiahship. And this prompted Paul's spirit to more earnestly explain & prove that this Jesus was the promised Messiah; in other words, Paul 'gave it his all' to them. However, the next verse (v6) shows that even with his further proving & maybe his entertaining their arguments, these Jews rejected what Paul was testifying. And this prompted him to essentially say that he had no more to give them, & by their rejection of Christ, their lives now stood under God's Judgement & he would go to the Gentiles, as ordained by the Lord.
I realize that I've taken liberty in transliterating this verse, but hopefully it shows that the words "that & was" were not intended to reference an "earlier or stand alone entity", except of course, Paul's proving from the Scriptures what the Jews already knew, that the Christ was promised to come, & the One who was being expounded to them now by Paul, was He.
1st Paul the one given credit for writing book of Acts was not around Jesus CHRIST during the days before HIS Resurrection, Acts 8, Paul was actually opposed. That might be the past tense reference, if there was any reference to that being past tense at all.
2nd I read Acts 18:28, as a fact that Jesus was Who HE said he was, the same as: is who HE said HE is. In USA I've lived around many dialects of English = in the "deep south" Eastern coast the 1st would make perfect sense to most. English in the deeper South still has many phrases & words used in KJV like 'Breeches' However Michigan area the second way, may be understood better.
3rd Please read the entire Books of Matthew 1, Mark 1, Luke 1, John 1, starting with 1st chapters to see who Jesus CHRIST was & is.
4th maybe most important is the Old Testament points to Jesus being CHRIST all throughout. The same Jesus in the Books of the New Testament. For instance all throughout Psalms points to things Jesus did, & suffered, ' Prophetic fulfillment ' : Psalms 2:6-8, Psalms 8:2, Psalms 27:6, Psalms 16:10, Psalms 18:44, * Psalms 22:1,7,8,14,15,16,17,18,24,27,28,30,31,
"When both Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ." (NIV)
Here Paul is telling the Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah (Anointed One) as "Christ" (Greek) "Messiah" "Anointed One" or "Messiah.
So, these Jews are dispersed Jews from the diaspora and resided in the area of Corinth (think Greece). They had not been in Israel when Jesus lived, so they were hearing the gospel of Jesus from Paul with Paul making specific note that Jesus was indeed the One promised to come in the Torah of long ago. As Jews, they would know what Paul was referring to in his statement. That is why they immediately opposed Paul and blasphemed the Lord.
Paul shook his garment and absolved himself of any part of their blasphemy, saying "Your blood be on your own heads; I am clean." and stated that from then on he would go to Gentiles with the Gospel. Later in the chapter, the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, encouraging him saying, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you or hurt you; for I have many people in this city."
I am glad the Lord did this to strengthen Paul in his resolve. Perhaps Paul was considering just leaving town, but after this vision, he "continued there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them" (verses 9-11)
Yes, the promises are scattered throughout the OT. You can put "promised messiah" or "anointed one" in the search box and see which scriptures come up.
He (Paul) spake - Privately; and taught publicly. Probably he returned to live at Alexandria, soon after he had been baptized by John; and so had no opportunity of being fully acquainted with the doctrines of the Gospel, as delivered by Christ and his apostles. And explained to him the way of God more perfectly - He who knows Christ, is able to instruct even those that are mighty in the Scriptures.
18:27 Who greatly helped through grace - It is through grace only that any gift of any one is profitable to another. Them that had believed - Apollos did not plant, but water. This was the peculiar gift which he had received. And he was better able to convince the Jews, than to convert the heathens.
People's Bible Notes for Acts 18:28
For he mightily convinced the Jews. That he was a man of God of great power is shown by Paul's allusions to him. See 1Corinthians 1:12 3:4-6.
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Thanks for your help
Roy
the NIV says that Jesus is the Christ not was, but was does not always indicate past tense, as in someone who lived before. It can mean that the "argument" connects the two words before and after in an emphatic way.
So, it is understood that Paul was in deep earnest when he was giving out his witness of Jesus. It seems that these Jews were aware of this 'Jesus' but were in grave doubt to the authenticity of His Messiahship. And this prompted Paul's spirit to more earnestly explain & prove that this Jesus was the promised Messiah; in other words, Paul 'gave it his all' to them. However, the next verse (v6) shows that even with his further proving & maybe his entertaining their arguments, these Jews rejected what Paul was testifying. And this prompted him to essentially say that he had no more to give them, & by their rejection of Christ, their lives now stood under God's Judgement & he would go to the Gentiles, as ordained by the Lord.
I realize that I've taken liberty in transliterating this verse, but hopefully it shows that the words "that & was" were not intended to reference an "earlier or stand alone entity", except of course, Paul's proving from the Scriptures what the Jews already knew, that the Christ was promised to come, & the One who was being expounded to them now by Paul, was He.
1st Paul the one given credit for writing book of Acts was not around Jesus CHRIST during the days before HIS Resurrection, Acts 8, Paul was actually opposed. That might be the past tense reference, if there was any reference to that being past tense at all.
2nd I read Acts 18:28, as a fact that Jesus was Who HE said he was, the same as: is who HE said HE is. In USA I've lived around many dialects of English = in the "deep south" Eastern coast the 1st would make perfect sense to most. English in the deeper South still has many phrases & words used in KJV like 'Breeches' However Michigan area the second way, may be understood better.
3rd Please read the entire Books of Matthew 1, Mark 1, Luke 1, John 1, starting with 1st chapters to see who Jesus CHRIST was & is.
4th maybe most important is the Old Testament points to Jesus being CHRIST all throughout. The same Jesus in the Books of the New Testament. For instance all throughout Psalms points to things Jesus did, & suffered, ' Prophetic fulfillment ' : Psalms 2:6-8, Psalms 8:2, Psalms 27:6, Psalms 16:10, Psalms 18:44, * Psalms 22:1,7,8,14,15,16,17,18,24,27,28,30,31,
Zechariah 13:6, Isaiah 53,
Hopefully that helps
Best regards
Roy
If you are referring to Acts18:5
"When both Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ." (NIV)
Here Paul is telling the Jews that Jesus is the promised Messiah (Anointed One) as "Christ" (Greek) "Messiah" "Anointed One" or "Messiah.
So, these Jews are dispersed Jews from the diaspora and resided in the area of Corinth (think Greece). They had not been in Israel when Jesus lived, so they were hearing the gospel of Jesus from Paul with Paul making specific note that Jesus was indeed the One promised to come in the Torah of long ago. As Jews, they would know what Paul was referring to in his statement. That is why they immediately opposed Paul and blasphemed the Lord.
Paul shook his garment and absolved himself of any part of their blasphemy, saying "Your blood be on your own heads; I am clean." and stated that from then on he would go to Gentiles with the Gospel. Later in the chapter, the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision, encouraging him saying, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; for I am with you, and no one will attack you or hurt you; for I have many people in this city."
I am glad the Lord did this to strengthen Paul in his resolve. Perhaps Paul was considering just leaving town, but after this vision, he "continued there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them" (verses 9-11)
And the original promise is in the Old Testament?
He (Paul) spake - Privately; and taught publicly. Probably he returned to live at Alexandria, soon after he had been baptized by John; and so had no opportunity of being fully acquainted with the doctrines of the Gospel, as delivered by Christ and his apostles. And explained to him the way of God more perfectly - He who knows Christ, is able to instruct even those that are mighty in the Scriptures.
18:27 Who greatly helped through grace - It is through grace only that any gift of any one is profitable to another. Them that had believed - Apollos did not plant, but water. This was the peculiar gift which he had received. And he was better able to convince the Jews, than to convert the heathens.
People's Bible Notes for Acts 18:28
For he mightily convinced the Jews. That he was a man of God of great power is shown by Paul's allusions to him. See 1Corinthians 1:12 3:4-6.
LEARN HOW TO USE THIS WEBSITE, SEARCH BOX.
When you come into this website you're on the RED LINK PAGE.
Up at the top is the SEARCH BOX. Links for all books of the Bible is below that. for Bible subject only
Example:
You can put the word 'Atonement' in the Search box and hit the arrow >
The engine will fetch every scripture that contains that word. You can sort the list; choose OT or NT only; and the engine places the list in book order.
With DATES OR HISTORY, you'll have to go on GOOGLE. Type it in like this:
"Atonement, history".
You have to use ancient names from ancient maps.
By using all the search options, you'll learn some really awesome information. If search doesn't fetch anything try wording it differently.
If it fetches 10,000 verses; try wording it another way or just look at only OT or NT verses.
Look around on this whole website to see what's in it. If you get lost, just back out and come back in.
The location of the COMMENTARY BOX is below the search box. Touch a scripture and it will highlight Yellow. Scroll down
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