Acts 2:38 Which translation?

KJohn36574 at aol.com KJohn36574 at aol.com
Wed Dec 22 22:23:17 EST 1999


Williams' translation states:

"Peter said to them, "You must repent - AND AS AN EXPRESSION OF IT,* let 
every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ - that you may have 
you sins forgiven;..."

* These five words implied from context and usage in the Early 
Church.-Williams' quote.

However, Beck translates,

"Peter answered them, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name 
of Jesus Christ so that your sins will be forgiven,.."

Williams was a Southern Baptist and Beck was Lutheran. Is it only a DOCTRINAL 
preference whether Acts 2:38   teaches sin remission through repentance and 
baptism, or just repentance? I'm assuming faith is involved in either case.

Also, should the clause, "eis aphesin ton hamartion hymon" be held as 
parenthetical because it makes a distinction between singular and plural 
verbs and nouns (example: The verb for "repent" is plural and so is the 
pronoun "your")? Therefore the verb repent goes with the noun yours. On the 
other hand, the imperative "be baptized" is singular, thus sets off the rest 
of the sentence????????
("The Bible Knowledge Commentary" P.359.

Also, should we translate literally the last clause as "for the remission of 
sins" or should we translate idiomatically, "so that your sins will be 
forgiven"?

Whatcha think?

Ken Johnson
Elk Grove, CA
KJohn36574 at aol.com



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