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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 32

Psalm 32^[a]

By David; a well-written song.^[b]

32 How blessed^[c] is the one whose rebellious acts are forgiven,^[d]
whose sin is pardoned.^[e]
²How blessed is the one^[f] whose wrongdoing the Lord does not punish,^[g]
in whose spirit there is no deceit.^[h]
³When I refused to confess my sin,^[i]
my whole body wasted away,^[j]
while I groaned in pain all day long.
⁴For day and night you tormented me;^[k]
you tried to destroy me^[l] in the intense heat^[m] of summer.^[n] (Selah)
⁵Then I confessed my sin;
I no longer covered up my wrongdoing.
I said, “I will confess^[o] my rebellious acts to the Lord.”
And then you forgave my sins.^[p] (Selah)
⁶For this reason every one of your faithful followers^[q] should pray to you
while there is a window of opportunity.^[r]
Certainly^[s] when the surging water^[t] rises,
it will not reach them.^[u]
⁷You are my hiding place;
you protect me from distress.
You surround me with shouts of joy from those celebrating deliverance.^[v] (Selah)
⁸I will instruct and teach you^[w] about how you should live.^[x]
I will advise you as I look you in the eye.^[y]
⁹Do not be^[z] like an unintelligent horse or mule,^[aa]
which will not obey you
unless they are controlled by a bridle and bit.^[ab]
¹⁰An evil person suffers much pain,^[ac]
but the Lord’s faithfulness overwhelms the one who trusts in him.^[ad]
¹¹Rejoice in the Lord and be happy, you who are godly!
Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright!^[ae]

Footnotes

Psalm 32:1 sn Psalm 32. The psalmist recalls the agony he experienced prior to confessing his sins and affirms that true happiness comes when one’s sins are forgiven. He then urges others not to be stubborn, but to turn to God while forgiveness is available, for God extends his mercy to the repentant, while the wicked experience nothing but sorrow.
Psalm 32:1 tn The meaning of the Hebrew term מַשְׂכִּיל (maskil) is uncertain. The word is derived from a verb meaning “to be prudent; to be wise.” Various options are: “a contemplative song,” “a song imparting moral wisdom,” or “a skillful [i.e., well-written] song.” The term occurs in the superscriptions of Pss 32, 42, 44, 45, 52-55, 74, 78, 88, 89, and 142, as well as in Ps 47:7.
Psalm 32:1 tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 41:1; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15). Here it refers to the relief that one experiences when one’s sins are forgiven.
Psalm 32:1 tn Heb “lifted up.”
Psalm 32:1 tn Heb “covered over.”
Psalm 32:2 tn Heb “man.” The word choice reflects the perspective of the psalmist, who is male. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, the gender and age specific “man” has been translated with the more neutral “one.”
Psalm 32:2 tn Heb “blessed [is] the man to whom the Lord does not impute wrongdoing.”
Psalm 32:2 sn In whose spirit there is no deceit. The point is not that the individual is sinless and pure. In this context, which focuses on confession and forgiveness of sin, the psalmist refers to one who refuses to deny or hide his sin, but instead honestly confesses it to God.
Psalm 32:3 tn Heb “when I was silent.”
Psalm 32:3 tn Heb “my bones became brittle.” The psalmist pictures himself as aging and growing physically weak. Trying to cover up his sin brought severe physical consequences.
Psalm 32:4 tn Heb “your hand was heavy upon me.”
Psalm 32:4 tc Heb “my [?] was turned.” The meaning of the Hebrew term לְשַׁד (l^eshad) is uncertain. A noun לָשָׁד (lashad, “cake”) is attested in Num 11:8, but it would make no sense to understand that word in this context. It is better to emend the form to לְשֻׁדִּי (l^eshuddi, “to my destruction”) and understand “your hand” as the subject of the verb “was turned.” In this case the text reads, “[your hand] was turned to my destruction.” In Lam 3:3 the author laments that God’s “hand” was “turned” (הָפַךְ, hafakh) against him in a hostile sense.sn You tried to destroy me. The psalmist’s statement reflects his perspective. As far as he was concerned, it seemed as if the Lord was trying to kill him.
Psalm 32:4 tn The translation assumes that the plural form indicates degree. If one understands the form as a true plural, then one might translate, “in the times of drought.”
Psalm 32:4 sn Summer. Perhaps the psalmist suffered during the hot season and perceived the very weather as being an instrument of divine judgment. Another option is that he compares his time of suffering to the uncomfortable and oppressive heat of summer.
Psalm 32:5 tn The Hiphil of ידה normally means “give thanks, praise,” but here, as in Prov 28:13, it means “confess.”
Psalm 32:5 tn Heb “the wrongdoing of my sin.” By joining synonyms for “sin” in this way, the psalmist may be emphasizing the degree of his wrongdoing.
Psalm 32:6 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד, khasid) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10).
Psalm 32:6 tn Heb “at a time of finding.” This may mean, “while there is time to ‘find’ [the Lord]” and seek his forgiveness (cf. NIV). Some emend the text by combining מְצֹא (m^etsoʾ, “finding”) with the following term רַק (raq, “only, surely”) and read either ר[וֹ]מָצ (matsor, “distress”; see Ps 31:22) or ק[וֹ]מָצ (matsoq, “hardship”; see Ps 119:143). In this case, one may translate “in a time of distress/hardship” (cf. NEB, NRSV).
Psalm 32:6 tn The Hebrew term רַק (raq) occasionally has an asseverative force.
Psalm 32:6 sn The surging water is here a metaphor for trouble that endangers one’s life.
Psalm 32:6 tn Heb “him.” The translation uses the plural “them” to agree with the plural “every one of your faithful followers” in the first line of v. 6.
Psalm 32:7 tn Heb “[with] shouts of joy of deliverance you surround me.”
Psalm 32:8 tn The second person pronominal forms in this verse are singular. The psalmist addresses each member of his audience individually (see also the note on the word “eye” in the next line). A less likely option (but one which is commonly understood) is that the Lord addresses the psalmist in vv. 8-9 (cf. NASB “I will instruct you and teach you…I will counsel you with My eye upon you”).
Psalm 32:8 tn Heb “I will instruct you and I will teach you in the way [in] which you should walk.”
Psalm 32:8 tn Heb “I will advise, upon you my eye,” that is, “I will offer advice [with] my eye upon you.” In 2 Chr 20:12 the statement “our eye is upon you” means that the speakers are looking to the Lord for intervention. Here the expression “my eye upon you” may simply mean that the psalmist will teach his pupils directly and personally.
Psalm 32:9 tn The verb form is plural (i.e., “do not all of you be”); the psalmist addresses the whole group.
Psalm 32:9 tn Heb “like a horse, like a mule without understanding.”
Psalm 32:9 tn Heb “with a bridle and bit, its [?] to hold, not to come near to you.” The meaning of the Hebrew noun עֲדִי (ʿadiy) is uncertain. Normally the word refers to “jewelry,” so some suggest the meaning “trappings” here (cf. NASB). Some emend the form to לְחֵיהֶם (l^ekhehem, “their jawbones”) but it is difficult to see how the present Hebrew text, even if defective, could have derived from this proposed original reading. P. C. Craigie (Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 265) takes the form from an Arabic root and translates “whose gallop.” Cf. also NRSV “whose temper must be curbed.”
Psalm 32:10 tn Heb “many [are the] pains of evil [one].” The singular form is representative here; the typical evildoer, representative of the larger group of wicked people, is in view.
Psalm 32:10 tn Heb “but the one who trusts in the Lord, faithfulness surrounds him.”
Psalm 32:11 tn Heb “all [you] pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the Lord and, as a result, experience his deliverance (see Pss 7:10; 11:2; 36:10; 64:10; 94:15; 97:11).

Jeremiah 25:15-29

Judah and the Nations Will Experience God’s Wrath

¹⁵So^[a] the Lord, the God of Israel, spoke to me in a vision:^[b] “Take this cup from my hand. It is filled with the wine of my wrath.^[c] Take it and make the nations to whom I send you drink it. ¹⁶When they have drunk it, they will stagger to and fro^[d] and act insane. For I will send wars sweeping through them.”^[e]

¹⁷So I took the cup from the Lord’s hand. I made all the nations to whom he sent me drink the wine of his wrath.^[f] ¹⁸I made Jerusalem and the cities of Judah, its kings and its officials drink it.^[g] I did it so Judah would become a ruin. I did it so Judah, its kings, and its officials would become an object of^[h] horror and of hissing scorn, an example used in curses.^[i] Such is already becoming the case!^[j] ¹⁹I made all these other people drink it: Pharaoh, king of Egypt;^[k] his attendants, his officials, his people, ²⁰the foreigners living in Egypt;^[l] all the kings of the land of Uz;^[m] all the kings of the land of the Philistines,^[n] the people of Ashkelon, Gaza, Ekron, the people who had been left alive from Ashdod;^[o] ²¹all the people of Edom,^[p] Moab,^[q] Ammon;^[r] ²²all the kings of Tyre, all the kings of Sidon;^[s] all the kings of the coastlands along the sea;^[t] ²³the people of Dedan, Tema, Buz,^[u] all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples;^[v] ²⁴all the kings of Arabia who^[w] live in the desert; ²⁵all the kings of Zimri;^[x] all the kings of Elam;^[y] all the kings of Media;^[z] ²⁶all the kings of the north, whether near or far from one another; and all the other kingdoms that are on the face of the earth. After all of them have drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath,^[aa] the king of Babylon^[ab] must drink it.

²⁷Then the Lord said to me,^[ac] “Tell them that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel,^[ad] says,^[ae] ‘Drink this cup^[af] until you get drunk and vomit. Drink until you fall down and can’t get up.^[ag] For I will send wars sweeping through you.’^[ah] ²⁸If they refuse to take the cup from your hand and drink it, tell them that the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says,^[ai] ‘You most certainly must drink it!^[aj] ²⁹For take note, I am already beginning to bring disaster on the city that I call my own.^[ak] So how can you possibly avoid being punished?^[al] You will not go unpunished. For I am proclaiming war against all who live on the earth. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies,^[am] affirm it!’^[an]

Footnotes

Jeremiah 25:15 tn This is an attempt to render the Hebrew particle כִּי (ki), which is probably being used in the sense that BDB 473-74 s.v. כִּי 3.c notes, i.e., the causal connection is somewhat loose, related here to the prophecies against the nations. “So” seems to be the most appropriate way to represent this.
Jeremiah 25:15 tn Heb “Thus said the Lord, the God of Israel, to me.” It is generally understood that the communication is visionary. God does not have a “hand,” and the actions of going to the nations and making them drink of the cup are scarcely literal. The words are supplied in the translation to show the figurative nature of this passage.
Jeremiah 25:15 sn “Drinking from the cup of wrath” is a common figure to represent being punished by God. Isaiah had used it earlier to refer to the punishment that Judah was to suffer and from which God would deliver her (Isa 51:17, 22). Jeremiah’s contemporary Habakkuk uses it of Babylon “pouring out its wrath” on the nations and in turn being forced to drink the bitter cup herself (Hab 2:15-16). In Jer 51:7 the Lord will identify Babylon as the cup that makes the nations stagger. In v. 16 drinking from the cup will be identified with the sword (i.e., wars) that the Lord will send against the nations. Babylon is also to be identified as the sword (cf. Jer 51:20-23). What is being alluded to in highly figurative language is the judgment that the Lord will wreak through the Babylonians on the nations listed here. The prophecy given here in symbolical form is thus an expansion of the one in vv. 9-11.
Jeremiah 25:16 tn There is some debate about the meaning of the verb here. Both BDB (172 s.v. גָּעַשׁ Hithpo) and KBL (191 s.v. גָּעַשׁ Hitpol) interpret this of the back-and-forth movement of staggering. HALOT 192 s.v. גָּעַשׁ Hitpo interprets it as vomiting. The word is used elsewhere of the up-and-down movement of the mountains (2 Sam 22:8) and the up-and-down movement of the rolling waves of the Nile (Jer 46:7, 8). The fact that a different verb is used in v. 27 for vomiting would appear to argue against it referring to vomiting (contra W. L. Holladay, Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:674; it is “they” that do this, not their stomachs).
Jeremiah 25:16 tn Heb “because of the sword that I will send among them.” Here, as often elsewhere in Jeremiah, the sword is figurative for warfare that brings death. See, e.g., 15:2. The causal particle here is found in verbal locutions where it indicates the cause of emotional states or action. Hence there are really two “agents” which produce the effects of “staggering” and “acting insane,” the cup filled with God’s wrath and the sword. The sword is the “more literal” and the actual agent by which the first agent’s action is carried out.
Jeremiah 25:17 tn The words “the wine of his wrath” are not in the text but are implicit in the metaphor (see vv. 15-16). They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 25:18 tn The words “I made” and “drink it” are not in the text. The text from v. 18 to v. 26 contains a list of the nations that Jeremiah “made drink it.” The words are supplied in the translation here and at the beginning of v. 19 for the sake of clarity. See also the note on v. 26.
Jeremiah 25:18 tn Heb “in order to make them a ruin, an object of…” The sentence is broken up and the antecedents are made specific for the sake of clarity and English style.
Jeremiah 25:18 tn See the study note on 24:9 for explanation.
Jeremiah 25:18 tn Heb “as it is today.” This phrase would obviously be more appropriate after all these things had happened, as is the case in 44:6, 23, where the verbs referring to these conditions are past. Some see this phrase as a marginal gloss added after the tragedies of 597 b.c. or 586 b.c. However, it may refer here to the beginning stages, where Judah has already suffered the loss of Josiah, its freedom, some of its temple treasures, and some of its leaders (Dan 1:1-3. The different date for Jehoiakim there is due to the different method of counting the king’s first year; the third year there is the same as the fourth year in 25:1).
Jeremiah 25:19 sn See further Jer 46:2-28 for the judgment against Egypt.
Jeremiah 25:20 tn The meaning of this term and its connection with the preceding is somewhat uncertain. This word is used of the mixture of foreign people who accompanied Israel out of Egypt (Exod 12:38), and of the foreigners that the Israelites were to separate out of their midst in the time of Nehemiah (Neh 13:3). Most commentators interpret it here of the foreign people who were living in Egypt. (See BDB 786 s.v. I עֶרֶב and KBL 733 s.v. II עֶרֶב.)
Jeremiah 25:20 sn The land of Uz was Job’s homeland (Job 1:1). The exact location is unknown, but its position here between Egypt and the Philistine cities suggests it is south of Judah, probably in the Arabian peninsula. Lam 4:21 suggests that it was near Edom.
Jeremiah 25:20 sn See further Jer 47:1-7 for the judgment against the Philistines. The Philistine cities were west of Judah.
Jeremiah 25:20 sn The Greek historian Herodotus reports that Ashdod had been destroyed under the Pharaoh who preceded Necho, Psammetichus.
Jeremiah 25:21 sn See further Jer 49:7-22 for the judgment against Edom. Edom, Moab, and Ammon were east of Judah.
Jeremiah 25:21 sn See further Jer 48:1-47 for the judgment against Moab.
Jeremiah 25:21 sn See further Jer 49:1-6 for the judgment against Ammon.
Jeremiah 25:22 sn Tyre and Sidon are mentioned within the judgment on the Philistines in Jer 47:4. They were Phoenician cities to the north and west of Judah on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in what is now Lebanon.
Jeremiah 25:22 sn The connection with Tyre and Sidon suggests that these were Phoenician colonies. See also Isa 23:2.
Jeremiah 25:23 sn Dedan and Tema are mentioned together in Isa 21:13-14 and located in the desert. They were in the northern part of the Arabian peninsula, south and east of Ezion Geber. Buz is not mentioned anywhere else, and its location is unknown. Judgment against Dedan and Tema is mentioned in conjunction with the judgment on Edom in Jer 49:7-8.
Jeremiah 25:23 tn For the discussion regarding the meaning of the terms here, see the notes on 9:26.sn See Jer 9:26, where these are mentioned in connection with Moab, Edom, and Ammon.
Jeremiah 25:24 tc Or “and all the kings of people of mixed origin who.” The Greek version gives evidence of having read the term only once; it refers to the “people of mixed origin” without reference to the kings of Arabia. While the term translated “people of mixed origin” seems appropriate in the context of a group of foreigners within a larger entity (e.g., Israel in Exod 12:38 and Neh 13:3; Egypt in Jer 50:37), it seems odd to speak of them as a separate entity under their own kings. The presence of the phrase in the Hebrew text and the other versions dependent upon it can be explained as a case of dittography.sn See further Jer 49:28-33 for judgment against some of these Arabian peoples.
Jeremiah 25:25 sn The kingdom of Zimri is mentioned nowhere else, so its location is unknown.
Jeremiah 25:25 sn See further Jer 49:34-39 for judgment against Elam.
Jeremiah 25:25 sn Elam and Media were east of Babylon, Elam in the south and Media in the north. They were in what is now western Iran.
Jeremiah 25:26 tn The words “have drunk the wine of the Lord’s wrath” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity at the end of the list to serve as a transition to the next sentence, which does not directly mention the cup or the Lord’s wrath.
Jeremiah 25:26 tn Heb “the king of Sheshach.” “Sheshach” is a code name for Babylon formed on the principle of substituting the last letter of the alphabet for the first, the next to the last for the second, and so on. On this principle Hebrew שׁ (shin) is substituted for Hebrew ב (bet) and Hebrew כ (kaf) is substituted for Hebrew ל (lamed). On the same principle “Leb Kamai” in Jer 51:1 is a code name for Chasdim or Chaldeans, which is Jeremiah’s term for the Babylonians. No explanation is given for why the code names are used. The name “Sheshach” for Babylon also occurs in Jer 51:41, where the term Babylon is found in parallelism with it.
Jeremiah 25:27 tn The words “Then the Lord said to me” are not in the text. They are supplied in the translation for clarity, to connect this part of the narrative with vv. 15, 17 after the long intervening list of nations who were to drink the cup of God’s wrath in judgment.
Jeremiah 25:27 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel.”sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.
Jeremiah 25:27 tn Heb “Tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord….’” The translation is intended to eliminate one level of imbedded quotation marks to help avoid confusion.
Jeremiah 25:27 tn The words “this cup” are not in the text but are implicit to the metaphor and the context. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.
Jeremiah 25:27 tn Heb “Drink, and get drunk, and vomit and fall down and don’t get up.” The imperatives following drink are not parallel actions but consequent actions. For the use of the imperative plus the conjunctive “and” to indicate consequent action, even intention, see GKC 324-25 §110.f and compare usage in 1 Kgs 22:12 and Prov 3:3b-4a.
Jeremiah 25:27 tn Heb “because of the sword that I will send among you.” See the notes on 2:16 for explanation.
Jeremiah 25:28 tn Heb “Tell them, ‘Thus says the Lord…’” The translation is intended to eliminate one level of imbedded quote marks to help avoid confusion.
Jeremiah 25:28 tn The translation attempts to reflect the emphatic construction of the infinitive absolute preceding the finite verb, which is here an obligatory imperfect. (See Joüon 2:371-72 §113.m and 2:423 §123.h, and compare usage in Gen 15:13.)
Jeremiah 25:29 tn Heb “which is called by my name.” See translator’s note on 7:10 for support.
Jeremiah 25:29 tn This is an example of a question without the formal introductory particle following a conjunctive vav introducing an opposition. (See Joüon 2:609 §161.a.) It is also an example of the use of the infinitive before the finite verb in a rhetorical question involving doubt or denial. (See Joüon 2:422-23 §123.f, and compare usage in Gen 37:8.)
Jeremiah 25:29 tn Heb “Yahweh of Armies.”sn See the study notes on 2:19 and 7:3 for explanation of this extended title.
Jeremiah 25:29 tn Heb “Oracle of Yahweh of Armies.”

Acts 7:44-53

⁴⁴Our ancestors^[a] had the tabernacle^[b] of testimony in the wilderness,^[c] just as God^[d] who spoke to Moses ordered him^[e] to make it according to the design he had seen. ⁴⁵Our^[f] ancestors^[g] received possession of it and brought it in with Joshua when they dispossessed the nations that God drove out before our ancestors,^[h] until the time^[i] of David. ⁴⁶He^[j] found favor^[k] with^[l] God and asked that he could^[m] find a dwelling place^[n] for the house^[o] of Jacob. ⁴⁷But Solomon built a house^[p] for him. ⁴⁸Yet the Most High^[q] does not live in houses made by human hands,^[r] as the prophet says,

⁴⁹‘Heaven is my throne,
and earth is the footstool for my feet.
What kind of house will you build for me, says the Lord,
or what is my resting place?^[s]
⁵⁰Did my hand^[t] not make all these things?’^[u]

⁵¹“You stubborn^[v] people, with uncircumcised^[w] hearts and ears!^[x] You are always resisting the Holy Spirit, like your ancestors^[y] did! ⁵²Which of the prophets did your ancestors^[z] not persecute?^[aa] They^[ab] killed those who foretold long ago the coming of the Righteous One,^[ac] whose betrayers and murderers you have now become!^[ad] ⁵³You^[ae] received the law by decrees given by angels,^[af] but you did not obey^[ag] it.”

Footnotes

Acts 7:44 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
Acts 7:44 tn Or “tent.”sn The tabernacle was the tent used to house the ark of the covenant before the construction of Solomon’s temple. This is where God was believed to reside, yet the people were still unfaithful.
Acts 7:44 tn Or “desert.”
Acts 7:44 tn Grk “the one”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
Acts 7:44 tn The word “him” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.
Acts 7:45 tn Grk “And.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 7:45 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
Acts 7:45 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”sn Before our ancestors. Stephen has backtracked here to point out how faithful God had been before the constant move to idolatry just noted.
Acts 7:45 tn Grk “In those days.”
Acts 7:46 tn Grk “David, who” The relative pronoun was replaced by the pronoun “he” and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style.
Acts 7:46 tn Or “grace.”
Acts 7:46 tn Grk “before,” “in the presence of.”
Acts 7:46 tn The words “that he could” are not in the Greek text, but are implied as the (understood) subject of the infinitive εὑρεῖν (heurein). This understands David’s request as asking that he might find the dwelling place. The other possibility would be to supply “that God” as the subject of the infinitive: “and asked that God find a dwelling place.” Unfortunately this problem is complicated by the extremely difficult problem with the Greek text in the following phrase (“house of Jacob” vs. “God of Jacob”).
Acts 7:46 tn On this term see BDAG 929 s.v. σκήνωμα a (Ps 132:5).
Acts 7:46 tc Some mss read θεῷ (theō, “God”) here, a variant much easier to understand in the context. The reading “God” is supported by א² A C E Ψ 33 1739 M lat sy co. The more difficult οἴκῳ (oikō, “house”) is supported by P⁷⁴ א* B D H 049. Thus the second reading is preferred both externally because of better ms evidence and internally because it is hard to see how a copyist finding the reading “God” would change it to “house,” while it is easy to see how (given the LXX of Ps 132:5) a copyist might assimilate the reading and change “house” to “God.” However, some scholars think the reading “house” is so difficult as to be unacceptable. Others (like Lachmann and Hort) resorted to conjectural emendation at this point. Others (Ropes) sought an answer in an underlying Aramaic expression. Not everyone thinks the reading “house” is too difficult to be accepted as original (see Lake and Cadbury). A. F. J. Klijn, “Stephen’s Speech—Acts vii.2-53, ” NTS 4 (1957): 25-31, compared the idea of a “house within the house of Israel” with the Manual of Discipline from Qumran, a possible parallel that seems to support the reading “house” as authentic. (For the more detailed discussion from which this note was derived, see TCGNT 308-9.)
Acts 7:47 sn See 1 Kgs 8:1-21.
Acts 7:48 sn The title the Most High points to God’s majesty (Heb 7:1; Luke 1:32, 35; Acts 16:7).
Acts 7:48 sn The phrase made by human hands is negative in the NT: Mark 14:58; Acts 17:24; Eph 2:11; Heb 9:11, 24. It suggests “man-made” or “impermanent.” The rebuke is like parts of the Hebrew scripture where the rebuke is not of the temple, but for making too much of it (1 Kgs 8:27; Isa 57:15; 1 Chr 6:8; Jer 7:1-34).
Acts 7:49 sn What kind…resting place? The rhetorical questions suggest mere human beings cannot build a house to contain God.
Acts 7:50 tn Or “Did I.” The phrase “my hand” is ultimately a metaphor for God himself.
Acts 7:50 tn The question in Greek introduced with οὐχί (ouchi) expects a positive reply.sn A quotation from Isa 66:1-2. If God made the heavens, how can a human building contain him?
Acts 7:51 sn Traditionally, “stiff-necked people.” Now the critique begins in earnest.
Acts 7:51 tn The term ἀπερίτμητοι (aperitmētoi, “uncircumcised”) is a NT hapax legomenon (occurs only once). See BDAG 101-2 s.v. ἀπερίτμητος and Isa 52:1.
Acts 7:51 tn Or “You stubborn and obstinate people!” (The phrase “uncircumcised hearts and ears” is another figure for stubbornness.)
Acts 7:51 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
Acts 7:52 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “fathers.”
Acts 7:52 sn Which…persecute. The rhetorical question suggests they persecuted them all.
Acts 7:52 tn Grk “And they.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 7:52 sn The Righteous One is a reference to Jesus Christ.
Acts 7:52 sn Whose betrayers and murderers you have now become. The harsh critique has OT precedent (1 Kgs 19:10-14; Neh 9:26; 2 Chr 36:16).
Acts 7:53 tn Grk “whose betrayers and murderers you have now become, who received the law” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the pronoun “You” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.
Acts 7:53 tn Traditionally, “as ordained by angels,” but εἰς (eis) with the accusative here should be understood as instrumental (a substitute for ἐν [en]); so BDAG 291 s.v. εἰς 9, BDF §206. Thus the phrase literally means “received the law by the decrees [orders] of angels” with the genitive understood as a subjective genitive, that is, the angels gave the decrees.sn Decrees given by angels. According to Jewish traditions in the first century, the law of Moses was mediated through angels. See also the note on “angel” in 7:35.
Acts 7:53 tn The Greek word φυλάσσω (phulassō, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Psalm 32[a]

By David; a well-written song.[b]

Footnotes

Judah and the Nations Will Experience God’s Wrath

Footnotes

Footnotes

Psalm 32^[a]

By David; a well-written song.^[b]