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In many languages today there is the equivalent of the English word "acquire." Like in Russian "priobrel" means acquire - in contrast "buy" in Russian would be kupit. in Azerbaijani language for "buy" we use a word "almaq" which has many meanings like buy, take, gain. and so this word acquire in the original Greek does not necessarily mean that someone put ...

As much as the Jubilee is important in Scripture, there is no evidence that one was ever actually declared in Israel's history. This is noted as such by Jeffrey Fager and D.P. O'Brien in unrelated papers. As such, there is no base from which to calculate the 50th year. More to the point for this question, there is no archeological or historical evidence ...

They both did - it just depends on perspective for application of the word "bought". It was Judas' money, and it was the priests who used the money he returned to them to buy the field. They bought the field because they could not accept blood money and return it to the temple treasury. In essence, the priests bought the field on behalf of Judas.

In Acts 2:1, it is written, And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all together with one accord (ὁμοθυμαδὸν). καὶ ἐν τῷ συμπληροῦσθαι τὴν ἡμέραν τῆς πεντηκοστῆς ἦσαν ἅπαντες ὁμοθυμαδὸν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτό We see that the first Christians were all together with one accord in the Temple at the time they received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:4). ...

The ESV Study Bible includes this note about the purchase of the property in the Acts account: That is, the field was acquired indirectly by Judas, through the agency of the chief priests. As Matt. 27:3–7 records, Judas brought the 30 pieces of silver back to the chief priests and elders. The chief priests then purchased the potter’s field with Judas’s ...

Here are some suggestions, none of which I am claiming as necessarily the answer: Naming people draws attention to them. The writers probably didn't want their readers going to find out what these people were writing Naming people makes them exclusive. If the writer says "don't listen to Marcus and Suetonius" that leaves Octavius free to spread his ...

Matthias was appointed for a very specific purpose: to fill the void in the Twelve once Judas had died. We have no record of when or under what circumstances Paul was called as an apostle, but we do know that his ministry coincided with a period of very heavy persecution for the church. So it's not at all unreasonable to assume, in the absence of any ...

The simple answer is that in the very early days the followers of Jesus considered themselves to be Jews. They saw Jesus as the fulfilment of the Jewish laws and prophecies - that he had come to redeem Judaism and the Jews, not to set up another religion. The idea that Gentiles might be followers of Jesus without also becoming Jews would only be ...

It is important to understand that we do not have an "original copy" of any book of the Bible. What we have are copies of copies of copies... (manuscripts), from which "Textual Critics" seek to ascertain the original wording. It is the original wording that most Bible scholars hold to be perfect and inspired by God. Many modern Christians view "The Bible" ...

Let us try to see the whole passage in context. (All scripture quotation in NLT) Acts 15: 20-21 - Instead, we should write and tell them to abstain from eating food offered to idols, from sexual immorality, from eating the meat of strangled animals, and from consuming blood. 21 For these laws of Moses have been preached in Jewish synagogues in ...

According to Strong's Concordance, the definition of the greek used here is "one who is eagerly devoted to a person or a thing, a zealot." The Helps Word-studies says a zealot is one "who (literally) 'boils over with passion'". (Here "boils over" is the literal translation of zeó, which figuratively means "to be earnest, to set one's heart on, to be ...

While the New Testament does not give complete details about the selection process, the role of other leaders is much more clearly documented than the role of congregations, at least in the appointment of elders. Acts 6, by contrast, involves the selection of servant leaders, known in most churches today as deacons. The Apostles were too busy to "serve ...

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zealotry I'll quote an interesting part here. The Zealots objected to Roman rule and violently sought to eradicate it by generally targeting Romans and Greeks. Zealots engaged in violence against other Jews were called the Sicarii.[9] They raided Jewish habitations and killed Jews they considered ...

While I do believe the gifts do exist today, I do not believe they are all distributed to everyone. (See Do Christians Regard Speaking in Tongues as Necessary?) Since these gifts are distributed by God, I believe they are given to each in sufficient measure to fulfill their needs. Practicing these gifts is just ensuring you are using your gifts when ...

You are correct, we are all given spiritual gifts (1 Corinthians 7:7; 1 Corinthians 12:7). And its great that you desire to discover and develop them. Paul counsels us to do exactly that (1 Corinthians 12:31, 1 Corinthians 14:1). Lets take a look at the purpose of spiritual gifts: 1 Corinthians 14:12 (KJV) 12 Even so ye, forasmuch as ye are ...

I see several possibilities: One major characteristic of the Gnostic groups was the lack of defined leadership1, so one might imagine that the false brethren may simply have been without definite leader. Considering that the Gnostic movement would have started by the time that the Johanine literature was complete, I think this should hold particular ...

Acts 6 pretty clearly says that the congregation choose the leaders. Acts 6:2-3 'Then the twelve summoned the multitude of the disciples and said, '... Therefore, brethren, seek out from among you seven men of good reputation ...'" The apostles told the congregation that the congreation should choose these men. We are not told whether this was done with a ...

But the way [Acts 15:28 is] phrased, and the context of the meeting, seem to point to the church having authority in this moment; that there's something special about these people being gathered together, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, which gives them the right to make the decision and send the letter. Yes. The early church leaders had the ...

I agree with pretty much everything Jas3.1 said, but let me add a couple of comments: It is certainly true that the manuscripts we have are copies of copies and that some number of discrepancies have crept in through the process. But as I note in my answer to this question: Is it possible for The Bible to contain errors?, most of these discrepancies are ...

Searching the web I came across this fascinating site which allows you to enter a route and it will calculate the cost of freight and passenger transport as it was in Roman times along that route. For example entering Antioch to Ephesus, and forcing a land route, gives you a cost of around 30 denarii to ship 1kg of wheat, and 1500 denarii for a passenger in ...

Here's a Jewish biography of Paul, known to the Jews as Saul of Tarsus. As you might imagine, it's not very complementary. Here's what we know. Paul was a tent maker. (Acts 18:3) Here's what we can deduce. Paul was not a wealthy man. Paul was epileptic. (Galatians 4:13, outside sources) I suspect that the local Christian churches supported Paul's ...

Pauls did name and shame Phygelus and Hermogenes for leaving him, and latter in the same letter, he mentions Demas (maybe the same guy in Col 4:14) who had deserted him. [15] You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. (2 Timothy 1:15 ESV) [10] For Demas, in love with this present world, has ...

In political debates, candidates who wish to take "the high ground" will often not refer to their opponents by name. Indeed in the US Republican Presidential primary contest, when Mitt Romney was trailing Newt Gingrich, he started calling his opponent out by name, leading the media to call him "desperate." Once he was comfortable in his lead, he ceased to ...

He was another one of the apostles: Luke 6:14-16 (NIV) Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor. There were two apostles named "Simon", one is "Simon Peter" and the other is ...