Guide: CJB emphasis in bold (CJB online), text in green; NIV in magenta; footnotes to CJB in sky blue; Nomads* discussion in yellow; and my comments in gray. I may use endnotes to cite outside literature or extensive comment.
*Participative
Sunday-school-class at UBC led by Ken Tipton. My continually improved statement
about Genesis 1:26-28 is at the end of this post.
Chief concerns and
possible insights:
1.
Acts 2 (63 CE) seems to ignore what some proponents
of the Bible canon (405 CE) claim to know: Christ is The Trinity incarnate. Peter
seems to neglect Hebrews 9:15-18 (67 CE), especially, V 16-17, “For where there is a will [promise; covenant], there
must necessarily be produced evidence of its maker’s death, since a will
goes into effect only upon death; it never has force while its maker is still
alive.”
2.
I am working harder to compare NT quotations
vs OT scripture, both in CJB and NIV.
3.
Peter’s church seems to propose reform to
error-free (sinless) pursuit of life under Yeshua’s influence and humility to
The God.
a.
Peter suggests salvation from “the ream of
the dead” but not antinomianism.
b.
Peter mentions Torah only as a constraint,
not a goal.
c.
He favors prophesy by David, repressing
opinion about both Abraham and Moses’ Pentateuch.
i. Lineage
to David is Abraham with Sarah to Isaac; with Rebekah to Jacob; with Leah to
Judah; then 10 more generations, 14 total.
ii. From
David
1.
Through Solomon, 30 generations lead to
Yeshua’s Yosef.
2.
Through Nathan, 40 generations lead to
Yeshua’s Miryam.
4.
Peter’s church, in about 33 to 66 CE seemed
to think “ourselves and our children” would experience the second coming, so
provisions for next week were little if any concern.
a.
The Hebrew Bible was canonized in the 2nd
century CE
i. Improvement
is continual if not continuous
b.
The Roman Church canonized the NT in 405 CE
and there are competitors, such as the Ethiopian Tewahedo Bible, with a larger
book inclusion
c. Wycliffe's Bible, a protestant alternative was
completed in 1395
d. Messianic
Jews published CJB in 1995
i. Does
that group advocate an Israeli Messiah or a Messiah to all civic humans?
e. Should
Bible readers pursue necessary goodness
to the living or avoid the place of
the dead? I choose to pursue necessary goodness under Yeshua’s civic influence,
aware of the opinions of Peter, Paul, brother John, apostle John, orthodox
Jews, the Church, and competitive theists and philosophers.
5. The
United States Constitution proposes a civic faction of We the People of the
United States to pursue necessary goodness to life on earth.
i. Justice
cares not if the citizen is motivated and inspired to necessary goodness by
Yeshua, by Jesus, by Christ, or by the good, mysterious as goodness may seem
ii. Civic
citizens may and can choose to pursue both a rational mystery and necessary
goodness.
iii. In humility to The God mystery, I choose to
both pursue the laws of physics under
Yeshua’s civic influence and appreciate
other civic people’s opinions regarding necessary goodness.
Working considerations:
1. V1 Pentecost: 50th day after Yeshua’s
crucifixion.
a. Note Acts 1:3, “After
his death he showed himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was
alive. During a period of forty days they saw him, and he spoke with them about
the Kingdom of God.”
2. Reported supernatural events
a. V 2-3 a tornado plus fire-fingers reaching
individuals.
b. V 4-7, esp. V 6 the non-Galilean-speaking crowd,
mysteriously heard in Galilean.
c. V 24 miracle-worker Jesus freed from death [which he
had suffered]
6.
I am working harder to compare NT vs OT
scripture, with growing awareness of CJB writer’s intentions, perhaps to prove
that Yeshua is the Messiah. Also, that work increases awareness of seeming internal
contradictions in both CJB and NIV.
a.
V 21 footnote CJB NT is neither precise nor
accurate to CJB OT.
i. NIV NT
keeps the CJB OT sentence beginning “For in Mount Tziyon . . .”
ii. Perhaps
both CJB and NIV NT attempt to negate, in V 17, OT, “all humanity”, even though
Joel 2 addresses Israel rather than humankind.
b.
V 26 only CJB and KJV OT have “my glory
rejoices” all the rest have “my tongue rejoices”. CJB argues with itself, and
NIV argues with KJV.
c.
V 35 misquotes Psalm 110’s, “The Lord says
to my Lord my lord, “Sit . . .” The lower case “lord” suggests David ascending.
7.
Obscure facts
a.
V 5 Jews from ancient lands were in
Jerusalem for Pentecost
i. V 9;
from Iran, Iraq, Israel, Turkey, N. Africa, Italy, and Crete (Greece).
ii. V 11
both native Jews and pagan (Gentile) converts
b.
V 13 Drinking alcohol an accepted risk
c.
V 14, to my knowledge, Peter leading the 12,
Matthias having been selected in Acts 1, is trying to take the role of leader,
replacing Yeshua.
d.
V 24 the person on the cross suffered the
injury and the insult
8.
Peter’s messages
a.
V 21 citing Joel’s ancient prophesy, following
Yeshua’s civic influence saves.
b.
V 22 by miracles and
signs “Yahweh” (my edit to delineate Jewish Divinity from The God) showed
Yeshua was miracle working “Jesus” (my device to delineate the miracle-working
Messiah rather than the person)
c.
V 23 by Yahweh’s plan,
you Jews killed Jesus (impacting Yeshua-repression).
i. Maneuvered
pagans (not bound by the Torah) to do the killing
d.
V 24 but Yahweh freed
Jesus from death.
e.
V 29;ff you know David
was reliable, and he prophesied the Messiah
f.
V 31 Jesus’ body is
without decay these 50 days; V 32 be witnesses.
g.
V 33;ff I speculate that
Jesus is surrogate to David’s prophecy that his enemies would serve him.
h.
V 38 nevertheless, don’t
repeat human error, be humble to The God, and pursue Yeshua’s civic influence.
i. Peter
did not directly cite Jewish law
ii. A
consequence of starting with David rather than with Moses?
i.
V 39 the promise is “to
ourselves and our Posterity”, where the capital “P” expresses all civic people.
j.
V 40 despite the
generations who lived under the promise, this is a lost generation, so reform.
9.
Reported consequences of
Peter’s leadership
a.
V 41 about 3000 baptized
to join the group
b.
V 43 the 12 apostles
effected many miracles
c.
V 44 people who accepted
Yeshua’s civic influence shared motivation and inspiration; trust and
commitment; group-growth
i. V
45 sold all their property (to whom?) to benefit the group
ii. V
46 met in the Temple and in homes to share food and comfort
iii. V
47 respected all the people and added to the church
The
CJB text follows:
2:1 The
festival of Shavu‘ot [Pentecost; spirit descending on 50th day
after the cross] arrived, and the believers all gathered together in one
place. 2 Suddenly there came a sound from the sky
like the roar of a violent wind, and it filled the whole house where they were
sitting. 3 Then they saw what looked like tongues
of fire, which separated and came to rest on each one of them. 4 They
were all filled with the Ruach HaKodesh and began to talk in different languages,
as the Spirit enabled
them to speak.
5 Now
there were staying in Yerushalayim religious Jews from every nation under heaven. 6 When they heard
this sound, a crowd gathered; they were confused, because each one heard the
believers speaking in his own language. 7 Totally
amazed, they asked, “How is this possible? Aren’t all these people who are
speaking from the Galil [hilly
region in Israel]? 8 How is it that we hear
them speaking in our native languages? 9 We are
Parthians [Iran],
Medes [Iran],
Elamites [Iran];
residents of Mesopotamia [Iraq],
Y’hudah [Israel],
Cappadocia [Turkey],
Pontus [Turkey],
Asia [Turkey], 10 Phrygia
[Turkey], Pamphylia
[Turkey], Egypt [N. Africa], the parts of
Libya [N. Africa]
near Cyrene; visitors from Rome [Italy]; 11 Jews by birth and proselytes [Gentiles who embraced the
Jewish faith, laws, customs, and ceremonies]; Jews from Crete and from
Arabia. . . ! Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and
Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia (Roman province), 10 Phrygia and
Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from
Rome 11 (both Jews and
converts to Judaism); Cretans and Arabs How is it that we hear
them speaking in our own languages about the great things God has done?” 12 Amazed
and confused, they all went on asking each other, “What can this mean?” 13 But
others made fun of them and said, “They’ve just had too much wine!” [Drinking to excess was frowned on even then.]
14 Then Kefa stood up with the Eleven
[with the Twelve from Acts
1?] and raised his voice to address them [the
130?]: “You Judeans,
and all of you staying here in Yerushalayim! Let me tell you what this means!
Listen carefully to me!
15 “These
people aren’t drunk, as you suppose — it’s only nine in the morning. 16 No,
this is what was spoken about through the prophet Yo’el:
17 ‘Adonai says:
“In the Last Days,
I will pour out from my Spirit upon everyone all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my slaves servants, both men and
women,
will I pour out from my Spirit in those days;
and they will prophesy [last phrase omitted].
19 I will perform miracles in the sky above
and signs on the earth below —
blood, fire and thick smoke billows of smoke.
20 The sun will become dark
and the moon blood
before the great and fearful Day of Adonai the
Lord. comes.
21 And then, whoever calls on the name
of Adonai will be saved.”’ Joel 3:1–5(2:28–32), “After this, I will pour out my
Spirit on all humanity.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your
young men will see visions; and also on male and female slaves in
those days I will pour out my Spirit. I will show wonders in the sky and on
earth — blood, fire and columns of smoke. The sun will be turned into darkness and
the moon into blood before the coming of the great and terrible Day of Adonai.” At that time, whoever calls
on the name of Adonai will
be saved. For in Mount Tziyon and Yerushalayim there will be those who
escape, as Adonai has
promised; among the survivors will be those whom Adonai has called. ;
for on Mount Zion and in
Jerusalem there will be
deliverance, as the Lord has said,
even among the survivors whom the Lord calls.”
[The CJB NT quote differs from the CJB OT text. The Mount
Tziyon OT text, in contrast, appears in the NIV OT text. I think 2 problems are
evidenced. First, CJB NT intentionally modifies OT to fit a CJB intention –
perhaps proving that Yeshua is the Messiah. Second, NIV plows ahead without
trying to resolve apparent contradictions, such as “all humanity” vs “in Mount
Zion and in Jerusalem”.]
22 “Men of
Isra’el! Listen to this! Yeshua
from Natzeret was a man demonstrated to you to have been from God by the powerful
works, miracles and signs that God performed through him in your presence. You
yourselves know this. 23 This man was arrested in accordance with God’s
predetermined plan and foreknowledge; and, through the agency of persons not
bound by the Torah [namely, Pontius Pilot], you nailed him up on a stake and
killed him!
24 “But God
has raised him up and freed
him from the suffering of death [I think the person suffered the injury and humility];
it was impossible that death could keep its hold on him. 25 For
David says this about him:
‘I saw Adonai always
before me, for he is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
26 For this reason, my heart was glad; and
my tongue rejoiced; and now my body too will live on in the certain hope 27 that
you will not abandon me to Sh’ol the realm of the dead
or let your Holy One faithful see decay. 28 You have
made known to me the ways of life;
you will fill me with joy by your presence in your
presence,
with eternal pleasures at your
right hand.’ Psalm 16:8–11, “I always set Adonai before me;
with him at my right hand, I
can never be moved; so my heart is glad, my glory tongue rejoices, and my body too rests in
safety; for you will not abandon me to Sh’ol, you will not let your faithful
one see the Abyss. You make me know the path of life; in your
presence is unbounded joy, in your right hand eternal delight.” [KJV OT
and ]
29 “Brothers,
I know I can say to you frankly that the patriarch David died and was buried —
his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Therefore,
since he was a prophet
and knew that God had sworn an oath to him that one of his descendants would
sit on his throne, 31 he was speaking in advance
about the resurrection of the Messiah, that it was he who was not abandoned in
Sh’ol [Hades] and
whose flesh did not see decay. 32 God
raised up this Yeshua! And we are all witnesses of it!
33 “Moreover,
he has been exalted to the right hand of God; has received from the
Father what he promised, namely, the Ruach HaKodesh; and has poured
out this gift, which you are both seeing and hearing. 34 For
David did not ascend into
heaven. But he
says,
35 ‘Adonai said
to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for
your feet.”’ Psalm 110:1, “Adonai The Lord says to my Lord my lord, “Sit at my right hand,
until I make your enemies your footstool.” [It seems “my Lord” is David,
the king of Israel. That is why Peter raised the issue, and CJB’s NT author
misses that.]
36 Therefore,
let the whole house of Isra’el
know beyond doubt that God has made him both Lord and Messiah — this Yeshua, whom you executed on a stake!”
37 On
hearing this, they were stung in their hearts; and they said to Kefa and the
other emissaries, “Brothers, what should we do?” 38 Kefa
answered them, “Turn from sin,
return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua the
Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of
the Ruach HaKodesh! 39 For the promise
is for you, for your children, and for those far away — as many as Adonai our God may call!” [God, Ruach HaKodesh, as Adonai are Hebrew names for The God.]
40 He
pressed his case with many other arguments and kept pleading with them, “Save
yourselves from this perverse generation!”
41 So those
who accepted what he said were immersed, and there were added to the group that
day about three thousand
people.
42 They
continued faithfully in the teaching of the emissaries, in fellowship, in
breaking bread and in the prayers. 43 Everyone was
filled with awe, and many miracles and signs took place through the
emissaries. 44 All those trusting in Yeshua stayed together and had
everything in common [Yeshua
said, you may and can perfect your behavior, Matt 5:48.]; 45 in
fact, they sold their property
and possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who were in need. [I think this materialistic
religion is not a sustainable public practice.] 46 Continuing
faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily,
and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and
simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having the
respect of all the people. And day after day the Lord kept adding to them those who were being saved. [“Those who were being saved”
lends doubt to election. Expecting the kingdom right away.]
[Introduction
I
read to consider and apply perhaps 5500 year old Sumerian political philosophy.
The Sumerians are parochially referenced by Semite scribes of 3900 years ago,
in Genesis 1:26-28; in my paraphrase: Female-and-male-human-being
may and can choose to independently and together constrain political democracy
on earth: on earth, civic humankind has the power and authority
to pursue necessary goodness and constrain the bad. Civic
citizens may use the rule of law to develop statutory justice.
Yeshua*
affirmed contributing ideas in each Matthew 18:18 (no peace-power above
humankind), Matthew 19:3-8 (spousal loyalty), Matthew 5:48 (pursue your
perfection), and in other direct dialogue.
The next Bible canon could and should include the law codes of Sumer and
competing civilizations. Resulting insights would take the heat off
Judeo-Christianity, a Christ vs Messiah** vs The God competition vs Yeshua’s
civic influence.***
Notes:
*In
4 BC, Yosef and Myriam of Nazareth begot Yeshua. 250 years beforehand, Greek
translation of the Torah provided Ἰησοῦς and χριστός, both of which competed
with “Yeshua”, the former during Yeshua’s life and the latter in afterdeath.
Rome affirmed a triune God in 325 CE. By the 16th century CE,
Christianity used “Jesus Christ” to repress Yeshua, intentionally or not.
The
person, Yeshua, said, in my paraphrase: if people don’t speak my name they can
neither consider my civic influence nor share my open-heartedness. Competitive
monotheism hides Yeshua’s civic influence. Churches hide Yeshua. Churches claim
the Holy Bible is the word of the God yet do everything they can to negate
Genesis 1:26-28: humankind is responsible to rule to necessary goodness on
earth.
Obviously,
The God is a mystery. However, civic citizens may, can, and do discern Yeshua’s
civic influence. Accepting Genesis 1:26-28 empowers and does not exclude the
open-minded and open-hearted fellow citizen who has not discovered Yeshua. In
other words, human-beings may and can mimic Yeshua without knowing his home
town or his beginning.
**Cyrus,
600 BC, is called a messiah in Isaiah 45:1.
***Competitive
monotheism survives on war rather than necessary goodness.
Discussion
Personal
and institutional competition egregiously deludes Yeshua’s influence to
necessary goodness. The collaborative view could accelerate mutual pursuit of
human being (verb) and lessen habitual baby killings, like those happening in
Israel, in Ukraine, and in the U.S. in the year 2025.
I think Genesis 1:26-28 informs humankind to flourish in
necessary goodness rather than accommodate badness and allow evil:
Then God said, “Let us make
mankind in our image, in our
likeness, so that
they may rule over
the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all
the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
So God
created mankind in his own image, in the image of
God he created them; male and female he created them.
God blessed them and said to them, “Be
fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in
the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on
the ground.
Acceptance
of the power, authority, and responsibility to rule on earth is human
being (verb). Reliable human-beings pursue necessary goodness to actual reality.
The
rest of the Bible discloses the chaos that ensues if most individuals choose
wanton behavior -- neglect the laws of physics and progeny, e.g., biology and
psychology. Physics prevails even when humankind’s research has not discovered
its laws. Both rationalization and speculation fail the test of time.
The
civic collective cannot rule if most fellow citizens practice/accommodate
badness and allow evil. Civilizations can and do exist without civic integrity.
Yet the pursuit of necessary goodness is essential to survival.
Political
and religious philosopher Yeshua affirmed Genesis 1:26-28, e.g. in Matt 5:48
(be as perfect as goodness); 18:18 (expect consequences rather than
error-correction); and 19:4-6 (don’t divide/lessen goodness).
Today there
are more than 4,000 religions and 45,000 Christian sects on
earth. Today is the time for
individuals to accept the power, the authority, and the responsibility to
practice civic integrity in personal living. “Ourselves” may either continue
to leave reliable responsibility to “our Posterity”, referring to the preamble
to the US Constitution, or practice necessary goodness.
Notes
re modern perspective:
1. Since monotheism is a human construct, I use
the phrase, “The God, whatever it may be”, to express objection to any
doctrinal God yet reserve humility to ineluctable evidence.
a. Blue highlight is to emphasize Genesis
1:26-28 pronoun usages, “our” and “we”.
b. Perhaps the “we” infers the psychologically
androgynous pair -- a couple in monogamy more than sexual intimacy.
c. It seems human choice may and can conform to
the discovered laws of physics.
d. Yet human inspiration and motivation are
driven by goodness,
e. When goodness is uncertain, humility seems an
option.
2. Scholars understand that humankind in its
present mutation is Homo sapiens (HS)
a. Distinguished by brains with synapses and
neurons continuously developing speed and capacity to handle exponential
complexities
b. Indeed HS is the dominant
species on earth and its extensions
c. Yet HS, so far, is
challenged-to, perhaps will-not, control earth as much as possible
d. Unfortunately,
after 200,000 years, sexual-attraction rather than necessary goodness dominates
society.
3. The rest of the Holy Bible
expresses the validity of Genesis 1:26-28: Humankind may and can
choose to rule on earth.
a. Genesis 1 predates the
existence of Israel by at least 1500 years.
b. About 2000 years have passed
since Yeshua lived.
c. Yet war in the Middle East
threatens humankind’s opportunity.
d. It seems time to pay more
attention to primitive thought – psychological and civic discovery during the
period 8000 years ago to 4000 years ago.]
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