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               en and whose are not). In other words, the three verses, John 20:21-23, fit
               together" (InterVarsity Press, Downers Grove, Illinois, pp. 508-509).



































               3. Using the imagery of Genesis 2:7, did Peter and the rest of the disciples
               there  gathered receive a large measure  of the  holy  spirit  when  the risen
               Messiah breathed on them? John 20:22.


               COMMENT: The disciples received the promised spirit of YEHOVAH God
               ahead of the rest of YEHOVAH's people gathered on the day of Pentecost
               to empower them in preaching the gospel in Jerusalem while awaiting the
               day of Pentecost.

               The Greek verb in "he breathed on them" (ἐνεφύσησεν) is only used here --
               and nowhere else in the entire New Testament! The same verb is used by
               the Septuagint (LXX) in Genesis 2:7  where  YEHOVAH God breathes the
               spirit into Adam. Adam and his descendants were given the earnest of the
               spirit while in John 20:22 and Acts 2 YEHOVAH's chosen  people re-
               ceived a large measure of the spirit or power of YEHOVAH God to ena-
               ble them to carry out His Work.


               4. What does the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges note?


               "We are probably to regard the breath here not merely as the emblem of
               the spirit (John 3:8), but as the means by which the spirit was imparted
               to them. ‘Receive ye,’ combined with the action of breathing, implies this.
               This is  all the more clear in the  Greek, because pneuma means both



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