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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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