Revisiting Acts 13:48

[Paidion]

Correct, the word "appointed" means roughly "determined". It does not mean "predetermined". The "pre" part comes from the tenses.

How about "pre-appointed"? I don't think this in any way means "pre-determined." I think it simply means to be appointed before we act. This happens continually in every day life. For example, we may have an appointment made for us with the dentist (we have been pre-appointed to dental work). But there is no absolute necessity that we keep our appointment. We have the ability to choose not to do so.

[Tychicus]

But there is no absolute necessity that we keep our appointment. We have the ability to choose not to do so.

Good observation. Nothing is predetermined about any individual's actions.

But Luke says in 13:48 as-many-as had been appointed believed. Essentially all those appointed (so far at least) in fact believed.

So who did God appoint? I have suggested that this does not refer to individual people, but to "all the nations of the Gentiles". In fact all the nations who received the gospel up to that point in Acts had a good faith response. That is what I think Luke meant. That does not mean anyone had to respond, and in fact many individuals did not. But all the nations did.

So what do you think? Who did God appoint?

[Paidion]

So what do you think? Who did God appoint?

I don't yet have an answer to that. I have been considering your opinion that it refers to "all the nations of the Gentiles". Would that mean that Gentiles from every nation were gathered at Antioch when Paul and Barnabus were speaking, and people from as many of these nations as God appointed to lasting life believed? But why would He appoint just SOME of the Gentile nations, thereby excluding others?

[Bud]

Hi Tychicus,

I don't read where God appointed anyone:



Acts 13:48 And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. (KJV)

I like Steve Gregg's teaching on this verse in his tape series I listened to years ago that refutes Calvinism, he touches on this verse.

Steve explained that the word "ordained" could mean, disposed.

So the verse could be better translated: ....and as many as were disposed to eternal life believed"

God bless you and yours,

[Singalphile]

Tychicus wrote:
Just about every English translation, in its normal reading, implies the appointing came first. Some are more explicit, using the pluperfect (e.g. had been appointed . . . believed); for example, the NAS, NRSV, and NET translate like this.

In Greek "appointed" is a perfect periphrastic with an imperfect helping verb, literally "were in the condition of having been appointed" insofar as you can make literal sense out of it in English. I'd hate to say the grammar makes it "absolutely necessary" the appointing comes first, but you'd need extraordinary evidence from the context to indicate otherwise. Any Greek experts are welcome to chime in here.

I think you'd have a real uphill battle trying to argue that the "appointed" doesn't come first.

I'll gladly take your word for it and will surrender that battle, then. Thank you for that and for your other thoughts.

[Tychicus]

Would that mean that Gentiles from every nation were gathered at Antioch when Paul and Barnabus were speaking, and people from as many of these nations as God appointed to lasting life believed? But why would He appoint just SOME of the Gentile nations, thereby excluding others?

I would hardly take Luke's words to refer only to those gathered at Antioch. I don't even think Luke meant to teach some precise point about theology here. He was just describing what he saw happening (i.e. what he was told by his sources).

The whole progression of Acts is the expansion of the church, from "Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Well, by this point in Acts 13 the church has already reached Judea and Samaria, and a bit beyond, and now the apostles are on their first extended missionary journey. So they have gotten to the "ends of the earth" part. Notice that 13:47 also says "the ends of the earth". This does not mean that every last square inch of the earth was reached, nor that every nation in existence was yet reached. There was plenty of work still to be done.

The word for "all" is ὅσοι, literally as-many-as. So the point is that, up till now in the book of Acts, whenever the apostles preached to a new nation they responded; many people "believed". This was the pattern. You could say that whenever the apostles reached a nation (or ethnic group), at that time God appointed that nation. And each time that happened so far, the people believed. I don't think you have to be exact here, like "what is the exact number of individuals who believed" or those kinds of questions; nor does it really matter if no one yet believed in a particular place. The point was the overall pattern.

Why might Luke want to make such a comment, right here in 13:48? Well, I have a pretty good guess, as you can see above and in the previous posts. But what do you think? Why do you think he made the comment here (whether you take my view or any of the other views expressed here)? Not just, "he could have meant this or that", but why might it be especially relevant for him (and his audience) to say this there? Not that we can know for sure, but an educated guess, something that might be plausible for him to say at that time, not necessarily something we argue about today. Remember, Luke wrote this in the first century, probably between 65 and 85 AD.

[Tychicus]

Hi Bud,

Steve explained that the word "ordained" could mean, disposed.

So the verse could be better translated: ....and as many as were disposed to eternal life believed"

The word "ordained" is translated "appointed" in most translations. A few have "destined". I don't know any that translate it "disposed".

But if it were translated "disposed" then you have to ask, who disposed them? If you say "God disposed them" it seems it would have about the same sense as "God appointed them". If not, then who?

I heard Steve's explanation in the debate with James White a few years ago and believe he also used "disposed" there. As I recall he took the sense to mean the people "disposed themselves". That's possible, though based on a controversial understanding of the verb form. Most scholars will not buy it. I'd prefer to look for an alternative view.

[Bud]

Hi Tychicus,

I understand.

Have you considered that maybe the people were themselves disposed to eternal life and stood up in the ranks of believers with God honoring their disposition by quickening their hearts with further disposition, much like how in the reverse Pharo is said to have hardened his heart in one part of the Bible and in another part God is said to have hardened Pharo's heart?

Not holding the office of teacher I'm not trying to speak authoritatively here, just putting forth an idea.

[Paidion]

I would hardly take Luke's words to refer only to those gathered at Antioch.

When we look at the whole sentence, it certainly seems to be the Gentiles gathered at Antioch. For they were the ones who had just heard Paul and Barnabas say these words:

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”

Luke's very next sentence is:

Now when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word of the Lord. and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.

The "as many as" seems to refer to the Gentiles who heard this, that is, the ones gathered at Antioch who heard these words of Paul and Barnabus. I don't see how Luke could have suddenly commented about ALL nations of Gentiles. Did the "as many as" not refer those Gentiles present who rejoiced when they heard the good news that they, too, could be included in this great salvation?

[Tychicus]

The "as many as" seems to refer to the Gentiles who heard this, that is, the ones gathered at Antioch who heard these words of Paul and Barnabus. I don't see how Luke could have suddenly commented about ALL nations of Gentiles. Did the "as many as" not refer those Gentiles present who rejoiced when they heard the good news that they, too, could be included in this great salvation?

It all depends on the punctuation. I would take 13:48b, starting with the "and all who were appointed" to be a separate sentence, perhaps a separate paragraph. As you know the Greek text does not have punctuation, so it's really anyone's guess where the breaks are.

The Greek word καὶ ("and") is used in lots of ways. It is often translated as a separator. For example take Acts 6:6-7 (NIV):

who prayed and laid their hands on them.

So the word of the Lord spread.

The Greek word καὶ here starts a new paragraph and is translated "So". The sense of Acts 6:7 is to describe the general sense of the church's growth, and has no connection to the details of 6:6. Luke isn't saying that the church grew because the apostles laid their hands on these men. That is why the NIV has it in a new paragraph.

I would treat the καὶ of Acts 13:48 in a similar way, starting a new paragraph at 13:48b.

When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord.

So all who were appointed to eternal life believed.

I cannot think of any lexical or grammatical argument against this, but if there are any experts around feel free to weigh in. The sense here to a first century mind would refer to groups [Gentile groups] in accordance with the prophecy in 13:47. They wouldn't automatically assume individuals as we might today. After all, the big theological debate in the first century was "Jews are God's chosen people (Gentiles must become Jews)" versus "all nations are chosen to receive the word of the Lord". It wasn't about "individual election" as we argue about today. (I think most honest Calvinists will admit this was not a debate until the time of Augustine.)

Admittedly this paragraph break is speculative, but with that assumption everything fits perfectly. The "appointed nations" view fits the gospel progression theme of Acts; and it makes perfect sense for Luke to put this thought in at 13:48b. It is also a good followup to 13:47. That is why I think treating καὶ as a new paragraph marker here is a reasonable assumption.

I will also say that the conventional views have a problem as well with translating καὶ as a normal "and". The sentence seems backwards. You have the "rejoiced and glorified the word of the Lord" first, and then the "appointed ones" believed. It seems that the believing ought to come first, and then the rejoicing. This is an odd looking sentence, even if you take the Calvinist view. All the more reason to reconsider the way καὶ is translated.