will and shall

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Steven Hall wrote:
[snip]
> Sounds to me just like Acts 2:38 says "ye shall" and the above definition
> says, "you shall go," wouldn't that be the same, as "ye shall receive",
so
> there is an obligation or promise from the speaker that you are promised
to > receive whatever was spoken.
[snip]

The problem with this is that the word 'shall' is not present in the Greek
Text.  It is only implied by the tense of the verb which is translated
'receive'.  The Greek word is a form of the Greek word which is
transliterated 'lambano'.  BTW, this word is often translated as 'take'
rather than 'receive' in the NT.  Forms of this Greek word appear 261 in
244 verses, of those times, it is translated 139 as forms of the word
'receive' and 100 times as forms of the word 'take'.   It is also translate
as hold, caught, obtain, accept, attain, bring, have and be amazed. 
Contrast it with another word which is translated primarily as receive:

dechomai = mid. of a prim. verb; to receive (in various applications, lit.
or fig.):--accept, receive, take. Comp. G2983.

lambano = a prol. form of a prim. verb, which is used only as an alt. in
certain tenses; to take (in very many applications, lit. and fig. [prop.
obj. or act., to get hold of; whereas G1209 is rather subj. or pass., to
have offered to one; while G138 is more violent, to seize or
remove):--accept, + be amazed, assay, attain, bring, X when I call, catch,
come on (X unto), + forget, have, hold, obtain, receive (X after), take
(away, up).	

The above 'dechomai' word is what we normally associate with the word
receive as being the object of an action, such as to admit into ones sphere
of influence or
into oneself.  The word which is translated receive in the Acts verse is
used more as an action which one performs oneself.  The first is a passive
verb, the subject is acted upon; the second is an active verb, the subject
acts.  We do not receive the Holy Spirit passively, it is not given to us
without our active participation  (else, since the Holy Ghost is already
poured out, everyone would have it).  Rather, we 'take' the Holy Ghost, as
getting hold of the Gift which has been presented to us.  Look at it this
way:  If someone has a present for you, say, a gift in a box.  And that
person has it in their hands.  They stand in front of you and hold it out,
with their arms outstretched.  They say, "Here, here is your gift."  But
they do not place it in your open and waiting hands.  Have you received it
yet?  No, you must first extend your hands and take the gift out of their
hands.  That is the way you have received it.  You literally took it (out
of their hands).  Was it still a gift?  Yes.  Was it still given freely?
Yes.  Was it conditional? Yes, you had to 'receive' it to possess it, you
literally had to 'take' it.  The act of 'taking' the gift does not in any
way negate the gratuitousness of it, it does not make it any less free. 
The condition is the action of the receiver.  Lambano is just such a word,
it implicitly denotes action on the part of the subject.

The form of the word in the Acts reference is in the future perfect tense. 
That means it is an action which happens at a specific future time (as
opposed to a continuously happening event which has some beginning in the
future).  It may also be indicative of an imperative action, a command. 
Let me explain.  It is like a parent who tells its child, "You WILL pick up
that mess in your room!".  The child understands (hopefully) that this
future action is a command.  It is an action which is supposed to take
place at a some particular time in the future, though that time is not
specified.  Will the action of necessity take place?  Not necessarily.  The
form of the verb does not specify an absolute certainty that the action
will take place (though that does not make the promise any less valid). 
That is why the KJV uses the word 'shall'.  Because it is not as finite or
emphatic a word as 'will'.  I have heard it argued that since some other
translations use the word 'will' in this verse that it indicates that the
person automatically receives the Holy Ghost upon repentance because it
'WILL' happen.  This is just not the case if one examines the examples in
Acts, specifically in Acts 8.

Therefore, the debate is not between 'will' and 'shall' in Acts 2:38
because one must  examine the Greek words and their tenses (parsing) to
properly understand the meaning.  Instead, it is between 'take' and
'receive'. It is between passive and active.  It is between a command and
an option.

Kathy Dimick
Falkville, Alabama
kdimick@colsa.com
kedimick@hotmail.com
http://members.tripod.com/~coffeepleaz/index.html

"For to me to live is Christ"