Acts 20:7 again? First of all, there are three scriptures that every young graduate from seminary learns to arm themselves when questioned about the Sabbath: Acts 20:7, I Cor 16:2 and Rev 1:10. I will start with Acts 20:7 (I really ought to save this so I don't have to redo it every other day)...
Act 20:7 And upon the first
day of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until midnight.
First day of the week? Let's see what it really says...
The word for "first" here is...
G3391
μία
mia
mee'-ah
Irregular feminine of G1520; one or first: - a (certain), + agree, first, one, X other.
And it means first.
Notice the word "
day" is italicized? From
Why Do Many Bibles Show Some Words in Italics?
Italicized words were first used in 1560 when an edition of the Bible, known as the Geneva Bible, appeared. This Bible had been prepared by the Protestant reformers in Geneva and was translated directly from the original Hebrew and Greek. In it, there were words that had to be added in English to make the meaning plain, although they were not necessary in the original idioms. No language can be translated word for word. The translators, then, distinguished such necessarily added words by italicizing them. The Geneva Bible became the most popular Bible of its time.
In most cases, italicized words clarify the meaning of certain phrases. However, because these translators were not necessarily inspired by God in their work (though some would claim so), they made mistakes.
The word day was not in the original manuscripts.
The word "of the" come from...
G3588
ὁ, ἡ, τό
ho hē to
ho, hay, to
The masculine, feminine (second) and neuter (third) forms, in all their inflections; the definite article; the (sometimes to be supplied, at others omitted, in English idiom): - the, this, that, one, he, she, it, etc.
Means "of the"
Now here is the interesting translation, the word for week is...
G4521
σάββατον
sabbaton
sab'-bat-on
Of Hebrew origin [H7676]; the Sabbath (that is, Shabbath), or day of weekly repose from secular avocations (also the observance or institution itself); by extension a se'nnight, that is, the interval between two Sabbaths; likewise the plural in all the above applications: - sabbath (day), week.
Means Sabbath.
Here is how the Diaglott renders Acts 20:7...
Act 20:7 In and the first of the sabbaths, having been assembled of us to break bread, the Paul discoursed to them, being about to depart on the morrow; continued and the discourse till midnight.
And here is Dr. Buillinger's take on it from his Companion Bible...
Acts 20:7
first, &c. = first day of the sabbaths, i.e. the first day for reckoning the seven sabbaths to Pentecost. It depended upon the harvest (Deu_16:9), and was always from the morrow after the weekly sabbath when the wave sheaf was presented (Lev_23:15). In Joh_20:1 this was the fourth day after the Crucifixion, "the Lord's Passover. "Compare App-156. This was by Divine ordering. But in A.D. 57 it was twelve days after the week of unleavened bread, and therefore more than a fortnight later than in A.D. 29.
Counting seven Sabbaths comes from this...
Lev 23:15 And ye shall count unto you from the morrow after the sabbath, from the day that ye brought the sheaf of the wave offering; seven sabbaths shall be complete:
Lev 23:16 Even unto the morrow after the seventh sabbath shall ye number fifty days; and ye shall offer a new meat offering unto the LORD.
And is how Pentecost is counted. This was the first of seven SAbbaths and Paul preached a long time...
Act 20:9 And there sat in a window a certain young man named Eutychus, being fallen into a deep sleep: and as Paul was long preaching, he sunk down with sleep, and fell down from the third loft, and was taken up dead.
