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NASB | Matthew 16:28 ¶ "Truly I say to you, there are some of those who are standing here who will not taste death until they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 16:28 ¶ "I assure you and most solemnly say to you, there are some of those standing here who will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom." |
Subject: Still not convinced preterism is false |
Bible Note: Hi, Initially three was the limit of counting for everyone. They thought in terms of themselves, their wives and 'everything else' (that was what the original words for two and three among the Sumerians meant). It was true for absolutely everyone!! There are still tribes today, in Indonesia for example, where people cannot count beyond three, and do not want to. A missionary to the Abiponese tribe in South America was astonished at how the people managed to run their affairs, watch over their herds and so on without being able to count beyond three. Until fairly recently the aboriginal tribes in Australia could only count up to three, some four, even fewer up to ten, and one tribe even up to twenty, but not beyond. This is all a matter of historical record. (My brother-in-law, a missionary in Indonesia, testified to the fact among the tribes he lived among ). Counting is natural to you and I because we were brought up to it. But it was not originally natural for mankind. It only really began about five thousand five hundred years ago and resulted in the invention of writing as men began to note numbers down, initially very low ones, and then add signs to indicate what they meant, and then developed the signs, finally developing more advanced scripts, and more advanced numbers. There were, of course, among the Apostles men who came from the more educated classes, James and John were from a fairly wealthy family connected to the chief priestly families, Nathaniel appears to have been very sophisticated. Matthew, of course, had learned to count for the purposes of his job, and would be extremely numerate. Thus some of them would be able to enumerate to a higher level. Matthew 14.19-21 consists mainly of numbers under twenty. The other figure is 'about five thousand'. This was achieved by dividing up the company into groups 'hundreds and fifties'. Both numbers (like the century in the Roman army) would be approximations. They would indicate groups of different sizes. But they would not specifically be exact figures. People of course understood that 'five thousand' meant a large crowd. But the number was used adjectivally rather than numerically. In Deuteronomy 25.3 there would be an expert present who would count the strokes. But again the judges would be more spophisticated people, some of whom could count. In Matthew 18.22 'seventy times seven' simply meant an unspecified amount. I presume you are not really suggesting that Jesus wanted us to count up to four hundred and ninety and then stop. Leviticus 12.2-5 would be regulated by the priests who would tell the woman what to do. For the thirty three she would be told that after four sabbaths she had five days to go. In John 21.11 there was clearly a numerate disciple present including possibly James and John, Nathaniel and even Matthew. No doubt you are amazed at the thought that 'common people' could not count. The idea takes some getting used to. But the evidence is in fact overwhelming. 'Forty days would indicate a few days past a moon period. This was how they thought. Don't believe me. consult the Encyclopaedia Britannica. See also the article on the Use of Numbers on http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Delphi/4027/ Best wishes jonp |