Re:Verse passage – Acts 2:42-47 (day six)
“They devoted themselves to…the prayers.” Acts 2:42 (ESV).
Most other translations drop the article, “They devoted themselves… to prayer.” That’s okay, but the most literal translation is “the prayers.” The more literal translation gives us a better idea of how they were praying. Jewish tradition provided the earliest Jewish Christians with daily formal prayers, along with many other formal prayers for special occasions. It is almost certain that it was these formal prayers that they were praying together during their fellowship. Most, if not all, the earliest Christians had been faithfully praying these prayers all their lives, every day.
It is encouraging to me that these early Christians did not abandon their Jewish faith and practice but recognized Jesus as the fulfillment of their faith. Their prayers were part of a deep and old tradition from a people trusting God would fulfill his promise of sending a messiah.
BUT while “the prayers” were deep and old, they had to have resonated with new and glorious meaning. Imagining their fellowship and their praying “the prayers” renews and strengthens my own faith as we await his return.
