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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadCambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges - Acts 2:45 - 2:45
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
45. κτήματα … ὑπάρξεις. The Vulg. distinguishes the words by rendering ‘possessiones et substantias.’ The former of the Greek words seems to imply those means which were at the time actively employed in the acquisition of more wealth; this would include farming and trade stock, &c., while ὕπαρξις refers rather to realized property (cf. however Act 4:34). Soon, it seemed, there would be no need for either, and the produce of their sale was the most convenient form in which the bounty could be used for those who needed it.
καθότι ἄν τις χρείαν εἶχεν, according as any man had need. We gather from this that the first converts kept their homes and things needful for themselves, but held the rest as a trust for the Church to be bestowed whenever need was seen. This is an earlier stage than that in which the money was brought and put at the disposal of the Apostles.
The verb εἶχεν is in the indicative notwithstanding the preceding καθότι ἂν, because the writer’s intention is to describe a fact, viz. that there were persons in need.