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Acts 2:37 – “Shall” or “Must”
Words impact our thinking, creating shockwaves to other thoughts. Sometimes these “power words” are overlooked due to their seeming insignificance. And yet they can produce powerful thoughts if we allow ourselves to be impacted mentally and spiritually.
In most translations of Acts 2:37, the broken hearted ask, “What shall we do?” The Holman Christian Standard Bible reads more emphatically, “What must we do?” Not being a Greek scholar, I have to admit that the English words “shall” or “must” have intellectual consequences in my thinking. In other words, they lead to other thoughts.
“What SHALL we do?” makes we wonder what are my options. It is another way of saying, “What CAN I do?” And yet I understand that in the English of a few generations ago, “shall” had an imperative force. “Shall” was a prediction of determination and obligation. Today, at least in my mind, that meaning is diminished.
“What MUST we do?” removes any options in the thinking of modern people. All they see in “must” is culpability, responsibility, and complete submission to the will of the One they have sinned against.
Like I said, I am not a Greek scholar, therefore I do not know which way is linguistically better. However, one thing I do know is that Peter’s answer does not leave any options.
Acts 2:38 HCSB “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus the Messiah for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Acts 2:40 (HCSB) And with many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation! ”
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