Chosen beforehand

This thread is about the meaning of G4400, Procheirzo; and this compound word presents the idea of the hand of God choosing someone beforehand for His purpose. So “grasping beforehand” or choose someone beforehand seems to be the literal meaning. To leave "pro" meaning beforehand out of the translation hides the full message of God, or so I believe.

Lets look at the usage of this word in scripture:

Acts 3:20, and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you,

Here, the predetermined nature of the selection is hidden, but a literal translation, “the Christ chosen beforehand for you" presents the full message of God. 1 Peter 1:19-20 indicate Logos was chosen before the foundation of the world.

Acts 22:14, And he said, ‘The God of our fathers has appointed you to know His will and to see the Righteous One and to hear an utterance from His mouth. Again, The God of our fathers has chosen you beforehand to know… preserves the predetermined aspect of the word.

Acts 26:16 But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you. And once again, “to reveal that you were chosen beforehand to be a minister and a witness … presents the full meaning of our word.

Thus, before creation, the Second Person of the Trinity was chosen to be the Lamb of God, the Redeemer, and this fact is presented in Acts 3:20. In Acts 22:14 we see God had chosen beforehand to let Paul know His will. And in Acts 26:16 God is carrying out that revelation.

 

I see some translations have a different Greek word at Acts 3:20, G4296 (before proclaimed) rather than G4400 (before designated). Either variant seems to have been poorly translated with many of the "preached" translations leaving out the "preached beforehand" part of God's inspired word.

 

Another verse where G4296 appears is Acts of the Apostles 13:24, Here is the way the NASB renders the verse:

"after John had proclaimed, before His coming, a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel." ​

As you may see, this rendering turns God's message into gobbledygook. But thank goodness for the NET, here is a better rendering:

Before Jesus arrived, John had proclaimed a baptism for repentance to all the people of Israel." ​

Better still would be, "Before Jesus arrived in person, John proclaimed beforehand a baptism of repentance to the people of Israel."