congregation may be taken as the subject. Some translations (see RSV, JB, Goodspeed) have left the text ambiguous. Although the JB has left the text ambiguous, the translators have given a footnote; “possibly a gesture of the community, cf. 13:1–3; more probably (v. 3) of the apostles.” The laying of hands was a gesture taken over by the Christian community from the Jewish community. It symbolized not only the giving of a responsibility but, what is more important, the imparting of strength and of
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