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Psalm 57:2
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Psalm 57:2
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Footnotes
- Psalm 57:2 sn The divine title “Most High” (עֶלְיוֹן, ʿelyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Ps 47:2.
- Psalm 57:2 tn Or “avenges in favor of.”
Psalm 138:8
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Psalm 138:8
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8 The Lord avenges me.[a]
O Lord, your loyal love endures.
Do not abandon those whom you have made.[b]
Footnotes
- Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “avenges on my behalf.” For the meaning “to avenge” for the verb גָּמַר (gamar), see HALOT 197-98 s.v. גמר.
- Psalm 138:8 tn Heb “the works of your hands.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular, “work of your hands.”
Proverbs 16:4
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Proverbs 16:4
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- Proverbs 16:4 tn The Hebrew verb פָּעַל (paʿal) means “to work out; to bring about; to accomplish.” As the perfect form of a dynamic root, it is past or perfective. By using a past nuance, the proverb asserts that this is not just something that will work out some day. It affirms that God has done so and views this action as prototypical of what God does. Elsewhere with this verb, the preposition ל (lamed) indicates the purpose of the work (when followed by an infinitive, e.g. Exod 15:7), or who the action was for/against (when followed by a person, e.g. Isa 26:12). In the only other case where the verb פָּעַל (paʿal) has a direct object and the preposition ל (lamed) it means to make, or modify, the thing into something else (Ps 7:13). Applying that same syntax here could mean “God has turned everything to his own purpose.” God has done so by turning what was meant to harm into good (as with Joseph, Gen 50:20) and here by preparing the wicked for disaster. If it means to turn one thing into another, then the verse affirms God’s sovereignty while not making him directly responsible for evil acts chosen by the wicked.
- Proverbs 16:4 tc The Latin Vulgate implies the form לְמַעֲנֵהוּ (lemaʿanehu) “for his/its sake/purpose” rather than the Masoretic text’s לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ (lammaʿanehu) “for his/its purpose/answer.” Both are reading the same consonantal text but understanding the vowels differently. tn At the core of the phrase לַמַּעֲנֵהוּ (lammaʿanehu) in the Masoretic text, lies the word מַעֲנֶה (maʿaneh), which is proposed to mean “answer” or “purpose.” HALOT proposes that they are two homonyms (HALOT I, 614) going back to different homonymous verbal roots. If this is the noun meaning “answer,” it may imply the consequence. God ensures that everyone’s actions and the consequences of those actions correspond—certainly the wicked for the day of calamity. In God’s order there is just retribution for every act.
- Proverbs 16:4 sn This is an example of synthetic parallelism (“A, what’s more B”). The A-line affirms a truth, and the B-line expands on it with a specific application about the wicked—whatever disaster comes their way is an appropriate correspondent for their life.
Jeremiah 1:5
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Jeremiah 1:5
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5 “Before I formed you in your mother’s womb[a] I chose you.[b]
Before you were born I set you apart.
I appointed you to be a prophet to the nations.”
Footnotes
- Jeremiah 1:5 tn Heb “the womb.” The words “your mother’s” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity.
- Jeremiah 1:5 tn Heb “I knew you.” The parallelism here with “set you apart” and “appointed you” make clear that Jeremiah is speaking of his foreordination to be a prophet. For this same nuance of the Hebrew verb see Gen 18:19; Amos 3:2.
Jeremiah 29:11
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Jeremiah 29:11
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11 For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the Lord.[a] ‘I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you[b] a future filled with hope.[c]
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- Jeremiah 29:11 tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”
- Jeremiah 29:11 tn Heb “I know the plans that I am planning for you, oracle of the Lord, plans of well-being and not for harm, to give to you….”
- Jeremiah 29:11 tn Or “the future you hope for”; Heb “a future and a hope.” This is a good example of hendiadys, where two formally coordinated nouns (adjectives, verbs) convey a single idea because one of the terms functions as a qualifier of the other. For this figure see E. W. Bullinger, Figures of Speech, 658-72. This example is discussed on p. 661.
John 18:37
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John 18:37
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37 Then Pilate said,[a] “So you are a king!” Jesus replied, “You say that I am a king. For this reason I was born, and for this reason I came into the world—to testify to the truth. Everyone who belongs to the truth listens to[b] my voice.”
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- John 18:37 tn Grk “said to him.”
- John 18:37 tn Or “obeys”; Grk “hears.”
Acts 13:36
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Acts 13:36
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36 For David, after he had served[a] God’s purpose in his own generation, died,[b] was buried with his ancestors,[c] and experienced[d] decay,
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- Acts 13:36 tn The participle ὑπηρετήσας (hupēretēsas) is taken temporally.
- Acts 13:36 tn The verb κοιμάω (koimaō) literally means “sleep,” but it is often used in the Bible as a euphemism for the death of a believer.
- Acts 13:36 tn Or “forefathers”; Grk “was gathered to his fathers” (a Semitic idiom).
- Acts 13:36 tn Grk “saw,” but the literal translation of the phrase “saw decay” could be misunderstood to mean simply “looked at decay,” while here “saw decay” is really figurative for “experienced decay.” This remark explains why David cannot fulfill the promise.
Romans 8:28
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Romans 8:28
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28 And we know that all things work together[a] for good for those who love God, who are called according to his purpose,
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- Romans 8:28 tc ὁ θεός (ho theos, “God”) is found after the verb συνεργεῖ (sunergei, “work”) in v. 28 in P46 A B 81 sa; the shorter reading is found in א C D F G Ψ 33 1175 1241 1505 1739 1881 2464 M latt sy bo. Although the inclusion is supported by a significant early papyrus, the alliance of significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses favors the shorter reading. As well, the longer reading is evidently motivated by a need for clarification. Since ὁ θεός is textually suspect, it is better to read the text without it. This leaves two good translational options: either “he works all things together for good” or “all things work together for good.” In the first instance the subject is embedded in the verb and “God” is clearly implied (as in v. 29). In the second instance, πάντα (panta) becomes the subject of an intransitive verb. In either case, “What is expressed is a truly biblical confidence in the sovereignty of God” (C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:427).
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