◀ All Reading Plans / Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary) / Psalm 119:17-24 (Open my eyes); 2 Kings 6:8-23 (Elisha has power over sight); Acts 9:32-35 (The healing of Aeneas) (New English Translation)

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October 29, 2024

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

Daily Bible readings that follow the church liturgical year, with thematically matched Old and New Testament readings.

Duration: 1245 days

Psalm 119:17-24

ג (Gimel)

¹⁷Be kind to your servant.
Then I will live^[a] and keep^[b] your instructions.^[c]
¹⁸Open^[d] my eyes so I can truly see^[e]
the marvelous things in your law.
¹⁹I am a resident foreigner in this land.^[f]
Do not hide your commands from me.
²⁰I desperately long to know^[g]
your regulations at all times.
²¹You reprimand arrogant people.
Those who stray from your commands are doomed.^[h]
²²Spare me^[i] shame and humiliation,
for I observe your rules.
²³Though rulers plot and slander me,^[j]
your servant meditates on your statutes.
²⁴Yes, I find delight in your rules;
they give me guidance.^[k]

Footnotes

Psalm 119:17 tn The prefixed verbal form is probably a cohortative indicating purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
Psalm 119:17 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the imperative that begins the verse.
Psalm 119:17 tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss as well as several ancient versions read the plural here.
Psalm 119:18 tn Heb “uncover.” The verb form גַּל (gal) is an apocopated Piel imperative from גָּלָה (galah, see GKC 214 §75.cc).
Psalm 119:18 tn The cohortative with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose/result after the preceding imperative.
Psalm 119:19 sn Heb This metaphor probably derives from Lev 25:23, which uses the terms גֵּר (ger, “resident foreigner”) and תּוֹשָׁב; (toshav, “resident/temporary settler”). Lev 25:23 emphasizes that Israel would be a guest on God’s land. They were attached to the Lord’s household; they did not own the land. Cf. also Ps 39:12 and Gen 23:4.
Psalm 119:20 tn Heb “my soul languishes for longing for.”
Psalm 119:21 tn Heb “accursed.” The traditional punctuation of the Hebrew text takes “accursed” with the previous line (“arrogant, accursed ones”), but it is preferable to take it with the second line as the predicate of the statement.
Psalm 119:22 tn Heb “roll away from upon me.” Some derive the imperatival form גַּל (gal) from גָּלָה (galah, “uncover,” as in v. 18), but here the form is from גָּלַל (galal, “roll”; see Josh 5:9, where חֶרְפָּה [kherpah, “shame; reproach”] also appears as object of the verb). Some, following the lead of a Dead Sea scroll (11QPs^a), emend the form to גֹּל (gol).
Psalm 119:23 tn Heb “though rulers sit, about me they talk together.” (For another example of the Niphal of דָּבַר (davar) used with a suffixed form of the preposition ב (bet), see Ezek 33:30.)
Psalm 119:24 tn Heb “men of my counsel.” That is, God’s rules are like advisers to the psalmist, for they teach him how to live in a godly manner that refutes the accusations of his enemies.

2 Kings 6:8-23

Elisha Defeats an Army

⁸Now the king of Syria was at war with Israel. He consulted his advisers, who said, “Invade^[a] at such and such^[b] a place.” ⁹But the prophet sent this message to the king of Israel, “Make sure you don’t pass through this place because Syria is invading there.” ¹⁰So the king of Israel sent a message to the place the prophet had pointed out, warning it^[c] to be on its guard. This happened on several occasions.^[d] ¹¹This made the king of Syria upset.^[e] So he summoned his advisers^[f] and said to them, “One of us must be helping the king of Israel.”^[g] ¹²One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.” ¹³The king^[h] ordered, “Go, find out where he is, so I can send some men to capture him.”^[i] The king was told, “He is in Dothan.” ¹⁴So he sent horses and chariots there, along with a good-sized army.^[j] They arrived during the night and surrounded the city.

¹⁵The prophet’s^[k] attendant got up early in the morning. When he went outside there was an army surrounding the city, along with horses and chariots. He said to Elisha,^[l] “Oh no, my master! What will we do?” ¹⁶He replied, “Don’t be afraid, for our side outnumbers them.”^[m] ¹⁷Then Elisha prayed, “O Lord, open his eyes so he can see.” The Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he saw that^[n] the hill was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha. ¹⁸As the army approached him,^[o] Elisha prayed to the Lord, “Strike these people^[p] with blindness.”^[q] The Lord^[r] struck them with blindness as Elisha requested.^[s] ¹⁹Then Elisha said to them, “This is not the right road or city. Follow me, and I will lead you to the man you’re looking for.” He led them to Samaria.

²⁰When they had entered Samaria, Elisha said, “O Lord, open their eyes, so they can see.” The Lord opened their eyes, and they saw that they were in the middle of Samaria.^[t] ²¹When the king of Israel saw them, he asked Elisha, “Should I strike them down,^[u] my master?”^[v] ²²He replied, “Do not strike them down! You did not capture them with your sword or bow, so what gives you the right to strike them down?^[w] Give them some food and water, so they can eat and drink and then go back to their master.” ²³So he threw a big banquet^[x] for them and they ate and drank. Then he sent them back^[y] to their master. After that no Syrian raiding parties again invaded the land of Israel.

Footnotes

2 Kings 6:8 tc The verb form used here is difficult to analyze. On the basis of the form נְחִתִּים (n^ekhittim) in v. 9 from the root נָחַת (nakhat), it is probably best to emend the verb to תִּנְחְתוּ (tinkh^etu; a Qal imperfect form from the same root). The verb נָחַת in at least two other instances carries the nuance “go down, descend” in a military context. For a defense of this view, see M. Cogan and H. Tadmor, II Kings (AB), 72.
2 Kings 6:8 sn The advisers would have mentioned a specific location, but the details are not significant to the narrator’s purpose, so he simply paraphrases here.
2 Kings 6:10 tn The vav + perfect here indicates action contemporary with the preceding main verb (“sent”). See IBHS 533-34 §32.2.3e.
2 Kings 6:10 tn Heb “and the king of Israel sent to the place about which the man of God spoke to him, and he warned it and he guarded himself there, not once and not twice.”
2 Kings 6:11 tn Heb “and the heart of the king of Syria was stirred up over this thing.”
2 Kings 6:11 tn Heb “servants.”
2 Kings 6:11 tn Heb “Will you not tell me who among us [is] for the king of Israel?” The sarcastic rhetorical question expresses the king’s suspicion.
2 Kings 6:13 tn Heb “he” (also a second time in this verse); the referent (the king) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Kings 6:13 tn Heb “Go and see where he [is] so I can send and take him.”
2 Kings 6:14 tn Heb “heavy force.”
2 Kings 6:15 tn Heb “man of God’s.”
2 Kings 6:15 tn Heb “his young servant said to him.”
2 Kings 6:16 tn Heb “for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”
2 Kings 6:17 tn Heb “and he saw, and look.”
2 Kings 6:18 tn Heb “and they came down to him.”
2 Kings 6:18 tn Or “this nation,” perhaps emphasizing the strength of the Syrian army.
2 Kings 6:18 tn On the basis of the Akkadian etymology of the word, M. Cogan and H. Tadmor (II Kings [AB], 74) translate “blinding light.” HALOT 761 s.v. סַנְוֵרִים suggests the glosses “dazzling, deception.”
2 Kings 6:18 tn Heb “he”; the referent (the Lord) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
2 Kings 6:18 tn Heb “according to the word of Elisha.”
2 Kings 6:20 tn Heb “and they saw, and look, [they were] in the middle of Samaria.”
2 Kings 6:21 tn Heb “Should I strike them down? I will strike them down.” In the Hebrew text the first person imperfect form is repeated; the first form has the interrogative he prefixed to it; the second does not. It is likely that the second form should be omitted as dittographic or that the first should be emended to an infinitive absolute.
2 Kings 6:21 tn Heb “my father.” The king addresses the prophet in this way to indicate his respect. See 2 Kgs 2:12.
2 Kings 6:22 tn Heb “Are [they] ones you captured with your sword or your bow (that) you can strike (them) down?”
2 Kings 6:23 tn Or “held a great feast.”
2 Kings 6:23 tn Heb “they went back.”

Acts 9:32-35

Peter Heals Aeneas

³²Now^[a] as Peter was traveling around from place to place,^[b] he also came down to the saints who lived in Lydda.^[c] ³³He found there a man named Aeneas who had been confined to a mattress for eight years because^[d] he was paralyzed. ³⁴Peter^[e] said to him, “Aeneas, Jesus the Christ^[f] heals you. Get up and make your own bed!”^[g] And immediately he got up. ³⁵All^[h] those who lived in Lydda^[i] and Sharon^[j] saw him, and they^[k] turned^[l] to the Lord.

Footnotes

Acts 9:32 tn Grk “Now it happened that.” The introductory phrase ἐγένετο (egeneto, “it happened that”), common in Luke (69 times) and Acts (54 times), is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.
Acts 9:32 tn Grk “As Peter was going through all [the places],” which is somewhat awkward in English. The meaning is best expressed by a phrase like “going around from place to place” or “traveling around from place to place.”
Acts 9:32 sn Lydda was a city northwest of Jerusalem on the way to Joppa. It was about 10.5 miles (17 km) southeast of Joppa.
Acts 9:33 tn Since the participle κατακείμενον (katakeimenon), an adjectival participle modifying Αἰνέαν (Ainean), has been translated into English as a relative clause (“who had been confined to a mattress”), it would be awkward to follow with a second relative clause (Grk “who was paralyzed”). Furthermore, the relative pronoun here has virtually a causal force, giving the reason for confinement to the mattress, so it is best translated “because.”
Acts 9:34 tn Grk “And Peter.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 9:34 tc ‡ Several variants occur at this juncture. Some of the earliest and best witnesses (P⁷⁴ א B* C Ψ 33^vid Did^pt) read “Jesus Christ” (᾿Ιησοῦς Χριστός, Iēsous Christos); others ([A] 36 1175 it) have “the Lord Jesus Christ” (ὁ κύριος ᾿Ιησοῦς Χριστός, ho kurios Iēsous Christos); a few read simply ὁ Χριστός (614 1241 1505); the majority of mss (B² E 1739 M Did^pt) have “Jesus the Christ” ( ᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ Χριστός). Although the pedigree of this last reading is relatively weak, it draws strength from the fact that (a) the other readings are much more natural and thus more predictable, and (b) there are several variants for this text. It seems hardly likely that scribes would intentionally change a more common expression into a title that is used nowhere else in the NT (although 1 John 2:22; 5:1 come close with “Jesus is the Christ”), nor would they unintentionally change a frequently used designation into an unusual one. Thus, in spite of the external evidence (which is nevertheless sufficient to argue for authenticity), ᾿Ιησοῦς ὁ Χριστός is the reading that best explains the rise of the others.tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
Acts 9:34 tn The translation “make your own bed” for στρῶσον σεαυτῷ (strōson seautō) is given by BDAG 949 s.v. στρωννύω 1. Naturally this involves some adaptation, since a pallet or mat would not be ‘made up’ in the sense that a modern bed would be. The idea may be closer to “straighten” or “rearrange,” and the NIV’s “take care of your mat” attempts to reflect this, although this too probably conveys a slightly different idea to the modern English reader.
Acts 9:35 tn Grk “And all.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here.
Acts 9:35 sn Lydda was a city northwest of Jerusalem on the way to Joppa.
Acts 9:35 sn Sharon refers to the plain of Sharon, a region along the coast of Palestine.
Acts 9:35 tn Repetition of the pronoun “they” as subject of ἐπέστρεψαν (epestrepsan) is not strictly necessary in English, but emphasizes slightly the resultative nature of the final clause: They turned to the Lord as a result of seeing Aeneas after he was healed.
Acts 9:35 sn They turned. To “turn” is a good summary term for the response to the gospel.

New English Translation (NET)

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Revised Common Lectionary (Complementary)

ג (Gimel)

Footnotes

Elisha Defeats an Army

Footnotes

Peter Heals Aeneas

Footnotes