Genesis 21:1-34

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ¹  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ²  for Sarah what he had promised. ³  21:2 So Sarah became pregnant ⁴  and bore Abraham a son in his old age at the appointed time that God had told him. 21:3 Abraham named his son – whom Sarah bore to him – Isaac. ⁵  21:4 When his son Isaac was eight days old, ⁶  Abraham circumcised him just as God had commanded him to do. ⁷  21:5 (Now Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was born to him.) ⁸ 

21:6 Sarah said, “God has made me laugh. ⁹  Everyone who hears about this ¹⁰  will laugh ¹¹  with me.” 21:7 She went on to say, ¹²  “Who would ¹³  have said to Abraham that Sarah would nurse children? Yet I have given birth to a son for him in his old age!”

21:8 The child grew and was weaned. Abraham prepared ¹⁴  a great feast on the day that Isaac was weaned. ¹⁵  21:9 But Sarah noticed ¹⁶  the son of Hagar the Egyptian – the son whom Hagar had borne to Abraham – mocking. ¹⁷  21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ¹⁸  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. ¹⁹  21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ²⁰  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ²¹  all that Sarah is telling ²²  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ²³  21:13 But I will also make the son of the slave wife into a great nation, for he is your descendant too.”

21:14 Early in the morning Abraham took ²⁴  some food ²⁵  and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He put them on her shoulders, gave her the child, ²⁶  and sent her away. So she went wandering ²⁷  aimlessly through the wilderness ²⁸  of Beer Sheba. 21:15 When the water in the skin was gone, she shoved ²⁹  the child under one of the shrubs. 21:16 Then she went and sat down by herself across from him at quite a distance, about a bowshot ³⁰  away; for she thought, ³¹  “I refuse to watch the child die.” ³²  So she sat across from him and wept uncontrollably. ³³ 

21:17 But God heard the boy’s voice. ³⁴  The angel of God called to Hagar from heaven and asked her, “What is the matter, ³⁵  Hagar? Don’t be afraid, for God has heard ³⁶  the boy’s voice right where he is crying. 21:18 Get up! Help the boy up and hold him by the hand, for I will make him into a great nation.” 21:19 Then God enabled Hagar to see a well of water. ³⁷  She went over and filled the skin with water, and then gave the boy a drink.

21:20 God was with the boy as he grew. He lived in the wilderness and became an archer. 21:21 He lived in the wilderness of Paran. ³⁸  His mother found a wife for him from the land of Egypt. ³⁹ 

21:22 At that time Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, said to Abraham, “God is with you ⁴⁰  in all that you do. 21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ⁴¹  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ⁴²  Show me, and the land ⁴³  where you are staying, ⁴⁴  the same loyalty ⁴⁵  that I have shown you.” ⁴⁶ 

21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” ⁴⁷  21:25 But Abraham lodged a complaint ⁴⁸  against Abimelech concerning a well ⁴⁹  that Abimelech’s servants had seized. ⁵⁰  21:26 “I do not know who has done this thing,” Abimelech replied. “Moreover, ⁵¹  you did not tell me. I did not hear about it until today.”

21:27 Abraham took some sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech. The two of them made a treaty. ⁵²  21:28 Then Abraham set seven ewe lambs apart from the flock by themselves. 21:29 Abimelech asked Abraham, “What is the meaning of these ⁵³  seven ewe lambs that you have set apart?” 21:30 He replied, “You must take these seven ewe lambs from my hand as legal proof ⁵⁴  that I dug this well.” ⁵⁵  21:31 That is why he named that place ⁵⁶  Beer Sheba, ⁵⁷  because the two of them swore ⁵⁸  an oath there.

21:32 So they made a treaty ⁵⁹  at Beer Sheba. Then Abimelech and Phicol, the commander of his army, returned ⁶⁰  to the land of the Philistines. ⁶¹  21:33 Abraham ⁶²  planted a tamarisk tree ⁶³  in Beer Sheba. There he worshiped the Lord, ⁶⁴  the eternal God. 21:34 So Abraham stayed in the land of the Philistines for quite some time. ⁶⁵ 

Genesis 3:3

3:3 but concerning the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the orchard God said, ‘You must not eat from it, and you must not touch it, ⁶⁶  or else you will die.’” ⁶⁷ 

Psalms 17:4

17:4 As for the actions of people ⁶⁸  –

just as you have commanded,

I have not followed in the footsteps of violent men. ⁶⁹ 

Psalms 18:23

18:23 I was innocent before him,

and kept myself from sinning. ⁷⁰ 

Psalms 39:1

Psalm 39 ⁷¹ 

For the music director, Jeduthun; a psalm of David.

39:1 I decided, ⁷²  “I will watch what I say

and make sure I do not sin with my tongue. ⁷³ 

I will put a muzzle over my mouth

while in the presence of an evil man.” ⁷⁴ 

Psalms 119:101

119:101 I stay away ⁷⁵  from the evil path,

so that I might keep your instructions. ⁷⁶ 

Proverbs 4:23

4:23 Guard your heart with all vigilance, ⁷⁷ 

for from it are the sources ⁷⁸  of life.

John 15:4

15:4 Remain ⁷⁹  in me, and I will remain in you. ⁸⁰  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, ⁸¹  unless it remains ⁸²  in ⁸³  the vine, so neither can you unless you remain ⁸⁴  in me.

John 15:7

15:7 If you remain ⁸⁵  in me and my words remain ⁸⁶  in you, ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. ⁸⁷ 

John 15:9

15:9 “Just as the Father has loved me, I have also loved you; remain ⁸⁸  in my love.

Acts 11:23

11:23 When ⁸⁹  he came and saw the grace of God, he rejoiced and encouraged them all to remain true ⁹⁰  to the Lord with devoted hearts, ⁹¹ 

James 1:27

1:27 Pure and undefiled religion before ⁹²  God the Father ⁹³  is this: to care for orphans and widows in their misfortune and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

Jude 1:21

1:21 maintain ⁹⁴  yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating ⁹⁵  the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. ⁹⁶ 

Jude 1:24

Final Blessing

1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, ⁹⁷  and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, ⁹⁸  without blemish ⁹⁹  before his glorious presence, ¹⁰⁰ 

Revelation 2:13

2:13 ‘I know ¹⁰¹  where you live – where Satan’s throne is. Yet ¹⁰²  you continue to cling ¹⁰³  to my name and you have not denied your ¹⁰⁴  faith in me, ¹⁰⁵  even in the days of Antipas, my faithful witness, ¹⁰⁶  who was killed in your city ¹⁰⁷  where Satan lives.

Revelation 3:8-10

3:8 ‘I know your deeds. (Look! I have put ¹⁰⁸  in front of you an open door that no one can shut.) ¹⁰⁹  I know ¹¹⁰  that you have little strength, ¹¹¹  but ¹¹²  you have obeyed ¹¹³  my word and have not denied my name. 3:9 Listen! ¹¹⁴  I am going to make those people from the synagogue ¹¹⁵  of Satan – who say they are Jews yet ¹¹⁶  are not, but are lying – Look, I will make ¹¹⁷  them come and bow down ¹¹⁸  at your feet and acknowledge ¹¹⁹  that I have loved you. 3:10 Because you have kept ¹²⁰  my admonition ¹²¹  to endure steadfastly, ¹²²  I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come on the whole world to test those who live on the earth.

[21:1]  ¹ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

[21:1]  ² tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ³ tn Heb “spoken.”

[21:2]  ⁴ tn Or “she conceived.”

[21:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the one born to him, whom Sarah bore to him, Isaac.” The two modifying clauses, the first introduced with an article and the second with the relative pronoun, are placed in the middle of the sentence, before the name Isaac is stated. They are meant to underscore that this was indeed an actual birth to Abraham and Sarah in fulfillment of the promise.

[21:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “Isaac his son, the son of eight days.” The name “Isaac” is repeated in the translation for clarity.

[21:4]  ⁷ sn Just as God had commanded him to do. With the birth of the promised child, Abraham obeyed the Lord by both naming (Gen 17:19) and circumcising Isaac (17:12).

[21:5]  ⁸ tn The parenthetical disjunctive clause underscores how miraculous this birth was. Abraham was 100 years old. The fact that the genealogies give the ages of the fathers when their first son is born shows that this was considered a major milestone in one’s life (G. J. Wenham, Genesis [WBC], 2:80).

[21:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “Laughter God has made for me.”

[21:6]  ¹⁰ tn The words “about this” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[21:6]  ¹¹ sn Sarah’s words play on the name “Isaac” in a final triumphant manner. God prepared “laughter” (צְחֹק, ysÿkhoq ) for her, and everyone who hears about this “will laugh” (יִצְחַק, yitskhaq ) with her. The laughter now signals great joy and fulfillment, not unbelief (cf. Gen 18:12-15).

[21:7]  ¹² tn Heb “said.”

[21:7]  ¹³ tn The perfect form of the verb is used here to describe a hypothetical situation.

[21:8]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “made.”

[21:8]  ¹⁵ sn Children were weaned closer to the age of two or three in the ancient world, because infant mortality was high. If an infant grew to this stage, it was fairly certain he or she would live. Such an event called for a celebration, especially for parents who had waited so long for a child.

[21:9]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “saw.”

[21:9]  ¹⁷ tn The Piel participle used here is from the same root as the name “Isaac.” In the Piel stem the verb means “to jest; to make sport of; to play with,” not simply “to laugh,” which is the meaning of the verb in the Qal stem. What exactly Ishmael was doing is not clear. Interpreters have generally concluded that the boy was either (1) mocking Isaac (cf. NASB, NIV, NLT) or (2) merely playing with Isaac as if on equal footing (cf. NAB, NRSV). In either case Sarah saw it as a threat. The same participial form was used in Gen 19:14 to describe how some in Lot’s family viewed his attempt to warn them of impending doom. It also appears later in Gen 39:14, 17, where Potiphar accuses Joseph of mocking them.

[21:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.

[21:11]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.

[21:12]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ²¹ tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ²² tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ²³ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[21:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and Abraham rose up early in the morning and he took.”

[21:14]  ²⁵ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

[21:14]  ²⁶ tn Heb “He put upon her shoulder, and the boy [or perhaps, “and with the boy”], and he sent her away.” It is unclear how “and the boy” relates syntactically to what precedes. Perhaps the words should be rearranged and the text read, “and he put [them] on her shoulder and he gave to Hagar the boy.”

[21:14]  ²⁷ tn Heb “she went and wandered.”

[21:14]  ²⁸ tn Or “desert,” although for English readers this usually connotes a sandy desert like the Sahara rather than the arid wasteland of this region with its sparse vegetation.

[21:15]  ²⁹ tn Heb “threw,” but the child, who was now thirteen years old, would not have been carried, let alone thrown under a bush. The exaggerated language suggests Ishmael is limp from dehydration and is being abandoned to die. See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 2:85.

[21:16]  ³⁰ sn A bowshot would be a distance of about a hundred yards (ninety meters).

[21:16]  ³¹ tn Heb “said.”

[21:16]  ³² tn Heb “I will not look on the death of the child.” The cohortative verbal form (note the negative particle אַל,’al) here expresses her resolve to avoid the stated action.

[21:16]  ³³ tn Heb “and she lifted up her voice and wept” (that is, she wept uncontrollably). The LXX reads “he” (referring to Ishmael) rather than “she” (referring to Hagar), but this is probably an attempt to harmonize this verse with the following one, which refers to the boy’s cries.

[21:17]  ³⁴ sn God heard the boy’s voice. The text has not to this point indicated that Ishmael was crying out, either in pain or in prayer. But the text here makes it clear that God heard him. Ishmael is clearly central to the story. Both the mother and the Lord are focused on the child’s imminent death.

[21:17]  ³⁵ tn Heb “What to you?”

[21:17]  ³⁶ sn Here the verb heard picks up the main motif of the name Ishmael (“God hears”), introduced back in chap. 16.

[21:19]  ³⁷ tn Heb “And God opened her eyes and she saw a well of water.” The referent (Hagar) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:21]  ³⁸ sn The wilderness of Paran is an area in the east central region of the Sinai peninsula, northeast from the traditional site of Mt. Sinai and with the Arabah and the Gulf of Aqaba as its eastern border.

[21:21]  ³⁹ tn Heb “And his mother took for him a wife from the land of Egypt.”

[21:22]  ⁴⁰ sn God is with you. Abimelech and Phicol recognized that Abraham enjoyed special divine provision and protection.

[21:23]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ⁴² tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ⁴³ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ⁴⁴ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ⁴⁵ tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[21:24]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.

[21:25]  ⁴⁸ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to argue; to dispute”; it can focus on the beginning of the dispute (as here), the dispute itself, or the resolution of a dispute (Isa 1:18). Apparently the complaint was lodged before the actual oath was taken.

[21:25]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “concerning the matter of the well of water.”

[21:25]  ⁵⁰ tn The Hebrew verb used here means “to steal; to rob; to take violently.” The statement reflects Abraham’s perspective.

[21:26]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “and also.”

[21:27]  ⁵² tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:29]  ⁵³ tn Heb “What are these?”

[21:30]  ⁵⁴ tn Heb “that it be for me for a witness.”

[21:30]  ⁵⁵ sn This well. Since the king wanted a treaty to share in Abraham’s good fortune, Abraham used the treaty to secure ownership of and protection for the well he dug. It would be useless to make a treaty to live in this territory if he had no rights to the water. Abraham consented to the treaty, but added his rider to it.

[21:31]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”

[21:31]  ⁵⁷ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.

[21:31]  ⁵⁸ sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.

[21:32]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[21:32]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “arose and returned.”

[21:32]  ⁶¹ sn The Philistines mentioned here may not be ethnically related to those who lived in Palestine in the time of the judges and the united monarchy. See D. M. Howard, “Philistines,” Peoples of the Old Testament World, 238.

[21:33]  ⁶² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:33]  ⁶³ sn The planting of the tamarisk tree is a sign of Abraham’s intent to stay there for a long time, not a religious act. A growing tree in the Negev would be a lasting witness to God’s provision of water.

[21:33]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “he called there in the name of the Lord.” The expression refers to worshiping the Lord through prayer and sacrifice (see Gen 4:26; 12:8; 13:4; 26:25). See G. J. Wenham, Genesis (WBC), 1:116, 281.

[21:34]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “many days.”

[3:3]  ⁶⁶ sn And you must not touch it. The woman adds to God’s prohibition, making it say more than God expressed. G. von Rad observes that it is as though she wanted to set a law for herself by means of this exaggeration (Genesis [OTL], 86).

[3:3]  ⁶⁷ tn The Hebrew construction is פֶּן (pen) with the imperfect tense, which conveys a negative purpose: “lest you die” = “in order that you not die.” By stating the warning in this way, the woman omits the emphatic infinitive used by God (“you shall surely die,” see 2:17).

[17:4]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “with regard to the deeds of man[kind].”

[17:4]  ⁶⁹ tn Heb “by the word of your lips, I, I have watched the paths of the violent” (i.e., “watched” in the sense of “watched for the purpose of avoiding”).

[18:23]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “from my sin,” that is, from making it my own in any way.

[39:1]  ⁷¹ sn Psalm 39. The psalmist laments his frailty and mortality as he begs the Lord to take pity on him and remove his disciplinary hand.

[39:1]  ⁷² tn Heb “I said.”

[39:1]  ⁷³ tn Heb “I will watch my ways, from sinning with my tongue.”

[39:1]  ⁷⁴ sn The psalmist wanted to voice a lament to the Lord (see vv. 4-6), but he hesitated to do so in the presence of evil men, for such words might be sinful if they gave the wicked an occasion to insult God. See C. A. Briggs and E. G. Briggs, Psalms (ICC), 1:345.

[119:101]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “I hold back my feet.”

[119:101]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “your word.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the plural.

[4:23]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “more than all guarding.” This idiom means “with all vigilance.” The construction uses the preposition מִן (min) to express “above; beyond,” the word “all” and the noun “prison; guard; act of guarding.” The latter is the use here (BDB 1038 s.v. מִשְׁמָר).

[4:23]  ⁷⁸ sn The word תּוֹצְאוֹת (tots’ot, from יָצָא, yatsa’) means “outgoings; extremities; sources.” It is used here for starting points, like a fountainhead, and so the translation “sources” works well.

[15:4]  ⁷⁹ tn Or “Reside.”

[15:4]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “and I in you.” The verb has been repeated for clarity and to conform to contemporary English style, which typically allows fewer ellipses (omitted or understood words) than Greek.

[15:4]  ⁸¹ sn The branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it remains connected to the vine, from which its life and sustenance flows. As far as the disciples were concerned, they would produce no fruit from themselves if they did not remain in their relationship to Jesus, because the eternal life which a disciple must possess in order to bear fruit originates with Jesus; he is the source of all life and productivity for the disciple.

[15:4]  ⁸² tn Or “resides.”

[15:4]  ⁸³ tn While it would be more natural to say “on the vine” (so NAB), the English preposition “in” has been retained here to emphasize the parallelism with the following clause “unless you remain in me.” To speak of remaining “in” a person is not natural English either, but is nevertheless a biblical concept (cf. “in Christ” in Eph 1:3, 4, 6, 7, 11).

[15:4]  ⁸⁴ tn Or “you reside.”

[15:7]  ⁸⁵ tn Or “reside.”

[15:7]  ⁸⁶ tn Or “reside.”

[15:7]  ⁸⁷ sn Once again Jesus promises the disciples ask whatever you want, and it will be done for you. This recalls 14:13-14, where the disciples were promised that if they asked anything in Jesus’ name it would be done for them. The two thoughts are really quite similar, since here it is conditioned on the disciples’ remaining in Jesus and his words remaining in them. The first phrase relates to the genuineness of their relationship with Jesus. The second phrase relates to their obedience. When both of these qualifications are met, the disciples would in fact be asking in Jesus’ name and therefore according to his will.

[15:9]  ⁸⁸ tn Or “reside.”

[11:23]  ⁸⁹ tn Grk “Antioch, who when.” The relative pronoun was omitted and a new sentence was begun in the translation at this point to improve the English style, due to the length of the sentence in Greek.

[11:23]  ⁹⁰ tn BDAG 883 s.v. προσμένω 1.a.β has “remain true to the Lord” for προσμένειν (prosmenein) in this verse.

[11:23]  ⁹¹ tn Grk “with purpose of heart”; BDAG 869 s.v. πρόθεσις 2.a translates this phrase “purpose of heart, i.e. devotion” here.

[1:27]  ⁹² tn Or “in the sight of”; Grk “with.”

[1:27]  ⁹³ tn Grk “the God and Father.”

[1:21]  ⁹⁴ tn Or “keep.”

[1:21]  ⁹⁵ tn Or “waiting for.”

[1:21]  ⁹⁶ tn Grk “unto eternal life.”

[1:24]  ⁹⁷ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “free from falling” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ⁹⁸ tn Grk “with rejoicing.” The prepositional clause is placed after “his glorious presence” in Greek, but most likely goes with “cause you to stand.”

[1:24]  ⁹⁹ tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.

[1:24]  ¹⁰⁰ tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”

[2:13]  ¹⁰¹ tc The shorter reading adopted here has superior ms support (א A C P 2053 al latt co), while the inclusion of “your works and” (τὰ ἔργα σου καί, ta erga sou kai) before “where you reside” is supported by the Byzantine witnesses and is evidently a secondary attempt to harmonize the passage with 2:2, 19; 3:1, 8, 15.

[2:13]  ¹⁰² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “Yet” to indicate the contrast between their location and their faithful behavior.

[2:13]  ¹⁰³ tn The present indicative verb κρατεῖς (kratei") has been translated as a progressive present.

[2:13]  ¹⁰⁴ tn Grk “the faith”; here the Greek article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).

[2:13]  ¹⁰⁵ tn Grk “the faith of me” (τὴν πίστιν μου, thn pistin mou) with the genitive “of me” (μου) functioning objectively.

[2:13]  ¹⁰⁶ tn Or “martyr.” The Greek word μάρτυς can mean either “witness” or “martyr.”

[2:13]  ¹⁰⁷ tn Grk “killed among you.” The term “city” does not occur in the Greek text of course, but the expression παρ᾿ ὑμῖν, ὅπου ὁ σατανᾶς κατοικεῖ (par’ Jumin, {opou Jo satana" katoikei) seems to indicate that this is what is meant. See G. B. Caird, Revelation (HNTC), 36-38.

[3:8]  ¹⁰⁸ tn Grk “I have given.”

[3:8]  ¹⁰⁹ tn Grk “to shut it,” but English would leave the direct object understood in this case.

[3:8]  ¹¹⁰ tn This translation is based on connecting the ὅτι (Joti) clause with the οἶδα (oida) at the beginning of the verse, giving the content of what is known (see also 3:1, 3:15 for parallels). Because of the intervening clause that is virtually parenthetical (see the note on the word “shut” earlier in this verse), the words “I know that” from the beginning of the verse had to be repeated to make this connection clear for the English reader. However, the ὅτι could be understood as introducing a causal subordinate clause instead and thus translated, “because you have.”

[3:8]  ¹¹¹ tn Or “little power.”

[3:8]  ¹¹² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[3:8]  ¹¹³ tn Grk “and having kept.” The participle ἐτήρησας (ethrhsas) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. For the translation of τηρέω (threw) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. This is the same word that is used in 3:10 (there translated “kept”) where there is a play on words.

[3:9]  ¹¹⁴ tn Grk “behold” (L&N 91.13).

[3:9]  ¹¹⁵ sn See the note on synagogue in 2:9.

[3:9]  ¹¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “yet” to indicate the contrast between what these people claimed and what they were.

[3:9]  ¹¹⁷ tn The verb here is ποιέω (poiew), but in this context it has virtually the same meaning as δίδωμι (didwmi) used at the beginning of the verse. Stylistic variation like this is typical of Johannine literature.

[3:9]  ¹¹⁸ tn The verb here is προσκυνήσουσιν (proskunhsousin), normally used to refer to worship.

[3:9]  ¹¹⁹ tn Or “and know,” “and recognize.”

[3:10]  ¹²⁰ tn Or “obey.” For the translation of τηρέω (threw) as “obey” see L&N 36.19. In the Greek there is a wordplay: “because you have kept my word…I will keep you,” though the meaning of τηρέω is different each time.

[3:10]  ¹²¹ tn The Greek term λόγον (logon) is understood here in the sense of admonition or encouragement.

[3:10]  ¹²² tn Or “to persevere.” Here ὑπομονῆς (Jupomonhs) has been translated as a genitive of reference/respect related to τὸν λόγον (ton logon).