2 Corinthians 9:7

9:7 Each one of you should give ¹  just as he has decided in his heart, ²  not reluctantly ³  or under compulsion, ⁴  because God loves a cheerful giver.

Exodus 25:2

25:2 “Tell the Israelites to take ⁵  an offering ⁶  for me; from every person motivated by a willing ⁷  heart you ⁸  are to receive my offering.

Exodus 35:5

35:5 ‘Take ⁹  an offering for the Lord. Let everyone who has a willing heart ¹⁰  bring ¹¹  an offering to the Lord: ¹²  gold, silver, bronze,

Exodus 35:21-22

35:21 Everyone ¹³  whose heart stirred him to action ¹⁴  and everyone whose spirit was willing ¹⁵  came and brought the offering for the Lord for the work of the tent of meeting, for all its service, and for the holy garments. ¹⁶  35:22 They came, men and women alike, ¹⁷  all who had willing hearts. They brought brooches, earrings, rings and ornaments, all kinds of gold jewelry, ¹⁸  and everyone came who waved ¹⁹  a wave offering of gold to the Lord.

Exodus 35:29

35:29 The Israelites brought a freewill offering to the Lord, every man and woman whose heart was willing to bring materials for all the work that the Lord through ²⁰  Moses had commanded them ²¹  to do.

Exodus 35:1

Sabbath Regulations

35:1 Moses assembled the whole community of the Israelites and said to them, “These are the things that the Lord has commanded you to do. ²² 

Exodus 29:3-18

29:3 You are to put them in one basket and present ²³  them in the basket, along with ²⁴  the bull and the two rams.

29:4 “You are to present ²⁵  Aaron and his sons at the entrance of the tent of meeting. You are to wash ²⁶  them with water 29:5 and take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, ²⁷  the robe of the ephod, the ephod, and the breastpiece; you are to fasten the ephod on him by using the skillfully woven waistband. ²⁸  29:6 You are to put the turban on his head and put the holy diadem ²⁹  on the turban. 29:7 You are to take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. ³⁰  29:8 You are to present his sons and clothe them with tunics 29:9 and wrap the sashes around Aaron and his sons ³¹  and put headbands on them, and so the ministry of priesthood will belong to them by a perpetual ordinance. Thus you are to consecrate ³²  Aaron and his sons.

29:10 “You are to present the bull at the front of the tent of meeting, and Aaron and his sons are to put ³³  their hands on the head ³⁴  of the bull. 29:11 You are to kill the bull before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting 29:12 and take some of the blood of the bull and put it on the horns of the altar ³⁵  with your finger; all the rest of ³⁶  the blood you are to pour out at the base of the altar. 29:13 You are to take all the fat that covers the entrails, and the lobe ³⁷  that is above the liver, and the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, and burn them ³⁸  on the altar. 29:14 But the meat of the bull, its skin, and its dung you are to burn up ³⁹  outside the camp. ⁴⁰  It is the purification offering. ⁴¹ 

29:15 “You are to take one ram, and Aaron and his sons are to lay their hands on the ram’s head, 29:16 and you are to kill the ram and take its blood and splash it all around on the altar. 29:17 Then you are to cut the ram into pieces and wash the entrails and its legs and put them on its pieces and on its head 29:18 and burn ⁴²  the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering ⁴³  to the Lord, a soothing aroma; it is an offering made by fire ⁴⁴  to the Lord. ⁴⁵ 

Exodus 29:2

29:2 and ⁴⁶  bread made without yeast, and perforated cakes without yeast mixed with oil, and wafers without yeast spread ⁴⁷  with oil – you are to make them using ⁴⁸  fine wheat flour.

Exodus 6:8

6:8 I will bring you to the land I swore to give ⁴⁹  to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob – and I will give it to you ⁵⁰  as a possession. I am the Lord!’”

Proverbs 19:22

19:22 What is desirable ⁵¹  for a person is to show loyal love, ⁵² 

and a poor person is better than a liar. ⁵³ 

Mark 12:42-44

12:42 And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, ⁵⁴  worth less than a penny. 12:43 He called his disciples and said to them, “I tell you the truth, ⁵⁵  this poor widow has put more into the offering box ⁵⁶  than all the others. ⁵⁷  12:44 For they all gave out of their wealth. ⁵⁸  But she, out of her poverty, put in what she had to live on, everything she had.” ⁵⁹ 

Mark 14:7-8

14:7 For you will always have the poor with you, and you can do good for them whenever you want. But you will not always have me! ⁶⁰  14:8 She did what she could. She anointed my body beforehand for burial.

Luke 7:44-46

7:44 Then, ⁶¹  turning toward the woman, he said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I entered your house. You gave me no water for my feet, ⁶²  but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 7:45 You gave me no kiss of greeting, ⁶³  but from the time I entered she has not stopped kissing my feet. 7:46 You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet ⁶⁴  with perfumed oil.

Luke 12:47-48

12:47 That ⁶⁵  servant who knew his master’s will but did not get ready or do what his master asked ⁶⁶  will receive a severe beating. 12:48 But the one who did not know his master’s will ⁶⁷  and did things worthy of punishment ⁶⁸  will receive a light beating. ⁶⁹  From everyone who has been given much, much will be required, ⁷⁰  and from the one who has been entrusted with much, ⁷¹  even more will be asked. ⁷² 

Luke 16:10

16:10 “The one who is faithful in a very little ⁷³  is also faithful in much, and the one who is dishonest in a very little is also dishonest in much.

Luke 21:1-4

The Widow’s Offering

21:1 Jesus ⁷⁴  looked up ⁷⁵  and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. ⁷⁶  21:2 He also saw a poor widow put in two small copper coins. ⁷⁷  21:3 He ⁷⁸  said, “I tell you the truth, ⁷⁹  this poor widow has put in more than all of them. ⁸⁰  21:4 For they all offered their gifts out of their wealth. ⁸¹  But she, out of her poverty, put in everything she had to live on.” ⁸² 

Luke 21:1

The Widow’s Offering

21:1 Jesus ⁸³  looked up ⁸⁴  and saw the rich putting their gifts into the offering box. ⁸⁵ 

Luke 4:10

4:10 for it is written, ‘He will command his angels concerning you, to protect you,’ ⁸⁶ 

[9:7]  ¹ tn Or “must do.” The words “of you” and “should give” are not in the Greek text, which literally reads, “Each one just as he has decided in his heart.” The missing words are an ellipsis; these or similar phrases must be supplied for the English reader.

[9:7]  ² tn Or “in his mind.”

[9:7]  ³ tn Or “not from regret”; Grk “not out of grief.”

[9:7]  ⁴ tn Or “not out of a sense of duty”; Grk “from necessity.”

[25:2]  ⁵ tn The verb is וְיִקְחוּ (vÿyiqkhu), the Qal imperfect or jussive with vav; after the imperative “speak” this verb indicates the purpose or result: “speak…that they may take” and continues with the force of a command.

[25:2]  ⁶ tn The “offering” (תְּרוּמָה, tÿrumah) is perhaps better understood as a contribution since it was a freewill offering. There is some question about the etymology of the word. The traditional meaning of “heave-offering” derives from the idea of “elevation,” a root meaning “to be high” lying behind the word. B. Jacob says it is something sorted out of a mass of material and designated for a higher purpose (Exodus, 765). S. R. Driver (Exodus, 263) corrects the idea of “heave-offering” by relating the root to the Hiphil form of that root, herim, “to lift” or “take off.” He suggests the noun means “what is taken off” from a larger mass and so designated for sacred purposes. The LXX has “something taken off.”

[25:2]  ⁷ tn The verb יִדְּבֶנּוּ (yiddÿvennu) is related to the word for the “freewill offering” (נְדָבָה, nÿdavah). The verb is used of volunteering for military campaigns (Judg 5:2, 9) and the willing offerings for both the first and second temples (see 1 Chr 29:5, 6, 9, 14, 17).

[25:2]  ⁸ tn The pronoun is plural.

[35:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “from with you.”

[35:5]  ¹⁰ tn “Heart” is a genitive of specification, clarifying in what way they might be “willing.” The heart refers to their will, their choices.

[35:5]  ¹¹ tn The verb has a suffix that is the direct object, but the suffixed object is qualified by the second accusative: “let him bring it, an offering.”

[35:5]  ¹² tn The phrase is literally “the offering of Yahweh”; it could be a simple possessive, “Yahweh’s offering,” but a genitive that indicates the indirect object is more appropriate.

[35:21]  ¹³ tn Heb “man.”

[35:21]  ¹⁴ tn The verb means “lift up, bear, carry.” Here the subject is “heart” or will, and so the expression describes one moved within to act.

[35:21]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “his spirit made him willing.” The verb is used in Scripture for the freewill offering that people brought (Lev 7).

[35:21]  ¹⁶ tn Literally “the garments of holiness,” the genitive is the attributive genitive, marking out what type of garments these were.

[35:22]  ¹⁷ tn The expression in Hebrew is “men on/after the women,” meaning men with women, to ensure that it was clear that the preceding verse did not mean only men. B. Jacob takes it further, saying that the men came after the women because the latter had taken the initiative (Exodus, 1017).

[35:22]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “all gold utensils.”

[35:22]  ¹⁹ tn The verb could be translated “offered,” but it is cognate with the following noun that is the wave offering. This sentence underscores the freewill nature of the offerings people made. The word “came” is supplied from v. 21 and v. 22.

[35:29]  ²⁰ tn Heb “by the hand of.”

[35:29]  ²¹ tn Here “them” has been supplied.

[35:1]  ²² tn Heb “to do them”; this is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.

[29:3]  ²³ tn The verb קָרַב (qarav) in the Hiphil means to “bring near” to the altar, or, to offer something to God. These gifts will, therefore, be offered to him for the service of this ritual.

[29:3]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and with.”

[29:4]  ²⁵ tn Here too the verb is Hiphil (now imperfect) meaning “bring near” the altar. The choice of this verb indicates that they were not merely being brought near, but that they were being formally presented to Yahweh as the offerings were.

[29:4]  ²⁶ sn This is the washing referred to in Lev 8:6. This is a complete washing, not just of the hands and feet that would follow in the course of service. It had to serve as a symbolic ritual cleansing or purifying as the initial stage in the consecration. The imagery of washing will be used in the NT for regeneration (Titus 3:5).

[29:5]  ²⁷ tn The Hiphil of לָבַשׁ (lavash, “to clothe”) will take double accusatives; so the sign of the accusative is with Aaron, and then with the articles of clothing. The translation will have to treat Aaron as the direct object and the articles as indirect objects, because Aaron receives the prominence in the verse – you will clothe Aaron.

[29:5]  ²⁸ tn The verb used in this last clause is a denominative verb from the word for ephod. And so “ephod the ephod on him” means “fasten as an ephod the ephod on him” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 316).

[29:6]  ²⁹ sn This term does not appear in chap. 28, but it can only refer to the plate with the inscription on it that was tied to the turban. Here it is called a “holy diadem,” a diadem that is distinctly set apart for this service. All the clothing was described as “holy garments,” and so they were all meant to mark the separation of the priests to this holy service. The items of clothing were each intended for different aspects of ministry, and so this step in the consecration was designed to symbolize being set apart for those duties, or, prepared (gifted) to perform the ministry.

[29:7]  ³⁰ sn The act of anointing was meant to set him apart for this holy service within the house of Yahweh. The psalms indicate that no oil was spared in this ritual, for it ran down his beard and to the hem of his garment. Oil of anointing was used for all major offices (giving the label with the passive adjective “mashiah” (or “messiah”) to anyone anointed. In the further revelation of Scripture, the oil came to signify the enablement as well as the setting apart, and often the Holy Spirit came on the person at the anointing with oil. The olive oil was a symbol of the Spirit in the OT as well (Zech 4:4-6). And in the NT “anointing” signifies empowerment by the Holy Spirit for service.

[29:9]  ³¹ tc Hebrew has both the objective pronoun “them” and the names “Aaron and his sons.” Neither the LXX nor Leviticus 8:13 has “Aaron and his sons,” suggesting that this may have been a later gloss in the text.

[29:9]  ³² tn Heb “and you will fill the hand” and so “consecrate” or “ordain.” The verb draws together the individual acts of the process.

[29:10]  ³³ tn The verb is singular, agreeing with the first of the compound subject – Aaron.

[29:10]  ³⁴ sn The details of these offerings have to be determined from a careful study of Leviticus. There is a good deal of debate over the meaning of laying hands on the animals. At the very least it identifies the animal formally as their sacrifice. But it may very well indicate that the animal is a substitute for them as well, given the nature and the effect of the sacrifices.

[29:12]  ³⁵ sn This act seems to have signified the efficacious nature of the blood, since the horns represented power. This is part of the ritual of the sin offering for laity, because before the priests become priests they are treated as laity. The offering is better described as a purification offering rather than a sin offering, because it was offered, according to Leviticus, for both sins and impurities. Moreover, it was offered primarily to purify the sanctuary so that the once-defiled or sinful person could enter (see J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB]).

[29:12]  ³⁶ tn The phrase “rest of” has been supplied in the translation for clarification.

[29:13]  ³⁷ tn S. R. Driver suggests that this is the appendix or an appendix, both here and in v. 22 (Exodus, 320). “The surplus, the appendage of liver, found with cow, sheep, or goat, but not with humans: Lobus caudatus” (HALOT 453 s.v. יֹתֶרֶת).

[29:13]  ³⁸ tn Heb “turn [them] into sweet smoke” since the word is used for burning incense.

[29:14]  ³⁹ tn Heb “burn with fire.”

[29:14]  ⁴⁰ sn This is to be done because there is no priesthood yet. Once they are installed, then the sin/purification offering is to be eaten by the officiating priests as a sign that the offering was received. But priests could not consume their own sin offering.

[29:14]  ⁴¹ sn There were two kinds of “purification offering,” those made with confession for sin and those made without. The title needs to cover both of them, and if it is called in the traditional way “the sin offering,” that will convey that when people offered it for skin diseases, menstruation, or having babies, they had sinned. That was not the case. Moreover, it is usual to translate the names of the sacrifices by what they do more than what they cover – so peace offering, reparation offering, and purification offering.

[29:18]  ⁴² tn Heb “turn to sweet smoke.”

[29:18]  ⁴³ sn According to Lev 1 the burnt offering (often called whole burnt offering, except that the skins were usually given to the priests for income) was an atoning sacrifice. By consuming the entire animal, God was indicating that he had completely accepted the worshiper, and as it was a sweet smelling fire sacrifice, he was indicating that he was pleased to accept it. By offering the entire animal, the worshiper was indicating on his part a complete surrender to God.

[29:18]  ⁴⁴ tn The word אִשֶּׁה (’isheh) has traditionally been translated “an offering made with fire” or the like, because it appears so obviously connected with fire. But further evidence from Ugaritic suggests that it might only mean “a gift” (see Milgrom, Leviticus 1-16, 161).

[29:18]  ⁴⁵ sn These sections show that the priest had to be purified or cleansed from defilement of sin and also be atoned for and accepted by the Lord through the blood of the sacrifice. The principles from these two sacrifices should be basic to anyone seeking to serve God.

[29:2]  ⁴⁶ sn This will be for the minkhah (מִנְחָה) offering (Lev 2), which was to accompany the animal sacrifices.

[29:2]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “anointed” (KJV, ASV).

[29:2]  ⁴⁸ tn The “fine flour” is here an adverbial accusative, explaining the material from which these items were made. The flour is to be finely sifted, and from the wheat, not the barley, which was often the material used by the poor. Fine flour, no leaven, and perfect animals, without blemishes, were to be gathered for this service.

[6:8]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “which I raised my hand to give it.” The relative clause specifies which land is their goal. The bold anthropomorphism mentions part of an oath-taking ceremony to refer to the whole event and reminds the reader that God swore that he would give the land to them. The reference to taking an oath would have made the promise of God sure in the mind of the Israelite.

[6:8]  ⁵⁰ sn Here is the twofold aspect again clearly depicted: God swore the promise to the patriarchs, but he is about to give what he promised to this generation. This generation will know more about him as a result.

[19:22]  ⁵¹ tn Heb “the desire of a man” (so KJV). The noun in construct is תַּאֲוַת (ta’avat), “desire [of].” Here it refers to “the desire of a man [= person].” Two problems surface here, the connotation of the word and the kind of genitive. “Desire” can also be translated “lust,” and so J. H. Greenstone has “The lust of a man is his shame” (Proverbs, 208). But the sentence is more likely positive in view of the more common uses of the words. “Man” could be a genitive of possession or subjective genitive – the man desires loyal love. It could also be an objective genitive, meaning “what is desired for a man.” The first would be the more natural in the proverb, which is showing that loyal love is better than wealth.

[19:22]  ⁵² tn Heb “[is] his loyal love”; NIV “unfailing love”; NRSV “loyalty.”

[19:22]  ⁵³ sn The second half of the proverb presents the logical inference: The liar would be without “loyal love” entirely, and so poverty would be better than this. A poor person who wishes to do better is preferable to a person who makes promises and does not keep them.

[12:42]  ⁵⁴ sn These two small copper coins were lepta (sing. “lepton”), the smallest and least valuable coins in circulation in Palestine, worth one-half of a quadrans or 1/128 of a denarius, or about six minutes of an average daily wage. This was next to nothing in value.

[12:43]  ⁵⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[12:43]  ⁵⁶ tn See the note on the term “offering box” in v. 41.

[12:43]  ⁵⁷ sn Has put more into the offering box than all the others. With God, giving is weighed evaluatively, not counted. The widow was praised because she gave sincerely and at some considerable cost to herself.

[12:44]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “out of what abounded to them.”

[12:44]  ⁵⁹ sn The contrast between this passage, 12:41-44, and what has come before in 11:27-12:40 is remarkable. The woman is set in stark contrast to the religious leaders. She was a poor widow, they were rich. She was uneducated in the law, they were well educated in the law. She was a woman, they were men. But whereas they evidenced no faith and actually stole money from God and men (cf. 11:17), she evidenced great faith and gave out of her extreme poverty everything she had.

[14:7]  ⁶⁰ tn In the Greek text of this clause, “me” is in emphatic position (the first word in the clause). To convey some impression of the emphasis, an exclamation point is used in the translation.

[7:44]  ⁶¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[7:44]  ⁶² sn It is discussed whether these acts in vv. 44-46 were required by the host. Most think they were not, but this makes the woman’s acts of respect all the more amazing.

[7:45]  ⁶³ tn Grk “no kiss.” This refers to a formalized kiss of greeting, standard in that culture. To convey this to the modern reader, the words “of greeting” have been supplied to qualify what kind of kiss is meant.

[7:46]  ⁶⁴ sn This event is not equivalent to the anointing of Jesus that takes place in the last week of his life (Matt 26:6-13; Mark 14:3-9; John 12:1-8). That woman was not a sinner, and Jesus was eating in the home of Simon the leper, who, as a leper, could never be a Pharisee.

[12:47]  ⁶⁵ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[12:47]  ⁶⁶ tn Grk “or do according to his will”; the referent (the master) has been specified in the translation for clarity. This example deals with the slave who knew what the command was and yet failed to complete it.

[12:48]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “did not know”; the phrase “his master’s will” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the contemporary English reader.

[12:48]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “blows.”

[12:48]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “will receive few (blows).”

[12:48]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “required from him”; but the words “from him” are redundant in English and have not been translated.

[12:48]  ⁷¹ sn Entrusted with much. To be gifted with precious responsibility is something that requires faithfulness.

[12:48]  ⁷² tn Grk “they will ask even more.”

[16:10]  ⁷³ sn The point of the statement faithful in a very little is that character is shown in how little things are treated.

[21:1]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “He”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:1]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “looking up, he saw.” The participle ἀναβλέψας (anableya") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:1]  ⁷⁶ tn On the term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazofulakion), often translated “treasury,” see BDAG 186 s.v., which states, “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.

[21:2]  ⁷⁷ sn These two small copper coins were lepta (sing. “lepton”), the smallest and least valuable coins in circulation in Palestine, worth one-half of a quadrans or 1/128 of a denarius, or about six minutes of an average daily wage. This was next to nothing in value.

[21:3]  ⁷⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[21:3]  ⁷⁹ tn Grk “Truly, I say to you.”

[21:3]  ⁸⁰ sn Has put in more than all of them. With God, giving is weighed evaluatively, not counted. The widow was praised because she gave sincerely and at some considerable cost to herself.

[21:4]  ⁸¹ tn Grk “out of what abounded to them.”

[21:4]  ⁸² tn Or “put in her entire livelihood.”

[21:1]  ⁸³ tn Grk “He”; the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[21:1]  ⁸⁴ tn Grk “looking up, he saw.” The participle ἀναβλέψας (anableya") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[21:1]  ⁸⁵ tn On the term γαζοφυλάκιον (gazofulakion), often translated “treasury,” see BDAG 186 s.v., which states, “For Mk 12:41, 43; Lk 21:1 the mng. contribution box or receptacle is attractive. Acc. to Mishnah, Shekalim 6, 5 there were in the temple 13 such receptacles in the form of trumpets. But even in these passages the general sense of ‘treasury’ is prob., for the contributions would go [into] the treasury via the receptacles.” Based upon the extra-biblical evidence (see sn following), however, the translation opts to refer to the actual receptacles and not the treasury itself.

[4:10]  ⁸⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 91:11 by the devil. This was not so much an incorrect citation as a use in a wrong context (a misapplication of the passage).