2 Samuel 7:16

7:16 Your house and your kingdom will stand before me ¹  permanently; your dynasty ²  will be permanent.’”

Psalms 2:8

2:8 Ask me,

and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, ³ 

the ends of the earth as your personal property.

Psalms 72:8-11

72:8 May he rule ⁴  from sea to sea, ⁵ 

and from the Euphrates River ⁶  to the ends of the earth!

72:9 Before him the coastlands ⁷  will bow down,

and his enemies will lick the dust. ⁸ 

72:10 The kings of Tarshish ⁹  and the coastlands will offer gifts;

the kings of Sheba ¹⁰  and Seba ¹¹  will bring tribute.

72:11 All kings will bow down to him;

all nations will serve him.

Psalms 89:35-37

89:35 Once and for all I have vowed by my own holiness,

I will never deceive ¹²  David.

89:36 His dynasty will last forever. ¹³ 

His throne will endure before me, like the sun, ¹⁴ 

89:37 it will remain stable, like the moon, ¹⁵ 

his throne will endure like the skies.” ¹⁶  (Selah)

Jeremiah 33:15-21

33:15 In those days and at that time I will raise up for them a righteous descendant ¹⁷  of David.

“‘He will do what is just and right in the land. 33:16 Under his rule Judah will enjoy safety ¹⁸  and Jerusalem ¹⁹  will live in security. At that time Jerusalem will be called “The Lord has provided us with justice.” ²⁰  33:17 For I, the Lord, promise: “David will never lack a successor to occupy ²¹  the throne over the nation of Israel. ²²  33:18 Nor will the Levitical priests ever lack someone to stand before me and continually offer up burnt offerings, sacrifice cereal offerings, and offer the other sacrifices.”’” ²³ 

33:19 The Lord spoke further to Jeremiah. ²⁴  33:20 “I, Lord, make the following promise: ²⁵  ‘I have made a covenant with the day ²⁶  and with the night that they will always come at their proper times. Only if you people ²⁷  could break that covenant 33:21 could my covenant with my servant David and my covenant with the Levites ever be broken. So David will by all means always have a descendant to occupy his throne as king and the Levites will by all means always have priests who will minister before me. ²⁸ 

Daniel 2:35

2:35 Then the iron, clay, bronze, silver, and gold were broken in pieces without distinction ²⁹  and became like chaff from the summer threshing floors that the wind carries away. Not a trace of them could be found. But the stone that struck the statue became a large mountain that filled the entire earth.

Daniel 2:44

2:44 In the days of those kings the God of heaven will raise up an everlasting kingdom that will not be destroyed and a kingdom that will not be left to another people. It will break in pieces and bring about the demise of all these kingdoms. But it will stand forever.

Daniel 7:14

7:14 To him was given ruling authority, honor, and sovereignty.

All peoples, nations, and language groups were serving ³⁰  him.

His authority is eternal and will not pass away. ³¹ 

His kingdom will not be destroyed. ³² 

Daniel 7:27

7:27 Then the kingdom, authority,

and greatness of the kingdoms under all of heaven

will be delivered to the people of the holy ones ³³  of the Most High.

His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;

all authorities will serve him and obey him.’

Luke 1:32-33

1:32 He ³⁴  will be great, ³⁵  and will be called the Son of the Most High, ³⁶  and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father ³⁷  David. 1:33 He ³⁸  will reign over the house of Jacob ³⁹  forever, and his kingdom will never end.”

Luke 1:1

Explanatory Preface

1:1 Now ⁴⁰  many have undertaken to compile an account ⁴¹  of the things ⁴²  that have been fulfilled ⁴³  among us,

Colossians 1:24-28

1:24 Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my physical body – for the sake of his body, the church – what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ. 1:25 I became a servant of the church according to the stewardship ⁴⁴  from God – given to me for you – in order to complete ⁴⁵  the word of God, 1:26 that is, the mystery that has been kept hidden from ages and generations, but has now been revealed to his saints. 1:27 God wanted to make known to them the glorious ⁴⁶  riches of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. 1:28 We proclaim him by instructing ⁴⁷  and teaching ⁴⁸  all people ⁴⁹  with all wisdom so that we may present every person mature ⁵⁰  in Christ.

[7:16]  ¹ tc Heb “before you.” A few medieval Hebrew mss read instead “before me,” which makes better sense contextually. (See also the LXX and the Syriac Peshitta.) The MT reading is probably the result of dittography (note the כ [kaf] at the beginning of the next form), with the extra כ then being interpreted as a pronominal suffix.

[7:16]  ² tn Heb “throne.”

[2:8]  ³ sn I will give you the nations. The Lord promises the Davidic king universal dominion.

[72:8]  ⁴ tn The prefixed verbal form is a (shortened) jussive form, indicating this is a prayer of blessing.

[72:8]  ⁵ sn From sea to sea. This may mean from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Dead Sea in the east. See Amos 8:12. The language of this and the following line also appears in Zech 9:10.

[72:8]  ⁶ tn Heb “the river,” a reference to the Euphrates.

[72:9]  ⁷ tn Or “islands.” The term here refers metonymically to those people who dwell in these regions.

[72:9]  ⁸ sn As they bow down before him, it will appear that his enemies are licking the dust.

[72:10]  ⁹ sn Tarshish was a distant western port, the precise location of which is uncertain.

[72:10]  ¹⁰ sn Sheba was located in Arabia.

[72:10]  ¹¹ sn Seba was located in Africa.

[89:35]  ¹² tn Or “lie to.”

[89:36]  ¹³ tn Heb “his offspring forever will be.”

[89:36]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and his throne like the sun before me.”

[89:37]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “like the moon it will be established forever.”

[89:37]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and a witness in the sky, secure.” Scholars have offered a variety of opinions as to the identity of the “witness” referred to here, none of which is very convincing. It is preferable to join וְעֵד (vÿ’ed) to עוֹלָם (’olam) in the preceding line and translate the commonly attested phrase עוֹלָם וְעֵד (“forever”). In this case one may translate the second line, “[it] will be secure like the skies.” Another option (the one reflected in the present translation) is to take עד as a rare noun meaning “throne” or “dais.” This noun is attested in Ugaritic; see, for example, CTA 16 vi 22-23, where ksi (= כִּסֵּא, kisse’, “throne”) and ’d (= עד, “dais”) appear as synonyms in the poetic parallelism (see G. R. Driver, Canaanite Myths and Legends, 91). Emending בַּשַּׁחַק (bashakhaq, “in the heavens”) to כַּשַׁחַק (kashakhaq, “like the heavens”) – bet/kaf (כ/ב) confusion is widely attested – one can then read “[his] throne like the heavens [is] firm/stable.” Verse 29 refers to the enduring nature of the heavens, while Job 37:18 speaks of God spreading out the heavens (שְׁחָקִים, shÿkhaqim) and compares their strength to a bronze mirror. Ps 89:29 uses the term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim, “skies”) which frequently appears in parallelism to שְׁחָקִים.

[33:15]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “sprig” or “shoot.”

[33:16]  ¹⁸ tn For the translation of this term in this context see the parallel context in 23:6 and consult the translator’s note there.

[33:16]  ¹⁹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[33:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “And this is what will be called to it: ‘The Lord our righteousness.’”

[33:17]  ²¹ tn Heb “a man shall not be cut off to David [i.e., belonging to the Davidic line] sitting on the throne of the house of Israel.”

[33:17]  ²² sn It should be noted once again that the reference is to all Israel, not just to Judah (cf. Jer 23:5-6; 30:9).

[33:18]  ²³ tn Heb “And to the Levites, the priests [= the Levitical priests, the apposition in place of the adjective] there shall not be cut off a man from before me who offers up burnt offering, sacrifices a cereal offering, or makes a sacrifice all the days.”

[33:19]  ²⁴ tn Heb “And the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying.” See v. 1. This is a continuation of “the second time.”

[33:20]  ²⁵ tn Heb “Thus says the Lord.” However, the Lord is speaking so the first person introduction has again been adopted. The content of the verse shows that it is a promise to David (vv. 21-22) and the Levites based on a contrary to fact condition (v. 20). See further the translator’s note at the end of the next verse for explanation of the English structure adopted here.

[33:20]  ²⁶ tn The word יוֹמָם (yomam) is normally an adverb meaning “daytime, by day, daily.” However, here and in v. 25 and in Jer 15:9 it means “day, daytime” (cf. BDB 401 s.v. יוֹמָם 1).

[33:20]  ²⁷ tn Heb “you.” The pronoun is plural as in 32:36, 43; 33:10.

[33:21]  ²⁸ tn The very complex and elliptical syntax of the original Hebrew of vv. 20-21 has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style. The text reads somewhat literally (after the addition of a couple of phrases which have been left out by ellipsis): “Thus says the Lord, ‘If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night so that there is not to be daytime and night in their proper time then also my covenant can be broken with my servant David so that there is not to him a son reigning upon his throne [and also my covenant can be broken] with the Levites [so there are not] priests who minister to me.” The two phrases in brackets are elliptical, the first serving double duty for the prepositional phrase “with the Levites” as well as “with David” and the second serving double duty with the noun “priests” which parallels “a son.” The noun “priests” is not serving here as appositional because that phrase is always “the priests, the Levites,” never “the Levites, the priests.”

[2:35]  ²⁹ tn Aram “as one.” For the meaning “without distinction” see the following: F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 36, §64, and p. 93; E. Vogt, Lexicon linguae aramaicae, 60.

[7:14]  ³⁰ tn Some take “serving” here in the sense of “worshiping.”

[7:14]  ³¹ tn Aram “is an eternal authority which will not pass away.”

[7:14]  ³² tn Aram “is one which will not be destroyed.”

[7:27]  ³³ tn If the “holy ones” are angels, then this probably refers to the angels as protectors of God’s people. If the “holy ones” are God’s people, then this is an appositional construction, “the people who are the holy ones.” See 8:24 for the corresponding Hebrew phrase and the note there.

[1:32]  ³⁴ tn Grk “this one.”

[1:32]  ³⁵ sn Compare the description of Jesus as great here with 1:15, “great before the Lord.” Jesus is greater than John, since he is Messiah compared to a prophet. Great is stated absolutely without qualification to make the point.

[1:32]  ³⁶ sn The expression Most High is a way to refer to God without naming him. Such avoiding of direct reference to God was common in 1st century Judaism out of reverence for the divine name.

[1:32]  ³⁷ tn Or “ancestor.”

[1:33]  ³⁸ tn Grk “And he.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. A new sentence is begun here in the translation because of the length of the sentence in Greek.

[1:33]  ³⁹ tn Or “over Israel.”

[1:1]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “Since” or “Because.” This begins a long sentence that extends through v. 4. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences, the Greek sentence has been divided up into shorter English sentences in the translation.

[1:1]  ⁴¹ tn This is sometimes translated “narrative,” but the term itself can refer to an oral or written account. It is the verb “undertaken” which suggests a written account, since it literally is “to set one’s hand” to something (BDAG 386 s.v. ἐπιχειρέω). “Narrative” is too specific, denoting a particular genre of work for the accounts that existed in the earlier tradition. Not all of that material would have been narrative.

[1:1]  ⁴² tn Or “events.”

[1:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “have been accomplished.” Given Luke’s emphasis on divine design (e.g., Luke 24:43-47) a stronger sense (“fulfilled”) is better than a mere reference to something having taken place (“accomplished”).

[1:25]  ⁴⁴ tn BDAG 697 s.v. οἰκονομία 1.b renders the term here as “divine office.”

[1:25]  ⁴⁵ tn See BDAG 828 s.v. πληρόω 3. The idea here seems to be that the apostle wants to “complete the word of God” in that he wants to preach it to every person in the known world (cf. Rom 15:19). See P. T. O’Brien, Colossians, Philemon (WBC), 82.

[1:27]  ⁴⁶ tn The genitive noun τῆς δόξης (ths doxhs) is an attributive genitive and has therefore been translated as “glorious riches.”

[1:28]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “admonishing,” or “warning.” BDAG 679 s.v. νουθετέω states, “to counsel about avoidance or cessation of an improper course of conduct,, admonish, warn, instruct.” After the participle νουθετοῦντες (nouqetounte", “instructing”) the words πάντα ἄνθρωπον (panta anqrwpon, “all men”) occur in the Greek text, but since the same phrase appears again after διδάσκοντες (didaskontes) it was omitted in translation to avoid redundancy in English.

[1:28]  ⁴⁸ tn The two participles “instructing” (νουθετοῦντες, nouqetounte") and “teaching” (διδάσκοντες, didaskonte") are translated as participles of means (“by”) related to the finite verb “we proclaim” (καταγγέλλομεν, katangellomen).

[1:28]  ⁴⁹ tn Here ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon) is twice translated as a generic (“people” and “person”) since both men and women are clearly intended in this context.

[1:28]  ⁵⁰ tn Since Paul’s focus is on the present experience of the Colossians, “mature” is a better translation of τέλειον (teleion) than “perfect,” since the latter implies a future, eschatological focus.