Genesis 3:15

3:15 And I will put hostility ¹  between you and the woman

and between your offspring and her offspring; ² 

her offspring will attack ³  your head,

and ⁴  you ⁵  will attack her offspring’s heel.” ⁶ 

Isaiah 27:1

27:1 At that time ⁷  the Lord will punish

with his destructive, ⁸  great, and powerful sword

Leviathan the fast-moving ⁹  serpent,

Leviathan the squirming serpent;

he will kill the sea monster. ¹⁰ 

Isaiah 49:24-26

49:24 Can spoils be taken from a warrior,

or captives be rescued from a conqueror? ¹¹ 

49:25 Indeed,” says the Lord,

“captives will be taken from a warrior;

spoils will be rescued from a conqueror.

I will oppose your adversary

and I will rescue your children.

49:26 I will make your oppressors eat their own flesh;

they will get drunk on their own blood, as if it were wine. ¹² 

Then all humankind ¹³  will recognize that

I am the Lord, your deliverer,

your protector, ¹⁴  the powerful ruler of Jacob.” ¹⁵ 

Isaiah 53:12

53:12 So I will assign him a portion with the multitudes, ¹⁶ 

he will divide the spoils of victory with the powerful, ¹⁷ 

because he willingly submitted ¹⁸  to death

and was numbered with the rebels,

when he lifted up the sin of many

and intervened ¹⁹  on behalf of the rebels.”

Isaiah 61:1

The Lord Will Rejuvenate His People

61:1 The spirit of the sovereign Lord is upon me,

because the Lord has chosen ²⁰  me. ²¹ 

He has commissioned ²²  me to encourage ²³  the poor,

to help ²⁴  the brokenhearted,

to decree the release of captives,

and the freeing of prisoners,

Matthew 12:29

12:29 How ²⁵  else can someone enter a strong man’s ²⁶  house and steal his property, unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can thoroughly plunder the house. ²⁷ 

Luke 10:17-20

10:17 Then ²⁸  the seventy-two ²⁹  returned with joy, saying, “Lord, even the demons submit to ³⁰  us in your name!” ³¹  10:18 So ³²  he said to them, “I saw ³³  Satan fall ³⁴  like lightning ³⁵  from heaven. 10:19 Look, I have given you authority to tread ³⁶  on snakes and scorpions ³⁷  and on the full force of the enemy, ³⁸  and nothing will ³⁹  hurt you. 10:20 Nevertheless, do not rejoice that ⁴⁰  the spirits submit to you, but rejoice ⁴¹  that your names stand written ⁴²  in heaven.”

Luke 11:21-23

11:21 When a strong man, ⁴³  fully armed, guards his own palace, ⁴⁴  his possessions are safe. ⁴⁵  11:22 But ⁴⁶  when a stronger man ⁴⁷  attacks ⁴⁸  and conquers him, he takes away the first man’s ⁴⁹  armor on which the man relied ⁵⁰  and divides up ⁵¹  his plunder. ⁵²  11:23 Whoever is not with me is against me, ⁵³  and whoever does not gather with me scatters. ⁵⁴ 

John 12:31

12:31 Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world ⁵⁵  will be driven out. ⁵⁶ 

Romans 16:20

16:20 The God of peace will quickly crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Ephesians 6:10-13

Exhortations for Spiritual Warfare

6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power. 6:11 Clothe yourselves with the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand against the schemes ⁵⁷  of the devil. 6:12 For our struggle ⁵⁸  is not against flesh and blood, ⁵⁹  but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, ⁶⁰  against the spiritual forces ⁶¹  of evil in the heavens. ⁶²  6:13 For this reason, take up the full armor of God so that you may be able to stand your ground ⁶³  on the evil day, and having done everything, to stand.

Colossians 2:15

2:15 Disarming ⁶⁴  the rulers and authorities, he has made a public disgrace of them, triumphing over them by the cross. ⁶⁵ 

Hebrews 2:14

2:14 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, he likewise shared in ⁶⁶  their humanity, ⁶⁷  so that through death he could destroy ⁶⁸  the one who holds the power of death (that is, the devil),

Hebrews 2:1

Warning Against Drifting Away

2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.

Hebrews 3:8

3:8 “Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion, in the day of testing in the wilderness.

Hebrews 4:4

4:4 For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this way: “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works,” ⁶⁹ 

Revelation 12:7-9

War in Heaven

12:7 Then ⁷⁰  war broke out in heaven: Michael ⁷¹  and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 12:8 But ⁷²  the dragon was not strong enough to prevail, ⁷³  so there was no longer any place left ⁷⁴  in heaven for him and his angels. ⁷⁵  12:9 So ⁷⁶  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him.

Revelation 20:1-3

The Thousand Year Reign

20:1 Then ⁷⁷  I saw an angel descending from heaven, holding ⁷⁸  in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain. 20:2 He ⁷⁹  seized the dragon – the ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan – and tied him up for a thousand years. 20:3 The angel ⁸⁰  then ⁸¹  threw him into the abyss and locked ⁸²  and sealed it so that he could not deceive the nations until the one thousand years were finished. (After these things he must be released for a brief period of time.)

[3:15]  ¹ tn The Hebrew word translated “hostility” is derived from the root אֵיב (’ev, “to be hostile, to be an adversary [or enemy]”). The curse announces that there will be continuing hostility between the serpent and the woman. The serpent will now live in a “battle zone,” as it were.

[3:15]  ² sn The Hebrew word translated “offspring” is a collective singular. The text anticipates the ongoing struggle between human beings (the woman’s offspring) and deadly poisonous snakes (the serpent’s offspring). An ancient Jewish interpretation of the passage states: “He made the serpent, cause of the deceit, press the earth with belly and flank, having bitterly driven him out. He aroused a dire enmity between them. The one guards his head to save it, the other his heel, for death is at hand in the proximity of men and malignant poisonous snakes.” See Sib. Or. 1:59-64. For a similar interpretation see Josephus, Ant. 1.1.4 (1.50-51).

[3:15]  ³ tn Heb “he will attack [or “bruise”] you [on] the head.” The singular pronoun and verb agree grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “head” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A crushing blow to the head would be potentially fatal.

[3:15]  ⁴ tn Or “but you will…”; or “as they attack your head, you will attack their heel.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is understood as contrastive. Both clauses place the subject before the verb, a construction that is sometimes used to indicate synchronic action (see Judg 15:14).

[3:15]  ⁵ sn You will attack her offspring’s heel. Though the conflict will actually involve the serpent’s offspring (snakes) and the woman’s offspring (human beings), v. 15b for rhetorical effect depicts the conflict as being between the serpent and the woman’s offspring, as if the serpent will outlive the woman. The statement is personalized for the sake of the addressee (the serpent) and reflects the ancient Semitic concept of corporate solidarity, which emphasizes the close relationship between a progenitor and his offspring. Note Gen 28:14, where the Lord says to Jacob, “Your offspring will be like the dust of the earth, and you [second masculine singular] will spread out in all directions.” Jacob will “spread out” in all directions through his offspring, but the text states the matter as if this will happen to him personally.

[3:15]  ⁶ tn Heb “you will attack him [on] the heel.” The verb (translated “attack”) is repeated here, a fact that is obscured by some translations (e.g., NIV “crush…strike”). The singular pronoun agrees grammatically with the collective singular noun “offspring.” For other examples of singular verb and pronominal forms being used with the collective singular “offspring,” see Gen 16:10; 22:17; 24:60. The word “heel” is an adverbial accusative, locating the blow. A bite on the heel from a poisonous serpent is potentially fatal.

[27:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV).

[27:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “hard, severe”; cf. NAB, NRSV “cruel”; KJV “sore”; NLT “terrible.”

[27:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “fleeing” (so NAB, NASB, NRSV). Some translate “slippery” or “slithering.”

[27:1]  ¹⁰ tn The description of Leviathan should be compared with the following excerpts from Ugaritic mythological texts: (1) “Was not the dragon (Ugaritic tnn, cognate with Hebrew תַנִּין [tannin, translated “sea monster” here]) vanquished and captured? I did destroy the wriggling (Ugaritic ’qltn, cognate to Hebrew עֲקַלָּתוֹן [’aqallaton, translated “squirming” here]) serpent, the tyrant with seven heads (cf. Ps 74:14).” (See CTA 3 iii 38-39.) (2) “for all that you smote Leviathan the slippery (Ugaritic brh, cognate to Hebrew בָּרִחַ [bariakh, translated “fast-moving” here]) serpent, [and] made an end of the wriggling serpent, the tyrant with seven heads” (See CTA 5 i 1-3.)

[49:24]  ¹¹ tc The Hebrew text has צָדִיק (tsadiq, “a righteous [one]”), but this makes no sense in the parallelism. The Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a reads correctly עריץ (“violent [one], tyrant”; see v. 25).

[49:26]  ¹² sn Verse 26a depicts siege warfare and bloody defeat. The besieged enemy will be so starved they will their own flesh. The bloodstained bodies lying on the blood-soaked battle site will look as if they collapsed in drunkenness.

[49:26]  ¹³ tn Heb “flesh” (so KJV, NASB).

[49:26]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “your redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.

[49:26]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “the powerful [one] of Jacob.” See 1:24.

[53:12]  ¹⁶ tn Scholars have debated the precise meaning of the term רַבִּים (rabbim) that occurs five times in this passage (Isa 52:14, 15; 53:11, 12 [2x]). Its two broad categories of translation are “much”/“many” and “great” (HALOT 1171-72 s.v. I רַב). Unlike other Hebrew terms for might or strength, this term is linked with numbers or abundance. In all sixteen uses outside of Isaiah 52:13-53:12 (articular and plural) it signifies an inclusive meaning: “the majority” or “the multitude” (J. Jeremias, TDNT 6:536-37). This term occurs in parallelism with עֲצוּמִים (’atsumim), which normally signifies “numerous” or “large” or “powerful” (through large numbers). Like רַבִּים (rabbim), it refers to greatness in numbers (cf. Deut 4:38; 7:1; 9:1; 11:34). It emphasizes the multitudes with whom the Servant will share the spoil of his victory. As J. Olley wrote: “Yahweh has won the victory and vindicates his Servant, giving to him many subservient people, together with their spoils. These numerous peoples in turn receive blessing, sharing in the “peace” resulting from Yahweh’s victory and the Servant’s suffering” (John W. Olley, “‘The Many’: How Is Isa 53,12a to Be Understood,” Bib 68 [1987]: 330-56).

[53:12]  ¹⁷ sn The servant is compared here to a warrior who will be richly rewarded for his effort and success in battle.

[53:12]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “because he laid bare his life”; traditionally, ASV “because he (+ hath KJV) poured out his soul (life NIV) unto death.”

[53:12]  ¹⁹ tn The Hiphil of פָּגַע (paga’) can mean “cause to attack” (v. 6), “urge, plead verbally” (Jer 15:11; 36:25), or “intervene militarily” (Isa 59:16). Perhaps the third nuance fits best here, for military imagery is employed in the first two lines of the verse.

[61:1]  ²⁰ tn Heb “anointed,” i.e., designated to carry out an assigned task.

[61:1]  ²¹ sn The speaker is not identified, but he is distinct from the Lord and from Zion’s suffering people. He possesses the divine spirit, is God’s spokesman, and is sent to release prisoners from bondage. The evidence suggests he is the Lord’s special servant, described earlier in the servant songs (see 42:1-4, 7; 49:2, 9; 50:4; see also 51:16).

[61:1]  ²² tn Or “sent” (NAB); NCV “has appointed me.”

[61:1]  ²³ tn Or “proclaim good news to.”

[61:1]  ²⁴ tn Heb “to bind up [the wounds of].”

[12:29]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Or how can.”

[12:29]  ²⁶ sn The strong man here pictures Satan.

[12:29]  ²⁷ sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.

[10:17]  ²⁸ tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:17]  ²⁹ tc See the tc note on the number “seventy-two” in Luke 10:1.

[10:17]  ³⁰ tn Or “the demons obey”; see L&N 36.18.

[10:17]  ³¹ tn The prepositional phrase “in your name” indicates the sphere of authority for the messengers’ work of exorcism.

[10:18]  ³² tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “so” to indicate that Jesus’ reply in vv. 18-20 follows from the positive report of the messengers in v. 17.

[10:18]  ³³ tn This is an imperfect tense verb.

[10:18]  ³⁴ tn In Greek, this is a participle and comes at the end of the verse, making it somewhat emphatic.

[10:18]  ³⁵ tn This is probably best taken as allusion to Isa 14:12; the phrase in common is ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ (ek tou ouranou). These exorcisms in Jesus’ name are a picture of Satan’s greater defeat at Jesus’ hands (D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 2:1006-7).

[10:19]  ³⁶ tn Or perhaps, “trample on” (which emphasizes the impact of the feet on the snakes). See L&N 15.226.

[10:19]  ³⁷ sn Snakes and scorpions are examples of the hostility in the creation that is defeated by Jesus. The use of battle imagery shows who the kingdom fights against. See Acts 28:3-6.

[10:19]  ³⁸ tn Or “I have given you authority to tread on snakes and scorpions, and [authority] over the full force of the enemy.” The second prepositional phrase can be taken either as modifying the infinitive πατεῖν (patein, “to tread”) or the noun ἐξουσίαν (exousian, “power”). The former is to be preferred and has been represented in the translation.

[10:19]  ³⁹ tn This is an emphatic double negative in the Greek text.

[10:20]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “do not rejoice in this, that.” This is awkward in contemporary English and has been simplified to “do not rejoice that.”

[10:20]  ⁴¹ tn The verb here is a present imperative, so the call is to an attitude of rejoicing.

[10:20]  ⁴² tn The verb here, a perfect tense, stresses a present reality of that which was a completed action, that is, their names were etched in the heavenly stone, as it were.

[11:21]  ⁴³ tn The referent of the expression “a strong man” is Satan.

[11:21]  ⁴⁴ tn The word αὐλή (aulh) describes any building large and elaborate enough to have an interior courtyard, thus “dwelling, palace, mansion” (L&N 7.6).

[11:21]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “his goods are in peace.”

[11:22]  ⁴⁶ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[11:22]  ⁴⁷ tn The referent of the expression “a stronger man” is Jesus.

[11:22]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “stronger man than he attacks.”

[11:22]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “his”; the referent (the first man mentioned) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[11:22]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “on which he relied.”

[11:22]  ⁵¹ tn Or “and distributes.”

[11:22]  ⁵² sn Some see the imagery here as similar to Eph 4:7-10, although no opponents are explicitly named in that passage. Jesus has the victory over Satan. Jesus’ acts of healing mean that the war is being won and the kingdom is coming.

[11:23]  ⁵³ sn Whoever is not with me is against me. The call here is to join the victor. Failure to do so means that one is being destructive. Responding to Jesus is the issue.

[11:23]  ⁵⁴ sn For the image of scattering, see Pss. Sol. 17:18.

[12:31]  ⁵⁵ sn The ruler of this world is a reference to Satan.

[12:31]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “will be thrown out.” This translation regards the future passive ἐκβληθήσεται (ekblhqhsetai) as referring to an event future to the time of speaking.

[6:11]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “craftiness.” See BDAG 625 s.v. μεθοδεία.

[6:12]  ⁵⁸ tn BDAG 752 s.v. πάλη says, “struggle against…the opponent is introduced by πρός w. the acc.”

[6:12]  ⁵⁹ tn Grk “blood and flesh.”

[6:12]  ⁶⁰ tn BDAG 561 s.v. κοσμοκράτωρ suggests “the rulers of this sinful world” as a gloss.

[6:12]  ⁶¹ tn BDAG 837 s.v. πνευματικός 3 suggests “the spirit-forces of evil” in Ephesians 6:12.

[6:12]  ⁶² sn The phrase spiritual forces of evil in the heavens serves to emphasize the nature of the forces which oppose believers as well as to indicate the locality from which they originate.

[6:13]  ⁶³ tn The term ἀνθίστημι (anqisthmi) carries the idea of resisting or opposing something or someone (BDAG 80 s.v.). In Eph 6:13, when used in combination with στῆναι (sthnai; cf. also στῆτε [sthte] in v. 14) and in a context of battle imagery, it seems to have the idea of resisting, standing firm, and being able to stand your ground.

[2:15]  ⁶⁴ tn See BDAG 100 s.v. ἀπεκδύομαι 2.

[2:15]  ⁶⁵ tn The antecedent of the Greek pronoun αὐτῷ (autw) could either be “Christ” or the “cross.” There are several reasons for choosing “the cross” as the antecedent for αὐτῷ in verse 15: (1) The nearest antecedent is τῷ σταυρῷ (tw staurw) in v. 14; (2) the idea of ἐδειγμάτισεν ἐν παρρησία (edeigmatisen en parrhsia, “made a public disgrace”) seems to be more in keeping with the idea of the cross; (3) a reference to Christ seems to miss the irony involved in the idea of triumph – the whole point is that where one would expect defeat, there came the victory; (4) if Christ is the subject of the participles in v. 15 then almost certainly the cross is the referent for αὐτῷ. Thus the best solution is to see αὐτῷ as a reference to the cross and the preposition ἐν (en) indicating “means” (i.e., by means of the cross) or possibly (though less likely) location (on the cross).

[2:14]  ⁶⁶ tn Or “partook of” (this is a different word than the one in v. 14a).

[2:14]  ⁶⁷ tn Grk “the same.”

[2:14]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “break the power of,” “reduce to nothing.”

[4:4]  ⁶⁹ sn A quotation from Gen 2:2.

[12:7]  ⁷⁰ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[12:7]  ⁷¹ sn The archangel Michael had a special role in protecting the nation of Israel in the OT (Dan 10:13, 21; 12:1; see also Jude 9).

[12:8]  ⁷² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the implied contrast.

[12:8]  ⁷³ tn The words “to prevail” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.

[12:8]  ⁷⁴ tn Grk “found.”

[12:8]  ⁷⁵ tn Grk “for them”; the referent (the dragon and his angels, v. 7) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[12:9]  ⁷⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

[20:1]  ⁷⁷ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence within the narrative.

[20:1]  ⁷⁸ tn The word “holding” is implied. The two clauses “having the key of the abyss” and “a huge chain in his hand” can be construed in two ways: (1) both are controlled by the participle ἔχοντα (econta) and both are modified by the phrase “in his hand” – “having in his hand the key to the abyss and a huge chain.” (2) The participle ἔχοντα refers only to the key, and the phrase “in his hand” refers only to the chain – “having the key of the abyss and holding a huge chain in his hand.” Because of the stylistic tendency in Rev to use the verb ἔχω (ecw) to mean “hold (something)” and the phrase “in his hand” forming a “bracket” along with the verb ἔχω around both the phrases in question, the first option is preferred.

[20:2]  ⁷⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[20:3]  ⁸⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (the angel introduced in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[20:3]  ⁸¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[20:3]  ⁸² tn Or “and shut.” While the lexical force of the term is closer to “shut,” it is acceptable to render the verb ἔκλεισεν (ekleisen) as “locked” here in view of the mention of the key in the previous verse.