Psalms 146:8

146:8 The Lord gives sight to the blind.

The Lord lifts up all who are bent over. ¹ 

The Lord loves the godly.

Isaiah 29:18-19

29:18 At that time ²  the deaf will be able to hear words read from a scroll,

and the eyes of the blind will be able to see through deep darkness. ³ 

29:19 The downtrodden will again rejoice in the Lord;

the poor among humankind will take delight ⁴  in the Holy One of Israel. ⁵ 

Isaiah 32:3

32:3 Eyes ⁶  will no longer be blind ⁷ 

and ears ⁸  will be attentive.

Isaiah 35:5

35:5 Then blind eyes will open,

deaf ears will hear.

Isaiah 42:16-18

42:16 I will lead the blind along an unfamiliar way; ⁹ 

I will guide them down paths they have never traveled. ¹⁰ 

I will turn the darkness in front of them into light,

and level out the rough ground. ¹¹ 

This is what I will do for them.

I will not abandon them.

42:17 Those who trust in idols

will turn back and be utterly humiliated, ¹² 

those who say to metal images, ‘You are our gods.’”

The Lord Reasons with His People

42:18 “Listen, you deaf ones!

Take notice, ¹³  you blind ones!

Isaiah 60:1-2

Zion’s Future Splendor

60:1 “Arise! Shine! For your light arrives!

The splendor ¹⁴  of the Lord shines on you!

60:2 For, look, darkness covers the earth

and deep darkness covers ¹⁵  the nations,

but the Lord shines on you;

his splendor ¹⁶  appears over you.

Malachi 4:2

4:2 But for you who respect my name, the sun of vindication ¹⁷  will rise with healing wings, ¹⁸  and you will skip about ¹⁹  like calves released from the stall.

Matthew 4:16

4:16 the people who sit in darkness have seen a great light,

and on those who sit in the region and shadow of death a light has dawned.” ²⁰ 

Matthew 9:27-30

Healing the Blind and Mute

9:27 As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, shouting, ²¹  “Have mercy ²²  on us, Son of David!” ²³  9:28 When ²⁴  he went into the house, the blind men came to him. Jesus ²⁵  said to them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” They said to him, “Yes, Lord.” 9:29 Then he touched their eyes saying, “Let it be done for you according to your faith.” 9:30 And their eyes were opened. Then Jesus sternly warned them, “See that no one knows about this.”

Matthew 11:5

11:5 The blind see, the ²⁶  lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news proclaimed to them.

John 9:39-41

9:39 Jesus ²⁷  said,] ²⁸  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ²⁹  and the ones who see may become blind.”

9:40 Some of the Pharisees ³⁰  who were with him heard this ³¹  and asked him, ³²  “We are not blind too, are we?” ³³  9:41 Jesus replied, ³⁴  “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin, ³⁵  but now because you claim that you can see, ³⁶  your guilt ³⁷  remains.” ³⁸ 

John 12:46

12:46 I have come as a light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me should not remain in darkness.

Acts 26:18

26:18 to open their eyes so that they turn ³⁹  from darkness to light and from the power ⁴⁰  of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share ⁴¹  among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’

Ephesians 5:8-14

5:8 for you were at one time darkness, but now you are ⁴²  light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light – 5:9 for the fruit of the light ⁴³  consists in ⁴⁴  all goodness, righteousness, and truth – 5:10 trying to learn ⁴⁵  what is pleasing to the Lord. 5:11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather ⁴⁶  expose them. ⁴⁷  5:12 For the things they do ⁴⁸  in secret are shameful even to mention. 5:13 But all things being exposed by the light are made evident. 5:14 For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: ⁴⁹ 

“Awake, ⁵⁰  O sleeper! ⁵¹ 

Rise from the dead,

and Christ will shine on you!” ⁵² 

Ephesians 5:1

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ⁵³  imitators of God as dearly loved children

Ephesians 5:5-6

5:5 For you can be confident of this one thing: ⁵⁴  that no person who is immoral, impure, or greedy (such a person is an idolater) has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God.

Live in the Light

5:6 Let nobody deceive you with empty words, for because of these things God’s wrath comes on the sons of disobedience. ⁵⁵ 

Ephesians 5:1

Live in Love

5:1 Therefore, be ⁵⁶  imitators of God as dearly loved children

Ephesians 2:9

2:9 it is not from ⁵⁷  works, so that no one can boast. ⁵⁸ 

Ephesians 2:1

New Life Individually

2:1 And although you were ⁵⁹  dead ⁶⁰  in your transgressions and sins,

Ephesians 2:8-10

2:8 For by grace you are saved ⁶¹  through faith, ⁶²  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from ⁶³  works, so that no one can boast. ⁶⁴  2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. ⁶⁵ 

[146:8]  ¹ tn Perhaps “discouraged” (see Ps 57:6).

[29:18]  ² tn Or “In that day” (KJV).

[29:18]  ³ tn Heb “and out of gloom and darkness the eyes of the blind will see.”

[29:19]  ⁴ tn Or “will rejoice” (NIV, NCV, NLT).

[29:19]  ⁵ sn See the note on the phrase “the Holy One of Israel” in 1:4.

[32:3]  ⁶ tn Heb “Eyes that see.”

[32:3]  ⁷ tn The Hebrew text as vocalized reads literally “will not gaze,” but this is contradictory to the context. The verb form should be revocalized as תְּשֹׁעֶינָה (tÿsho’enah) from שָׁעַע (sha’a’, “be blinded”); see Isa 6:10; 29:9.

[32:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “ears that hear.”

[42:16]  ⁹ tn Heb “a way they do not know” (so NASB); NRSV “a road they do not know.”

[42:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in paths they do not know I will make them walk.”

[42:16]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the rough ground into a level place.”

[42:17]  ¹² tn Heb “be ashamed with shame”; ASV, NASB “be utterly put to shame.”

[42:18]  ¹³ tn Heb “look to see”; NAB, NCV “look and see”; NRSV “look up and see.”

[60:1]  ¹⁴ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions).

[60:2]  ¹⁵ tn The verb “covers” is understood by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[60:2]  ¹⁶ tn Or “glory” (so most English versions); TEV “the brightness of his presence.”

[4:2]  ¹⁷ tn Here the Hebrew word צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah), usually translated “righteousness” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV, NLT; cf. NAB “justice”), has been rendered as “vindication” because it is the vindication of God’s people that is in view in the context. Cf. BDB 842 s.v. צְדָקָה 6; “righteousness as vindicated, justification, salvation, etc.”

[4:2]  ¹⁸ sn The point of the metaphor of healing wings is unclear. The sun seems to be compared to a bird. Perhaps the sun’s “wings” are its warm rays. “Healing” may refer to a reversal of the injury done by evildoers (see Mal 3:5).

[4:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “you will go out and skip about.”

[4:16]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 9:1.

[9:27]  ²¹ tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant in contemporary English and has not been translated.

[9:27]  ²² sn Have mercy on us is a request for healing. It is not owed to the men. They simply ask for God’s kind grace.

[9:27]  ²³ sn There was a tradition in Judaism that the Son of David (Solomon) had great powers of healing (Josephus, Ant. 8.2.5 [8.42-49]).

[9:28]  ²⁴ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[9:28]  ²⁵ tn Grk “to him, and Jesus.” This is a continuation of the previous sentence in Greek, but a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[11:5]  ²⁶ tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more. Two other conjunctions are omitted in this series.

[9:39]  ²⁷ tn Grk “And Jesus.” 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.

[9:39]  ²⁸ tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* W b sa^ms ac² mf) lack the words, “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him. Jesus said,” (vv. 38-39a). This is weighty evidence for the omission of these words. It is difficult to overstate the value of Ì⁷⁵ here, since it is the only currently available papyrus ms extant for the text of John 9:38-39. Further, א is an important and early Alexandrian witness for the omission. The versional testimony and codex W also give strong support to the omission. Nearly all other mss, however, include these words. The omission may have been occasioned by parablepsis (both vv. 37 and 39 begin with “Jesus said to him”), though it is difficult to account for such an error across such a wide variety of witnesses. On the other hand, the longer reading appears to be motivated by liturgical concerns (so R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:375), since the verb προσκυνέω (proskunew, “I worship”) is used in John 4:20-25 of worshiping God, and again with the same sense in 12:20. If these words were authentic here, this would be the only place in John’s Gospel where Jesus is the explicit object of προσκυνέω. Even if these words are not authentic, such an omission would nevertheless hardly diminish John’s high Christology (cf. 1:1; 5:18-23; 14:6-10; 20:28), nor the implicit worship of him by Thomas (20:28). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult, and the included words may reflect a very early tradition about the blind man’s response to Jesus.

[9:39]  ²⁹ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[9:40]  ³⁰ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[9:40]  ³¹ tn Grk “heard these things.”

[9:40]  ³² tn Grk “and said to him.”

[9:40]  ³³ tn Questions prefaced with μή (mh) in Greek anticipate a negative answer. This can sometimes be indicated by using a “tag” at the end in English (here the tag is “are we?”).

[9:41]  ³⁴ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[9:41]  ³⁵ tn Grk “you would not have sin.”

[9:41]  ³⁶ tn Grk “now because you say, ‘We see…’”

[9:41]  ³⁷ tn Or “your sin.”

[9:41]  ³⁸ sn Because you claim that you can see, your guilt remains. The blind man received sight physically, and this led him to see spiritually as well. But the Pharisees, who claimed to possess spiritual sight, were spiritually blinded. The reader might recall Jesus’ words to Nicodemus in 3:10, “Are you the teacher of Israel and don’t understand these things?” In other words, to receive Jesus was to receive the light of the world, to reject him was to reject the light, close one’s eyes, and become blind. This is the serious sin of which Jesus had warned before (8:21-24). The blindness of such people was incurable since they had rejected the only cure that exists (cf. 12:39-41).

[26:18]  ³⁹ sn To open their eyes so that they turn… Here is Luke’s most comprehensive report of Paul’s divine calling. His role was to call humanity to change their position before God and experience God’s forgiveness as a part of God’s family. The image of turning is a key one in the NT: Luke 1:79; Rom 2:19; 13:12; 2 Cor 4:6; 6:14; Eph 5:8; Col 1:12; 1 Thess 5:5. See also Luke 1:77-79; 3:3; 24:47.

[26:18]  ⁴⁰ tn BDAG 352-53 s.v. ἐξουσία 2 states, “Also of Satan’s power Ac 26:18.” It is also possible to translate this “the domain of Satan” (cf. BDAG 353 s.v. 6)

[26:18]  ⁴¹ tn Or “and an inheritance.”

[5:8]  ⁴² tn The verb “you are” is implied in the Greek text, but is supplied in the English translation to make it clear.

[5:9]  ⁴³ tc Several mss (Ì⁴⁶ D² Ψ Ï) have πνεύματος (pneumatos, “Spirit”) instead of φωτός (fwtos, “light”). Although most today regard φωτός as obviously original (UBS⁴ gives it an “A” rating), a case could be made that πνεύματος is what the author wrote. First, although this is largely a Byzantine reading (D² often, if not normally, assimilates to the Byzantine text), Ì⁴⁶ gives the reading much greater credibility. Internally, the φωτός at the end of v. 8 could have lined up above the πνεύματος in v. 9 in a scribe’s exemplar, thus occasioning dittography. (It is interesting to note that in both Ì⁴⁹ and א the two instances of φωτός line up.) However, written in a contracted form, as a nomen sacrum (pMnMs) – a practice found even in the earliest mss – πνεύματος would not have been easily confused with fwtos (there being only the last letter to occasion homoioteleuton rather than the last three). Further, the external evidence for φωτός is quite compelling (Ì⁴⁹ א A B D* F G P 33 81 1739 1881 2464 pc latt co); it is rather doubtful that the early and widespread witnesses all mistook πνεύματος for φωτός. In addition, πνεύματος can be readily explained as harking back to Gal 5:22 (“the fruit of the Spirit”). Thus, on balance, φωτός appears to be original, giving rise to the reading πνεύματος.

[5:9]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “in.” The idea is that the fruit of the light is “expressed in” or “consists of.”

[5:10]  ⁴⁵ tn BDAG 255 s.v. δοκιμάζω 1 translates δοκιμάζοντες (dokimazonte") in Eph 5:10 as “try to learn.”

[5:11]  ⁴⁶ tn The Greek conjunction καὶ (kai) seems to be functioning here ascensively, (i.e., “even”), but is difficult to render in this context using good English. It may read something like: “but rather even expose them!”

[5:11]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “rather even expose.”

[5:12]  ⁴⁸ tn The participle τὰ…γινόμενα (ta…ginomena) usually refers to “things happening” or “things which are,” but with the following genitive phrase ὑπ᾿ αὐτῶν (Jup’ autwn), which indicates agency, the idea seems to be “things being done.” This passive construction was translated as an active one to simplify the English style.

[5:14]  ⁴⁹ sn The following passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.

[5:14]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “Rise up.”

[5:14]  ⁵¹ tn The articular nominative participle ὁ καθεύδων (Jo kaqeudwn) is probably functioning as a nominative for vocative. Thus, it has been translated as “O sleeper.”

[5:14]  ⁵² sn A composite quotation, possibly from Isa 26:19, 51:17, 52:1, and 60:1.

[5:1]  ⁵³ tn Or “become.”

[5:5]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “be knowing this.” See also 2 Pet 1:20 for a similar phrase: τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες (touto prwton ginwskonte").

[5:6]  ⁵⁵ sn The expression sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” In this context it refers to “all those who are disobedient.” Cf. Eph 2:2-3.

[5:1]  ⁵⁶ tn Or “become.”

[2:9]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “not as a result of.”

[2:9]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”

[2:1]  ⁵⁹ tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.

[2:1]  ⁶⁰ sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.

[2:8]  ⁶¹ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ⁶² tc The feminine article is found before πίστεως (pistews, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Ψ 1881 pc. Perhaps for some scribes the article was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως (dia th" pistew") is used for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Rom 3:30, 31; Gal 3:14; Eph 3:17; Col 2:12). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א B D* F G P 0278 6 33 1739 al bo) lack the article. Hence, both text-critically and exegetically, the meaning of the text here is most likely “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.” Regarding the textual problem, the lack of the article is the preferred reading.

[2:9]  ⁶³ tn Or “not as a result of.”

[2:9]  ⁶⁴ tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”

[2:10]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).