2 Kings 6:12

6:12 One of his advisers said, “No, my master, O king. The prophet Elisha who lives in Israel keeps telling the king of Israel the things you say in your bedroom.”

Genesis 18:17

18:17 Then the Lord said, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do? ¹ 

Genesis 18:2

18:2 Abraham ²  looked up ³  and saw ⁴  three men standing across ⁵  from him. When he saw them ⁶  he ran from the entrance of the tent to meet them and bowed low ⁷  to the ground. ⁸ 

Genesis 7:3

7:3 and also seven ⁹  of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, ¹⁰  to preserve their offspring ¹¹  on the face of the earth.

Amos 3:7

3:7 Certainly the sovereign Lord does nothing without first revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.

John 15:15

15:15 I no longer call you slaves, ¹²  because the slave does not understand ¹³  what his master is doing. But I have called you friends, because I have revealed to you everything ¹⁴  I heard ¹⁵  from my Father.

¹ tn The active participle here refers to an action that is imminent.

² tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes.”

⁴ tn Heb “and saw, and look.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) draws attention to what he saw. The drawn-out description focuses the reader’s attention on Abraham’s deliberate, fixed gaze and indicates that what he is seeing is significant.

⁵ tn The Hebrew preposition עַל (’al) indicates the three men were nearby, but not close by, for Abraham had to run to meet them.

⁶ tn The pronoun “them” has been supplied in the translation for clarification. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.

⁷ tn The form וַיִּשְׁתַּחוּ (vayyishtakhu, “and bowed low”) is from the verb הִשְׁתַּחֲוָה (hishtakhavah, “to worship, bow low to the ground”). It is probably from a root חָוָה (khavah), though some derive it from שָׁחָה (shakhah).

⁸ sn The reader knows this is a theophany. The three visitors are probably the Lord and two angels (see Gen 19:1). It is not certain how soon Abraham recognized the true identity of the visitors. His actions suggest he suspected this was something out of the ordinary, though it is possible that his lavish treatment of the visitors was done quite unwittingly. Bowing down to the ground would be reserved for obeisance of kings or worship of the Lord. Whether he was aware of it or not, Abraham’s action was most appropriate.

⁹ tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).

¹⁰ tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).

¹¹ tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”

¹² tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.

¹³ tn Or “does not know.”

¹⁴ tn Grk “all things.”

¹⁵ tn Or “learned.”