7:1 The Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, for I consider you godly among this generation. 1 7:2 You must take with you seven 2 of every kind of clean animal, 3 the male and its mate, 4 two of every kind of unclean animal, the male and its mate, 7:3 and also seven 5 of every kind of bird in the sky, male and female, 6 to preserve their offspring 7 on the face of the earth. 7:4 For in seven days 8 I will cause it to rain 9 on the earth for forty days and forty nights, and I will wipe from the face of the ground every living thing that I have made.”
7:5 And Noah did all 10 that the Lord commanded him.
7:6 Noah 11 was 600 years old when the floodwaters engulfed 12 the earth. 7:7 Noah entered the ark along with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives because 13 of the floodwaters. 7:8 Pairs 14 of clean animals, of unclean animals, of birds, and of everything that creeps along the ground, 7:9 male and female, came into the ark to Noah, 15 just as God had commanded him. 16 7:10 And after seven days the floodwaters engulfed the earth. 17
7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month – on that day all the fountains of the great deep 18 burst open and the floodgates of the heavens 19 were opened. 7:12 And the rain fell 20 on the earth forty days and forty nights.
7:13 On that very day Noah entered the ark, accompanied by his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, along with his wife and his sons’ three wives. 21 7:14 They entered, 22 along with every living creature after its kind, every animal after its kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, everything with wings. 23 7:15 Pairs 24 of all creatures 25 that have the breath of life came into the ark to Noah. 7:16 Those that entered were male and female, 26 just as God commanded him. Then the Lord shut him in.
7:17 The flood engulfed the earth for forty days. As the waters increased, they lifted the ark and raised it above the earth. 7:18 The waters completely overwhelmed 27 the earth, and the ark floated 28 on the surface of the waters. 7:19 The waters completely inundated 29 the earth so that even 30 all the high mountains under the entire sky were covered. 7:20 The waters rose more than twenty feet 31 above the mountains. 32 7:21 And all living things 33 that moved on the earth died, including the birds, domestic animals, wild animals, all the creatures that swarm over the earth, and all humankind. 7:22 Everything on dry land that had the breath of life 34 in its nostrils died. 7:23 So the Lord 35 destroyed 36 every living thing that was on the surface of the ground, including people, animals, creatures that creep along the ground, and birds of the sky. 37 They were wiped off the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark survived. 38 7:24 The waters prevailed over 39 the earth for 150 days.
12:3 “Therefore, son of man, pack up your belongings as if for exile. During the day, while they are watching, pretend to go into exile. Go from where you live to another place. Perhaps they will understand, 49 although they are a rebellious house.
2:3 Seek the Lord’s favor, 50 all you humble people 51 of the land who have obeyed his commands! 52
Strive to do what is right! 53 Strive to be humble! 54
Maybe you will be protected 55 on the day of the Lord’s angry judgment.
2:25 Now 61 there was a man in Jerusalem 62 named Simeon who was righteous 63 and devout, looking for the restoration 64 of Israel, and the Holy Spirit 65 was upon him. 2:26 It 66 had been revealed 67 to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die 68 before 69 he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 70
1 tn Heb “for you I see [as] godly before me in this generation.” The direct object (“you”) is placed first in the clause to give it prominence. The verb “to see” here signifies God’s evaluative discernment.
2 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
3 sn For a study of the Levitical terminology of “clean” and “unclean,” see L. E. Toombs, IDB 1:643.
4 tn Heb “a male and his female” (also a second time at the end of this verse). The terms used here for male and female animals (אִישׁ, ’ish) and אִשָּׁה, ’ishah) normally refer to humans.
5 tn Or “seven pairs” (cf. NRSV).
6 tn Here (and in v. 9) the Hebrew text uses the normal generic terms for “male and female” (זָכָר וּנְקֵבָה, zakhar unÿqevah).
7 tn Heb “to keep alive offspring.”
8 tn Heb “for seven days yet,” meaning “after [or “in”] seven days.”
9 tn The Hiphil participle מַמְטִיר (mamtir, “cause to rain”) here expresses the certainty of the act in the imminent future.
10 tn Heb “according to all.”
11 tn Heb “Now Noah was.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + predicate nominative after implied “to be” verb) provides background information. The age of Noah receives prominence.
12 tn Heb “and the flood was water upon.” The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is circumstantial/temporal in relation to the preceding clause. The verb הָיָה (hayah) here carries the nuance “to come” (BDB 225 s.v. הָיָה). In this context the phrase “come upon” means “to engulf.”
13 tn The preposition מִן (min) is causal here, explaining why Noah and his family entered the ark.
14 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
15 tn The Hebrew text of vv. 8-9a reads, “From the clean animal[s] and from the animal[s] which are not clean and from the bird[s] and everything that creeps on the ground, two two they came to Noah to the ark, male and female.”
16 tn Heb “Noah”; the pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons.
17 tn Heb “came upon.”
18 tn The Hebrew term תְּהוֹם (tÿhom, “deep”) refers to the watery deep, the salty ocean – especially the primeval ocean that surrounds and underlies the earth (see Gen 1:2).
19 sn On the prescientific view of the sky reflected here, see L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World (AnBib), 46.
20 tn Heb “was.”
21 tn Heb “On that very day Noah entered, and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and the wife of Noah, and the three wives of his sons with him into the ark.”
22 tn The verb “entered” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.
23 tn Heb “every bird, every wing.”
24 tn Heb “two two” meaning “in twos.”
25 tn Heb “flesh.”
26 tn Heb “Those that went in, male and female from all flesh they went in.”
27 tn Heb “and the waters were great and multiplied exceedingly.” The first verb in the sequence is וַיִּגְבְּרוּ (vayyigbÿru, from גָּבַר, gavar), meaning “to become great, mighty.” The waters did not merely rise; they “prevailed” over the earth, overwhelming it.
28 tn Heb “went.”
29 tn Heb “and the waters were great exceedingly, exceedingly.” The repetition emphasizes the depth of the waters.
30 tn Heb “and.”
31 tn Heb “rose fifteen cubits.” Since a cubit is considered by most authorities to be about eighteen inches, this would make the depth 22.5 feet. This figure might give the modern reader a false impression of exactness, however, so in the translation the phrase “fifteen cubits” has been rendered “more than twenty feet.”
32 tn Heb “the waters prevailed fifteen cubits upward and they covered the mountains.” Obviously, a flood of twenty feet did not cover the mountains; the statement must mean the flood rose about twenty feet above the highest mountain.
33 tn Heb “flesh.”
34 tn Heb “everything which [has] the breath of the spirit of life in its nostrils from all which is in the dry land.”
35 tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the
36 tn Heb “wiped away” (cf. NRSV “blotted out”).
37 tn Heb “from man to animal to creeping thing and to the bird of the sky.”
38 tn The Hebrew verb שָׁאָר (sha’ar) means “to be left over; to survive” in the Niphal verb stem. It is the word used in later biblical texts for the remnant that escapes judgment. See G. F. Hasel, “Semantic Values of Derivatives of the Hebrew Root só’r,” AUSS 11 (1973): 152-69.
39 sn The Hebrew verb translated “prevailed over” suggests that the waters were stronger than the earth. The earth and everything in it were no match for the return of the chaotic deep.
40 tn Heb “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
41 tn The words “the food” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the verb has no stated object.
42 tn The disjunctive clause is a temporal circumstantial clause subordinate to the main verb.
43 tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.
44 tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.
45 tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.
46 tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.
47 tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”
48 tn Heb “keep” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV).
49 tn Heb “see.” This plays on the uses of “see” in v. 2. They will see his actions with their eyes and perhaps they will “see” with their mind, that is, understand or grasp the point.
50 tn Heb “seek the
51 tn Or “poor.” The precise referent of this Hebrew term is unclear. The word may refer to the economically poor or to the spiritually humble.
52 tn The present translation assumes the Hebrew term מִשְׁפָּט (mishpat) here refers to God’s covenantal requirements and is a synonym for the Law. The word can mean “justice” and could refer more specifically to the principles of justice contained in the Law. In this case the phrase could be translated, “who have promoted the justice God demands.”
53 tn Heb “Seek what is right.”
54 tn Heb “Seek humility.”
55 tn Heb “hidden.” Cf. NEB “it may be that you will find shelter”; NRSV “perhaps you may be hidden.”
56 tn Here δέ (de) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
57 tn Grk “my beloved son.” See comment at Luke 3:22.
58 tn Grk “and said, saying to him.” This is redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation.
59 tn On this phrase, see BDAG 844 s.v. ποῖος 2.a.γ.
60 sn The leadership is looking back to acts like the temple cleansing (19:45-48). How could a Galilean preacher do these things?
61 tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
62 map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.
63 tn Grk “This man was righteous.” The Greek text begins a new sentence here, but this was changed to a relative clause in the translation to avoid redundancy.
64 tn Or “deliverance,” “consolation.”
65 sn Once again, by mentioning the Holy Spirit, Luke stresses the prophetic enablement of a speaker. The Spirit has fallen on both men (Zechariah, 1:67) and women (Elizabeth, 1:41) in Luke 1–2 as they share the will of the Lord.
66 tn Grk “And it.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.
67 tn The use of the passive suggests a revelation by God, and in the OT the corresponding Hebrew term represented here by κεχρηματισμένον (kecrhmatismenon) indicated some form of direct revelation from God (Jer 25:30; 33:2; Job 40:8).
68 tn Grk “would not see death” (an idiom for dying).
69 tn On the grammar of this temporal clause, see BDF §§383.3; 395.
70 tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
71 tn Or “was a minister of Syria.” This term could simply refer to an administrative role Quirinius held as opposed to being governor (Josephus, Ant. 18.4.2 [18.88]). See also Luke 2:1.
72 sn Even now the ax is laid at the root of the trees. The imagery of an “ax already laid at the root of the trees” is vivid, connoting sudden and catastrophic judgment for the unrepentant and unfruitful. The image of “fire” serves to further heighten the intensity of the judgment referred to. It is John’s way of summoning all people to return to God with all their heart and avoid his unquenchable wrath soon to be poured out. John’s language and imagery is probably ultimately drawn from the OT where Israel is referred to as a fruitless vine (Hos 10:1-2; Jer 2:21-22) and the image of an “ax” is used to indicate God’s judgment (Ps 74:5-6; Jer 46:22).
73 tn Grk “is”; the present tense (ἐκκόπτεται, ekkoptetai) has futuristic force here.