32:11 Rejoice in the Lord and be happy, you who are godly!
Shout for joy, all you who are morally upright! 3
46:10 who announces the end from the beginning
and reveals beforehand 4 what has not yet occurred,
who says, ‘My plan will be realized,
I will accomplish what I desire,’
46:11 who summons an eagle 5 from the east,
from a distant land, one who carries out my plan.
Yes, I have decreed, 6
yes, I will bring it to pass;
I have formulated a plan,
yes, I will carry it out.
23:22 But if they had stood in my inner circle, 7
they would have proclaimed my message to my people.
They would have caused my people to turn from their wicked ways
and stop doing the evil things they are doing.
15:1 “I am the true vine 21 and my Father is the gardener. 22
1 tn Or “you killed.”
2 tn Grk “at the hands of lawless men.” At this point the term ἄνομος (anomo") refers to non-Jews who live outside the Jewish (Mosaic) law, rather than people who broke any or all laws including secular laws. Specifically it is a reference to the Roman soldiers who carried out Jesus’ crucifixion.
3 tn Heb “all [you] pure of heart.” The “heart” is here viewed as the seat of one’s moral character and motives. The “pure of heart” are God’s faithful followers who trust in and love the
4 tn Or “from long ago”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “from ancient times.”
5 tn Or, more generally, “a bird of prey” (so NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV; see 18:6).
6 tn Heb “spoken”; KJV “I have spoken it.”
7 tn Or “had been my confidant.” See the note on v. 18.
8 tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).
9 sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.
10 tc Most
11 sn See the note on Pharisees in 5:17.
12 tn That is, the experts in the interpretation of the Mosaic law (see also Luke 5:17, although the Greek term is not identical there, and Luke 10:25, where it is the same).
13 tn Or “plan.”
14 tn The participle βαπτισθέντες (baptisqente") has been translated as a causal adverbial participle; it could also be translated as means (“for themselves, by not having been baptized”). This is similar to the translation found in the NRSV.
15 tn Grk “by him”; the referent (John the Baptist) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
16 sn Luke 7:29-30 forms something of an aside by the author. To indicate this, they have been placed in parentheses.
17 tn See the note on the word “slaves” in 4:51.
18 tn Or “does not know.”
19 tn Grk “all things.”
20 tn Or “learned.”
21 sn I am the true vine. There are numerous OT passages which refer to Israel as a vine: Ps 80:8-16, Isa 5:1-7, Jer 2:21, Ezek 15:1-8, 17:5-10, 19:10-14, and Hos 10:1. The vine became symbolic of Israel, and even appeared on some coins issued by the Maccabees. The OT passages which use this symbol appear to regard Israel as faithless to Yahweh (typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT) and/or the object of severe punishment. Ezek 15:1-8 in particular talks about the worthlessness of wood from a vine (in relation to disobedient Judah). A branch cut from a vine is worthless except to be burned as fuel. This fits more with the statements about the disciples (John 15:6) than with Jesus’ description of himself as the vine. Ezek 17:5-10 contains vine imagery which refers to a king of the house of David, Zedekiah, who was set up as king in Judah by Nebuchadnezzar. Zedekiah allied himself to Egypt and broke his covenant with Nebuchadnezzar (and therefore also with God), which would ultimately result in his downfall (17:20-21). Ezek 17:22-24 then describes the planting of a cedar sprig which grows into a lofty tree, a figurative description of Messiah. But it is significant that Messiah himself is not described in Ezek 17 as a vine, but as a cedar tree. The vine imagery here applies to Zedekiah’s disobedience. Jesus’ description of himself as the true vine in John 15:1 ff. is to be seen against this background, but it differs significantly from the imagery surveyed above. It represents new imagery which differs significantly from OT concepts; it appears to be original with Jesus. The imagery of the vine underscores the importance of fruitfulness in the Christian life and the truth that this results not from human achievement, but from one’s position in Christ. Jesus is not just giving some comforting advice, but portraying to the disciples the difficult path of faithful service. To some degree the figure is similar to the head-body metaphor used by Paul, with Christ as head and believers as members of the body. Both metaphors bring out the vital and necessary connection which exists between Christ and believers.
22 tn Or “the farmer.”
23 tn BDAG 276 s.v. ἑδραῖος suggests “firm, steadfast.”
24 tn BDAG 639 s.v. μετακινέω suggests “without shifting from the hope” here.
25 tn Grk “in whom,” as a continuation of the previous verse.
26 tn Grk “we were appointed by lot.” The notion of the verb κληρόω (klhrow) in the OT was to “appoint a portion by lot” (the more frequent cognate verb κληρονομέω [klhronomew] meant “obtain a portion by lot”). In the passive, as here, the idea is that “we were appointed [as a portion] by lot” (BDAG 548 s.v. κληρόω 1). The words “God’s own” have been supplied in the translation to clarify this sense of the verb. An alternative interpretation is that believers receive a portion as an inheritance: “In Christ we too have been appointed a portion of the inheritance.” See H. W. Hoehner, Ephesians, 226-27, for discussion on this interpretive issue.