Daniel 10:21

10:21 However, I will first tell you what is written in a dependable book. ¹  (There is no one who strengthens me against these princes, ²  except Michael your ³  prince.

Mark 12:10

12:10 Have you not read this scripture:

‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. ⁴ 

John 7:38

7:38 let the one who believes in me drink. ⁵  Just as the scripture says, ‘From within him ⁶  will flow rivers of living water.’” ⁷ 

Acts 1:16

1:16 “Brothers, ⁸  the scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through ⁹  David concerning Judas – who became the guide for those who arrested Jesus –

Acts 1:2

1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, ¹⁰  after he had given orders ¹¹  by ¹²  the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

Acts 3:16

3:16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ ¹³  name, ¹⁴  his very name has made this man – whom you see and know – strong. The ¹⁵  faith that is through Jesus ¹⁶  has given him this complete health in the presence ¹⁷  of you all.

Acts 3:2

3:2 And a man lame ¹⁸  from birth ¹⁹  was being carried up, who was placed at the temple gate called “the Beautiful Gate” every day ²⁰  so he could beg for money ²¹  from those going into the temple courts. ²² 

Acts 1:20

1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, ‘Let his house become deserted, ²³  and let there be no one to live in it,’ ²⁴  and ‘Let another take his position of responsibility.’ ²⁵ 

Acts 3:16

3:16 And on the basis of faith in Jesus’ ²⁶  name, ²⁷  his very name has made this man – whom you see and know – strong. The ²⁸  faith that is through Jesus ²⁹  has given him this complete health in the presence ³⁰  of you all.

¹ tn Heb “a book of truth.” Several English versions treat this as a title of some sort (cf. NIV, NCV, TEV, CEV, NLT), although the NAB’s rendering “the truthful book” regards “truth” as an attributive adjective, as does the present translation.

² tn The word “princes” is supplied for clarity.

³ tn The pronoun is plural in Hebrew, suggesting that Michael is the angelic prince of Daniel and his people.

⁴ tn Or “capstone,” “keystone.” Although these meanings are lexically possible, the imagery in Eph 2:20-22 and 1 Cor 3:11 indicates that the term κεφαλὴ γωνίας (kefalh gwnia") refers to a cornerstone, not a capstone.

⁵ tn An alternate way of punctuating the Greek text of vv. 37-38 results in this translation: “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. The one who believes in me, just as the scripture says, ‘From within him will flow rivers of living water.’” John 7:37-38 has been the subject of considerable scholarly debate. Certainly Jesus picks up on the literal water used in the ceremony and uses it figuratively. But what does the figure mean? According to popular understanding, it refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit to dwell in the believer. There is some difficulty in locating an OT text which speaks of rivers of water flowing from within such a person, but Isa 58:11 is often suggested: “The Lord will continually lead you, he will feed you even in parched regions. He will give you renewed strength, and you will be like a well-watered garden, like a spring that continually produces water.” Other passages which have been suggested are Prov 4:23 and 5:15; Isa 44:3 and 55:1; Ezek 47:1 ff.; Joel 3:18; and Zech 13:1 and 14:8. The meaning in this case is that when anyone comes to believe in Jesus the scriptures referring to the activity of the Holy Spirit in a person’s life are fulfilled. “When the believer comes to Christ and drinks he not only slakes his thirst but receives such an abundant supply that veritable rivers flow from him” (L. Morris, John [NICNT], 424-25). In other words, with this view, the believer himself becomes the source of the living water. This is the traditional understanding of the passage, often called the “Eastern interpretation” following Origen, Athanasius, and the Greek Fathers. It is supported by such modern scholars as Barrett, Behm, Bernard, Cadman, Carson, R. H. Lightfoot, Lindars, Michaelis, Morris, Odeberg, Schlatter, Schweizer, C. H. Turner, M. M. B. Turner, Westcott, and Zahn. In addition it is represented by the following Greek texts and translations: KJV, RSV, NASB, NA²⁷, and UBS⁴. D. A. Carson, John, 322-29, has a thorough discussion of the issues and evidence although he opts for the previous interpretation. There is another interpretation possible, however, called the “Western interpretation” because of patristic support by Justin, Hippolytus, Tertullian, and Irenaeus. Modern scholars who favor this view are Abbott, Beasley-Murray, Bishop, Boismard, Braun, Brown, Bullinger, Bultmann, Burney, Dodd, Dunn, Guilding, R. Harris, Hoskyns, Jeremias, Loisy, D. M. Stanley, Thüsing, N. Turner, and Zerwick. This view is represented by the translation in the RSV margin and by the NEB. It is also sometimes called the “christological interpretation” because it makes Jesus himself the source of the living water in v. 38, by punctuating as follows: (37b) ἐάν τι διψᾷ ἐρχέσθω πρός με, καὶ πινέτω (38) ὁ πιστεύων εἰς ἐμέ. Καθὼς εἶπεν ἡ γραφή, ποταμοὶ ἐκ τῆς κοιλίας αὐτοῦ ῥεύσουσιν ὕδατος ζῶντος. Three crucial questions are involved in the solution of this problem: (1) punctuation; (2) determining the antecedent of αὐτοῦ (autou); and (3) the source of the scripture quotation. With regard to (1) Ì⁶⁶ does place a full stop after πινέτω (pinetw), but this may be theologically motivated and could have been added later. Grammatical and stylistic arguments are inconclusive. More important is (2) the determination of the antecedent of αὐτοῦ. Can any other Johannine parallels be found which make the believer the source of the living water? John 4:14 is often mentioned in this regard, but unlike 4:14 the water here becomes a source for others also. Neither does 14:12 provide a parallel. Furthermore, such an interpretation becomes even more problematic in light of the explanation given in v. 39 that the water refers to the Holy Spirit, since it is extremely difficult to see the individual believer becoming the ‘source’ of the Spirit for others. On the other hand, the Gospel of John repeatedly places Jesus himself in this role as source of the living water: 4:10, of course, for the water itself; but according to 20:22 Jesus provides the Spirit (cf. 14:16). Furthermore, the symbolism of 19:34 is difficult to explain as anything other than a deliberate allusion to what is predicted here. This also explains why the Spirit cannot come to the disciples unless Jesus “departs” (16:7). As to (3) the source of the scripture quotation, M. E. Boismard has argued that John is using a targumic rendering of Ps 78:15-16 which describes the water brought forth from the rock in the wilderness by Moses (“Les citations targumiques dans le quatrième évangile,” RB 66 [1959]: 374-78). The frequency of Exodus motifs in the Fourth Gospel (paschal lamb, bronze serpent, manna from heaven) leads quite naturally to the supposition that the author is here drawing on the account of Moses striking the rock in the wilderness to bring forth water (Num 20:8 ff.). That such imagery was readily identified with Jesus in the early church is demonstrated by Paul’s understanding of the event in 1 Cor 10:4. Jesus is the Rock from which the living water – the Spirit – will flow. Carson (see note above) discusses this imagery although he favors the traditional or “Eastern” interpretation. In summary, the latter or “Western” interpretation is to be preferred.

⁶ tn Or “out of the innermost part of his person”; Grk “out of his belly.”

⁷ sn An OT quotation whose source is difficult to determine; Isa 44:3, 55:1, 58:11, and Zech 14:8 have all been suggested.

⁸ tn Grk “Men brothers.” In light of the compound phrase ἄνδρες ἀδελφοί (andre" adelfoi, “Men brothers”) Peter’s words are best understood as directly addressed to the males present, possibly referring specifically to the twelve (really ten at this point – eleven minus the speaker, Peter) mentioned by name in v. 13.

⁹ tn Grk “foretold by the mouth of.”

¹⁰ tn The words “to heaven” are not in the Greek text, but are supplied from v. 11. Several modern translations (NIV, NRSV) supply the words “to heaven” after “taken up” to specify the destination explicitly mentioned later in 1:11.

¹¹ tn Or “commands.” Although some modern translations render ἐντειλάμενος (enteilameno") as “instructions” (NIV, NRSV), the word implies authority or official sanction (G. Schrenk, TDNT 2:545), so that a word like “orders” conveys the idea more effectively. The action of the temporal participle is antecedent (prior) to the action of the verb it modifies (“taken up”).

¹² tn Or “through.”

¹³ tn Grk “in his name”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ sn Here is another example of appeal to the person by mentioning the name. See the note on the word name in 3:6.

¹⁵ tn Grk “see and know, and the faith.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated.

¹⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁷ tn Or “in full view.”

¹⁸ tn Or “crippled.”

¹⁹ tn Grk “from his mother’s womb.”

²⁰ tn BDAG 437 s.v. ἡμέρα 2.c has “every day” for this phrase.

²¹ tn Grk “alms.” The term “alms” is not in common use today, so what the man expected, “money,” is used in the translation instead. The idea is that of money given as a gift to someone who was poor. Giving alms was viewed as honorable in Judaism (Tob 1:3, 16; 12:8-9; m. Pe’ah 1:1). See also Luke 11:41; 12:33; Acts 9:36; 10:2, 4, 31; 24:17.

²² tn Grk “the temple.” This is actually a reference to the courts surrounding the temple proper, and has been translated accordingly.

²³ tn Or “uninhabited” or “empty.”

²⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 69:25.

²⁵ tn Or “Let another take his office.”

²⁶ tn Grk “in his name”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

²⁷ sn Here is another example of appeal to the person by mentioning the name. See the note on the word name in 3:6.

²⁸ tn Grk “see and know, and the faith.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation and καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated.

²⁹ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

³⁰ tn Or “in full view.”