36:5 O Lord, your loyal love reaches to the sky; 3
your faithfulness to the clouds. 4
40:10 I have not failed to tell about your justice; 5
I spoke about your reliability and deliverance;
I have not neglected to tell the great assembly about your loyal love and faithfulness. 6
86:15 But you, O Lord, are a compassionate and merciful God.
You are patient 7 and demonstrate great loyal love and faithfulness. 8
89:2 For I say, “Loyal love is permanently established; 9
in the skies you set up your faithfulness.” 10
92:2 It is fitting 11 to proclaim your loyal love in the morning,
and your faithfulness during the night,
100:5 For the Lord is good.
His loyal love endures, 12
and he is faithful through all generations. 13
138:2 I will bow down toward your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name,
because of your loyal love and faithfulness,
for you have exalted your promise above the entire sky. 14
146:6 the one who made heaven and earth,
the sea, and all that is in them,
who remains forever faithful, 15
25:1 O Lord, you are my God! 16
I will exalt you in praise, I will extol your fame. 17
For you have done extraordinary things,
and executed plans made long ago exactly as you decreed. 18
3:23 They are fresh 19 every morning;
your faithfulness is abundant! 20
7:20 You will be loyal to Jacob
and extend your loyal love to Abraham, 21
which you promised on oath to our ancestors 22
in ancient times. 23
3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee 26 named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, 27
1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, 28 have not ceased praying for you and asking God 29 to fill 30 you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,
1 tn Heb “the God.” The article here expresses uniqueness; cf. TEV “is the only God”; NLT “is indeed God.”
2 tn Heb “who keeps covenant and loyalty.” The syndetic construction of בְּרִית (bÿrit) and חֶסֶד (khesed) should be understood not as “covenant” plus “loyalty” but as an adverbial construction in which חֶסֶד (“loyalty”) modifies the verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “keeps”).
3 tn Heb “[is] in the heavens.”
4 sn The Lord’s loyal love/faithfulness is almost limitless. He is loyal and faithful to his creation and blesses mankind and the animal kingdom with physical life and sustenance (vv. 6-9).
5 tn Heb “your justice I have not hidden in the midst of my heart.”
6 tn Heb “I have not hidden your loyal love and reliability.”
7 tn Heb “slow to anger.”
8 tn Heb “and great of loyal love and faithfulness.”
9 tn Heb “built.”
10 sn You set up your faithfulness. This may allude to the Lord’s heavenly throne, which symbolizes his just rule and from which the Lord decrees his unconditional promises (see vv. 8, 14).
11 tn The words “it is fitting” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. Verses 1-3 are actually one long sentence in the Hebrew text, but this has been divided up into two shorter sentences in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style.
12 tn Or “is forever.”
13 tn Heb “and to a generation and a generation [is] his faithfulness.”
14 tc The MT reads, “for you have made great over all your name your word.” If retained, this must mean that God's mighty intervention, in fulfillment of his word of promise, surpassed anything he had done prior to this. However, the statement is odd and several emendations have been proposed. Some read, “for you have exalted over everything your name and your word,” while others suggest, “for you have exalted over all the heavens your name and your word.” The translation assumes an emendation of “your name” to “your heavens” (a construction that appears in Pss 8:3 and 144:5). The point is that God has been faithful to his promise and the reliability of that promise is apparent to all. For a fuller discussion of these options, see L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 244.
15 tn Heb “the one who guards faithfulness forever.”
16 sn The prophet speaks here as one who has observed the coming judgment of the proud.
17 tn Heb “name.” See the note at 24:15.
18 tn Heb “plans from long ago [in] faithfulness, trustworthiness.” The feminine noun אֱמוּנָה (’emunah, “faithfulness”) and masculine noun אֹמֶן (’omen, “trustworthiness”), both of which are derived from the root אָמַן (’aman), are juxtaposed to emphasize the basic idea conveyed by the synonyms. Here they describe the absolute reliability of the divine plans.
19 tn Heb “they are new.”
20 tn The adjective רַב (rav) has a broad range of meanings: (1) quantitative: “much, numerous, many (with plurals), abundant, enough, exceedingly” and (2) less often in a qualitative sense: “great” (a) of space and location, (b) “strong” as opposed to “weak” and (c) “major.” The traditional translation, “great is thy faithfulness,” is less likely than the quantitative sense: “your faithfulness is abundant” [or, “plentiful”]. NJPS is on target in its translation: “Ample is your grace!”
21 tn More literally, “You will extend loyalty to Jacob, and loyal love to Abraham.
22 tn Heb “our fathers.” The Hebrew term refers here to more distant ancestors, not immediate parents.
23 tn Heb “which you swore [or, “pledged”] to our fathers from days of old.”
24 tn “But” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the implied contrast between the Mosaic law and grace through Jesus Christ. John 1:17 seems to indicate clearly that the Old Covenant (Sinai) was being contrasted with the New. In Jewish sources the Law was regarded as a gift from God (Josephus, Ant. 3.8.10 [3.223]; Pirqe Avot 1.1; Sifre Deut 31:4 §305). Further information can be found in T. F. Glasson, Moses in the Fourth Gospel (SBT).
25 tn Or “is true.”
26 sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.
27 tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).
28 tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.
29 tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.
30 tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.
31 tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).
32 tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.
33 tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
34 tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”
35 tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these
36 tn The article τοῖς (tois) with παραπτώμασιν (paraptwmasin) is functioning as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215).
37 tn The word “nevertheless,” though not in the Greek text, was supplied in the translation to bring out the force of the concessive participle ὄντας (ontas).
38 tn Grk “before eternal ages.”
39 tn Grk “in which.”
40 tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”
41 tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.