Genesis 48:16

48:16 the Angel ¹  who has protected me ² 

from all harm –

bless these boys.

May my name be named in them, ³ 

and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac.

May they grow into a multitude on the earth.”

Proverbs 30:8

30:8 Remove falsehood and lies ⁴  far from me;

do not give me poverty or riches,

feed me with my allotted portion ⁵  of bread, ⁶ 

Matthew 6:13

6:13 And do not lead us into temptation, ⁷  but deliver us from the evil one. ⁸ 

Romans 12:9

Conduct in Love

12:9 Love must be ⁹  without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil, cling to what is good.

Romans 16:19

16:19 Your obedience is known to all and thus I rejoice over you. But I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

Romans 16:2

16:2 so that you may welcome her in the Lord in a way worthy of the saints and provide her with whatever help she may need from you, for she has been a great help to many, including me.

Romans 4:18

4:18 Against hope Abraham ¹⁰  believed ¹¹  in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations ¹²  according to the pronouncement, ¹³  “so will your descendants be.” ¹⁴ 

¹ sn The Samaritan Pentateuch reads “king” here, but the traditional reading (“angel”) may be maintained. Jacob closely associates God with an angelic protective presence. This does not mean that Jacob viewed his God as a mere angel, but it does suggest that he was aware of an angelic presence sent by God to protect him. Here he so closely associates the two that they become virtually indistinguishable. In this culture messengers typically carried the authority of the one who sent them and could even be addressed as such. Perhaps Jacob thought that the divine blessing would be mediated through this angelic messenger.

² tn The verb גָּאַל (ga’al) has the basic idea of “protect” as a near relative might do. It is used for buying someone out of bondage, marrying a deceased brother’s widow, paying off debts, avenging the family, and the like. The meanings of “deliver, protect, avenge” are most fitting when God is the subject (see A. R. Johnson, “The Primary Meaning of √גאל,” Congress Volume: Copenhagen, 1953 [VTSup], 67-77).

³ tn Or “be recalled through them.”

⁴ tn The two words might form a hendiadys: “falsehood and lies” being equivalent to “complete deception.” The word שָׁוְא means “false; empty; vain; to a false purpose.” The second word means “word of lying,” thus “a lying word.” Taken separately they might refer to false intentions and false words.

⁵ tn The word חֹק (khoq) means “statute”; it is also used of a definite assignment in labor (Exod 5:14; Prov 31:15), or of a set portion of food (Gen 47:22). Here it refers to food that is the proper proportion for the speaker.

⁶ sn Agur requested an honest life (not deceitful) and a balanced life (not self-sufficient). The second request about his provision is clarified in v. 9.

⁷ tn Or “into a time of testing.”

⁸ tc Most mss (L W Θ 0233 ˹³ 33 Ï sy sa Didache) read (though some with slight variation) ὅτι σοῦ ἐστιν ἡ βασιλεία καὶ ἡ δύναμις καὶ ἡ δόξα εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ἀμήν (“for yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen”) here. The reading without this sentence, though, is attested by generally better witnesses (א B D Z 0170 ˹ pc lat mae Or). The phrase was probably composed for the liturgy of the early church and most likely was based on 1 Chr 29:11-13; a scribe probably added the phrase at this point in the text for use in public scripture reading (see TCGNT 13-14). Both external and internal evidence argue for the shorter reading.

⁹ tn The verb “must be” is understood in the Greek text.

¹⁰ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Grk “who against hope believed,” referring to Abraham. The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

¹² sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.

¹³ tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”

¹⁴ sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.