Genesis 18:1

Three Special Visitors

18:1 The Lord appeared to Abraham by the oaks of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent during the hottest time of the day.

Psalms 106:23

106:23 He threatened to destroy them,

but Moses, his chosen one, interceded with him

and turned back his destructive anger.

Jeremiah 15:1

15:1 Then the Lord said to me, “Even if Moses and Samuel stood before me pleading for these people, I would not feel pity for them! 10  Get them away from me! Tell them to go away! 11 

Jeremiah 18:20

18:20 Should good be paid back with evil?

Yet they are virtually digging a pit to kill me. 12 

Just remember how I stood before you

pleading on their behalf 13 

to keep you from venting your anger on them. 14 

Ezekiel 22:30

22:30 “I looked for a man from among them who would repair the wall and stand in the gap before me on behalf of the land, so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one. 15 

Acts 7:55

7:55 But Stephen, 16  full 17  of the Holy Spirit, looked intently 18  toward heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing 19  at the right hand of God.

Acts 7:1

Stephen’s Defense Before the Council

7:1 Then the high priest said, “Are these things true?” 20 

Acts 2:1

The Holy Spirit and the Day of Pentecost

2:1 Now 21  when the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place.


tn Heb “him”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

tn Or “terebinths.”

tn The disjunctive clause here is circumstantial to the main clause.

tn The Hebrew noun translated “entrance” is an adverbial accusative of place.

tn Heb “and he said.”

tn Heb “if not,” that is, “[and would have] if [Moses] had not.”

tn Heb “stood in the gap before him.”

tn Heb “to turn back his anger from destroying.”

tn The words “pleading for” have been supplied in the translation to explain the idiom (a metonymy). For parallel usage see BDB 763 s.v. עָמַד Qal.1.a and compare usage in Gen 19:27, Deut 4:10.

10 tn Heb “my soul would not be toward them.” For the usage of “soul” presupposed here see BDB 660 s.v. נֶפֶשׁ 6 in the light of the complaints and petitions in Jeremiah’s prayer in 14:19, 21.

11 tn Heb “Send them away from my presence and let them go away.”

12 tn Or “They are plotting to kill me”; Heb “They have dug a pit for my soul.” This is a common metaphor for plotting against someone. See BDB 500 s.v. כָּרָה Qal and for an example see Pss 7:16 (7:15 HT) in its context.

13 tn Heb “to speak good concerning them” going back to the concept of “good” being paid back with evil.

14 tn Heb “to turn back your anger from them.”

15 tn Heb “I did not find.”

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

17 tn Grk “being full,” but the participle ὑπάρχων (Juparcwn) has not been translated since it would be redundant in English.

18 tn Grk “looking intently toward heaven, saw.” The participle ἀτενίσας (atenisa") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

19 sn The picture of Jesus standing (rather than seated) probably indicates his rising to receive his child. By announcing his vision, Stephen thoroughly offended his audience, who believed no one could share God’s place in heaven. The phrase is a variation on Ps 110:1.

20 tn Grk “If it is so concerning these things” (see BDAG 422 s.v. ἔχω 10.a for this use).

21 tn Grk “And” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. Greek style often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” but English style does not.