Hebrews 12:2

12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. ¹ 

Psalms 68:18-20

68:18 You ascend on high, ² 

you have taken many captives. ³ 

You receive tribute ⁴  from ⁵  men,

including even sinful rebels.

Indeed the Lord God lives there! ⁶ 

68:19 The Lord deserves praise! ⁷ 

Day after day ⁸  he carries our burden,

the God who delivers us. (Selah)

68:20 Our God is a God who delivers;

the Lord, the sovereign Lord, can rescue from death. ⁹ 

Isaiah 45:22

45:22 Turn to me so you can be delivered, ¹⁰ 

all you who live in the earth’s remote regions!

For I am God, and I have no peer.

Isaiah 49:6

49:6 he says, “Is it too insignificant a task for you to be my servant,

to reestablish the tribes of Jacob,

and restore the remnant ¹¹  of Israel? ¹² 

I will make you a light to the nations, ¹³ 

so you can bring ¹⁴  my deliverance to the remote regions of the earth.”

Acts 3:15

3:15 You killed ¹⁵  the Originator ¹⁶  of life, whom God raised ¹⁷  from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! ¹⁸ 

Acts 4:12

4:12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among people ¹⁹  by which we must ²⁰  be saved.”

¹ sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.

² tn Heb “to the elevated place”; or “on high.” This probably refers to the Lord’s throne on Mount Zion.

³ tn Heb “you have taken captives captive.”

⁴ tn Or “gifts.”

⁵ tn Or “among.”

⁶ tn Heb “so that the Lord God might live [there].” Many take the infinitive construct with -לְ (lamed) as indicating purpose here, but it is unclear how the offering of tribute enables the Lord to live in Zion. This may be an occurrence of the relatively rare emphatic lamed (see HALOT 510-11 s.v. II לְ, though this text is not listed as an example there). If so, the statement corresponds nicely to the final line of v. 16, which also affirms emphatically that the Lord lives in Zion.

⁷ tn Heb “blessed [be] the Lord.”

⁸ tn It is possible to take this phrase with what precedes (“The Lord deserves praise day after day”) rather than with what follows.

⁹ tn Heb “and to the Lord, the Lord, to death, goings out.”

¹⁰ tn The Niphal imperative with prefixed vav (ו) indicates purpose after the preceding imperative. The Niphal probably has a tolerative sense, “allow yourselves to be delivered, accept help.”

¹¹ tn Heb “the protected [or “preserved”] ones.”

¹² sn The question is purely rhetorical; it does not imply that the servant was dissatisfied with his commission or that he minimized the restoration of Israel.

¹³ tn See the note at 42:6.

¹⁴ tn Heb “be” (so KJV, ASV); CEV “you must take.”

¹⁵ tn Or “You put to death.”

¹⁶ tn Or “Founder,” “founding Leader.”

¹⁷ sn Whom God raised. God is the main actor here, as he testifies to Jesus and vindicates him.

¹⁸ tn Grk “whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses.” The two consecutive relative clauses make for awkward English style, so the second was begun as a new sentence with the words “to this fact” supplied in place of the Greek relative pronoun to make a complete sentence in English.

¹⁹ tn Here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") has been translated as a generic noun (“people”).

²⁰ sn Must be saved. The term used here (δεῖ, dei, “it is necessary”) reflects the necessity set up by God’s directive plan.