Hebrews 6:20

6:20 where Jesus our forerunner entered on our behalf, since he became a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. ¹ 

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. ² 

Joshua 5:14-15

5:14 He answered, ³  “Truly I am the commander of the Lord’s army. ⁴  Now I have arrived!” ⁵  Joshua bowed down with his face to the ground ⁶  and asked, “What does my master want to say to his servant?” 5:15 The commander of the Lord’s army answered Joshua, “Remove your sandals from your feet, because the place where you stand is holy.” Joshua did so.

Isaiah 55:4

55:4 Look, I made him a witness to nations, ⁷ 

a ruler and commander of nations.”

Micah 2:13

2:13 The one who can break through barriers will lead them out ⁸ 

they will break out, pass through the gate, and leave. ⁹ 

Their king will advance ¹⁰  before them,

The Lord himself will lead them. ¹¹ 

Acts 3:15

3:15 You killed ¹²  the Originator ¹³  of life, whom God raised ¹⁴  from the dead. To this fact we are witnesses! ¹⁵ 

Acts 5:31

5:31 God exalted him ¹⁶  to his right hand as Leader ¹⁷  and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. ¹⁸ 

¹ sn A quotation from Ps 110:4, picked up again from Heb 5:6, 10.

² sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.

³ tc Heb “He said, “Neither.” An alternative reading is לוֹ (lo, “[He said] to him”; cf. NEB). This reading is supported by many Hebrew mss, as well as the LXX and Syriac versions. The traditional reading of the MT (לֹא, lo’, “no, neither”) is probably the product of aural confusion (the two variant readings sound the same in Hebrew). Although followed by a number of modern translations (cf. NIV, NRSV), this reading is problematic, for the commander of the Lord’s army would hardly have declared himself neutral.

⁴ sn The Lord’s heavenly army, like an earthly army, has a commander who leads the troops. For the phrase שַׂר־צְבָא (sar-tsÿva’, “army commander”) in the human sphere, see among many other references Gen 21:22, 32; 26:26; Judg 4:2, 7; 1 Sam 12:9.

⁵ sn The commander’s appearance seems to be for Joshua’s encouragement. Joshua could now lead Israel into battle knowing that the Lord’s invisible army would ensure victory.

⁶ tn Heb “Joshua fell on his face to the ground and bowed down.”

⁷ sn Ideally the Davidic king was to testify to the nations of God’s greatness (cf. Pss 18:50 HT [18:49 ET]; 22:28 HT [22:27 ET]). See J. H. Eaton, Kingship in the Psalms (SBT), 182-84.

⁸ tn Heb “the one who breaks through goes up before them.” The verb form is understood as a perfect of certitude, emphasizing the certainty of this coming event.

⁹ tn The three verb forms (a perfect and two preterites with vav [ו] consecutive) indicate certitude.

¹⁰ tn The verb form (a preterite with vav [ו] consecutive) indicates certitude.

¹¹ tn Heb “the Lord [will be] at their head.”

¹² tn Or “You put to death.”

¹³ tn Or “Founder,” “founding Leader.”

¹⁴ sn Whom God raised. God is the main actor here, as he testifies to Jesus and vindicates him.

¹⁵ 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.

¹⁶ tn Grk “This one God exalted” (emphatic).

¹⁷ tn Or “Founder” (of a movement).

¹⁸ tn Or “to give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”