59:20 “A protector 1 comes to Zion,
to those in Jacob who repent of their rebellious deeds,” 2 says the Lord.
59:21 “As for me, this is my promise to 3 them,” says the Lord. “My spirit, who is upon you, and my words, which I have placed in your mouth, will not depart from your mouth or from the mouths of your children and descendants from this time forward,” 4 says the Lord.
2:11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. 30 2:12 It trains us 31 to reject godless ways 32 and worldly desires and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 2:13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing 33 of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. 34 2:14 He 35 gave himself for us to set us free from every kind of lawlessness and to purify for himself a people who are truly his, 36 who are eager to do good. 37
2:1 But as for you, communicate the behavior that goes with 38 sound teaching.
3:8 This saying 42 is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on such truths, 43 so that those who have placed their faith in God may be intent on engaging in good works. These things are good and beneficial for all people.
1:24 Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, 44 and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, 45 without blemish 46 before his glorious presence, 47
1 tn Or “redeemer.” See the note at 41:14.
2 tn Heb “and to those who turn from rebellion in Jacob.”
3 tn Or “my covenant with” (so many English versions); NCV “my agreement with.”
4 tn Heb “from now and on into the future.”
5 sn The covenant formula setting forth the basic relationship is reinstituted along with a new covenant (v. 40). See also 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and the study note on 30:22.
6 tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the
7 tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.
8 tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”
9 tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.
10 tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.
11 tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).
12 sn Compare Jer 31:34; Ezek 36:25, 33.
13 tn Heb “And it [the city] will be to me for a name for joy and for praise and for honor before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good things which I will do for them and which will be in awe and tremble for all the good things and all the peace [or prosperity] which I will do for them.” The long complex Hebrew sentence has been broken down to better conform with contemporary English style.
14 tc The MT reads “you”; many Hebrew
15 tn Heb “their flesh.”
16 tn Heb “heart of flesh.”
17 sn The expression They will be my people, and I will be their God occurs as a promise to Abraham (Gen 17:8), Moses (Exod 6:7), and the nation (Exod 29:45).
18 sn The Lord here uses a metaphor from the realm of ritual purification. For the use of water in ritual cleansing, see Exod 30:19-20; Lev 14:51; Num 19:18; Heb 10:22.
19 sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is stubborn and unresponsive (see 1 Sam 25:37). In Rabbinic literature a “stone” was associated with an evil inclination (b. Sukkah 52a).
20 sn That is, a heart which symbolizes a will that is responsive and obedient to God.
21 tn Or “in the midst of you.” The word “you” is plural.
22 tn Heb “and I will do that which in my statutes you will walk.” The awkward syntax (verb “to do, act” + accusative sign + relative clause + prepositional phrase + second person verb) is unique, though Eccl 3:14 contains a similar construction. In the last line of that verse we read that “God acts so that (relative pronoun) they fear before him.” However, unlike Ezek 36:27, the statement has no accusative sign before the relative pronoun.
23 tn Heb “and my laws you will guard and you will do them.” Jer 31:31-34 is parallel to this passage.
24 sn This promise reflects the ancient covenantal ideal (see Exod 6:7).
25 tn Grk “you will call his name.”
26 sn The Greek form of the name Ihsous, which was translated into Latin as Jesus, is the same as the Hebrew Yeshua (Joshua), which means “Yahweh saves” (Yahweh is typically rendered as “Lord” in the OT). It was a fairly common name among Jews in 1st century Palestine, as references to a number of people by this name in the LXX and Josephus indicate.
27 tn The direct object “her” is implied, but not found in the Greek text. It has been supplied in the English translation to clarify the sense of the passage.
28 tn The use of the pronoun αὐτός (autos) is intensive and focuses attention on Christ as the one who has made the church glorious.
29 tn Grk “but in order that it may be holy and blameless.”
30 tn Grk “all men”; but ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpois) is generic here, referring to both men and women.
31 tn Grk “training us” (as a continuation of the previous clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started at the beginning of v. 12 by translating the participle παιδεύουσα (paideuousa) as a finite verb and supplying the pronoun “it” as subject.
32 tn Grk “ungodliness.”
33 tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”
34 tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.
35 tn Grk “who” (as a continuation of the previous clause).
36 tn Or “a people who are his very own.”
37 tn Grk “for good works.”
38 tn Grk “say what is fitting for sound teaching” (introducing the behavior called for in this chapter.).
39 tn Or “on us richly.”
40 tn This is the conclusion of a single, skillfully composed sentence in Greek encompassing Titus 3:4-7. Showing the goal of God’s merciful salvation, v. 7 begins literally, “in order that, being justified…we might become heirs…”
41 tn Grk “heirs according to the hope of eternal life.”
42 sn This saying (Grk “the saying”) refers to the preceding citation (Titus 3:4-7). See 1 Tim 1:15; 3:1; 4:9; 2 Tim 2:11 for other occurrences of this phrase.
43 tn Grk “concerning these things.”
44 tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “free from falling” is the adjectival complement.
45 tn Grk “with rejoicing.” The prepositional clause is placed after “his glorious presence” in Greek, but most likely goes with “cause you to stand.”
46 tn The construction in Greek is a double accusative object-complement. “You” is the object and “without blemish” is the adjectival complement.
47 tn Or “in the presence of his glory,” “before his glory.”