James 1:12

1:12 Happy is the one ¹  who endures testing, because when he has proven to be genuine, he will receive the crown of life that God ²  promised to those who love him.

Psalms 94:12

94:12 How blessed is the one ³  whom you instruct, O Lord,

the one whom you teach from your law,

Matthew 5:10-11

5:10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to them.

5:11 “Blessed are you when people ⁴  insult you and persecute you and say all kinds of evil things about you falsely ⁵  on account of me.

Matthew 10:22

10:22 And you will be hated by everyone because of my name. But the one who endures to the end will be saved.

Hebrews 3:6

3:6 But Christ ⁶  is faithful as a son over God’s ⁷  house. We are of his house, ⁸  if in fact we hold firmly ⁹  to our confidence and the hope we take pride in. ¹⁰ 

Hebrews 3:14

3:14 For we have become partners with Christ, if in fact we hold our initial confidence ¹¹  firm until the end.

Hebrews 10:39

10:39 But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls. ¹² 

¹ tn The word for “man” or “individual” here is ἀνήρ (anhr), which often means “male” or “man (as opposed to woman).” However, as BDAG 79 s.v. 2 says, here it is “equivalent to τὶς someone, a person.”

² tc Most mss ([C] P 0246 Ï) read ὁ κύριος (Jo kurio", “the Lord”) here, while others have ὁ θεός (Jo qeo", “God”; 4 33^vid 323 945 1739 al). However, several important and early witnesses (̲³ א A B Ψ 81 co) have no explicit subject. In light of the scribal tendency toward clarification, and the fact that both κύριος and θεός are well represented, there can be no doubt that the original text had no explicit subject. The referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity, not because of textual basis.

³ tn Heb “[Oh] the happiness [of] the man.” Hebrew wisdom literature often assumes and reflects the male-oriented perspective of ancient Israelite society. The principle of the psalm is certainly applicable to all people, regardless of their gender or age. To facilitate modern application, we translate the gender and age specific “man” with the more neutral “one.” The generic masculine pronoun is used in v. 2.

⁴ tn Grk “when they insult you.” The third person pronoun (here implied in the verb ὀνειδίσωσιν [ojneidiswsin]) has no specific referent, but refers to people in general.

⁵ tc Although ψευδόμενοι (yeudomenoi, “bearing witness falsely”) could be a motivated reading, clarifying that the disciples are unjustly persecuted, its lack in only D it sy^s Tert does not help its case. Since the Western text is known for numerous free alterations, without corroborative evidence the shorter reading must be judged as secondary.

⁶ sn The Greek makes the contrast between v. 5 and v. 6a more emphatic and explicit than is easily done in English.

⁷ tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

⁸ tn Grk “whose house we are,” continuing the previous sentence.

⁹ tc The reading adopted by the translation is found in Ì^13,46 B sa, while the vast majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) add μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν (mecri telou" bebaian, “secure until the end”). The external evidence for the omission, though minimal, has excellent credentials. Considering the internal factors, B. M. Metzger (TCGNT 595) finds it surprising that the feminine adjective βεβαίαν should modify the neuter noun καύχημα (kauchma, here translated “we take pride”), a fact that suggests that even the form of the word was borrowed from another place. Since the same phrase occurs at Heb 3:14, it is likely that later scribes added it here at Heb 3:6 in anticipation of Heb 3:14. While these words belong at 3:14, they seem foreign to 3:6.

¹⁰ tn Grk “the pride of our hope.”

¹¹ tn Grk “the beginning of the confidence.”

¹² tn Grk “not…of shrinking back to perdition but of faith to the preservation of the soul.”