Jeremiah 1:18

1:18 I, the Lord, ¹  hereby promise to make you ²  as strong as a fortified city, an iron pillar, and a bronze wall. You will be able to stand up against all who live in ³  the land, including the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests and all the people of the land.

Matthew 16:18-19

16:18 And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades ⁴  will not overpower it. 16:19 I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.”

Matthew 18:18

18:18 “I tell you the truth, ⁵  whatever you bind on earth will have been bound in heaven, and whatever you release on earth will have been released in heaven.

Romans 3:2

3:2 Actually, there are many advantages. ⁶  First of all, ⁷  the Jews ⁸  were entrusted with the oracles of God. ⁹ 

Galatians 2:9

2:9 and when James, Cephas, ¹⁰  and John, who had a reputation as ¹¹  pillars, ¹²  recognized ¹³  the grace that had been given to me, they gave to Barnabas and me ¹⁴  the right hand of fellowship, agreeing ¹⁵  that we would go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. ¹⁶ 

¹ tn See the note on “Jeremiah” at the beginning of v. 17.

² tn Heb “today I have made you.” The Hebrew verb form here emphasizes the certainty of a yet future act; the Lord is promising to protect Jeremiah from any future attacks which may result from his faithfully carrying out his commission. See a similar use of the same Hebrew verb tense in v. 9, and see the translator’s note there.

³ tn Heb “I make you a fortified city…against all the land….” The words “as strong as” and “so you will be able to stand against all the people of…” are given to clarify the meaning of the metaphor.

⁴ tn Or “and the power of death” (taking the reference to the gates of Hades as a metonymy).

⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

⁶ tn Grk “much in every way.”

⁷ tc ‡ Most witnesses (א A D² 33 Ï) have γάρ (gar) after μέν (men), though some significant Alexandrian and Western witnesses lack the conjunction (B D* G Ψ 81 365 1506 2464* pc latt). A few mss have γάρ, but not μέν (6 1739 1881). γάρ was frequently added by scribes as a clarifying conjunction, making it suspect here. NA²⁷ has the γάρ in brackets, indicating doubt as to its authenticity.

⁸ tn Grk “they were.”

⁹ tn The referent of λόγια (logia, “oracles”) has been variously understood: (1) BDAG 598 s.v. λόγιον takes the term to refer here to “God’s promises to the Jews”; (2) some have taken this to refer more narrowly to the national promises of messianic salvation given to Israel (so S. L. Johnson, Jr., “Studies in Romans: Part VII: The Jews and the Oracles of God,” BSac 130 [1973]: 245); (3) perhaps the most widespread interpretation sees the term as referring to the entire OT generally.

¹⁰ sn Cephas. This individual is generally identified with the Apostle Peter (L&N 93.211).

¹¹ tn Or “who were influential as,” or “who were reputed to be.” See also the note on the word “influential” in 2:6.

¹² sn Pillars is figurative here for those like James, Peter, and John who were leaders in the Jerusalem church.

¹³ tn The participle γνόντες (gnontes) has been taken temporally. It is structurally parallel to the participle translated “when they saw” in v. 7.

¹⁴ tn Grk “me and Barnabas.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “so,” with the ἵνα (Jina) indicating the result of the “pillars” extending the “right hand of fellowship,” but the translation “they gave…the right hand of fellowship so that we would go” could be misunderstood as purpose here. The implication of the scene is that an agreement, outlined at the end of v. 10, was reached between Paul and Barnabas on the one hand and the “pillars” of the Jerusalem church on the other.

¹⁶ tn Grk “to the circumcision,” a collective reference to the Jewish people.