Job 16:5

16:5 But ¹  I would strengthen ²  you with my words; ³ 

comfort from my lips would bring ⁴  you relief.

Deuteronomy 3:28

3:28 Commission ⁵  Joshua, and encourage and strengthen him, because he will lead these people over and will enable them to inherit the land you will see.”

Ezra 6:22

6:22 They observed the Feast of Unleavened Bread for seven days with joy, for the Lord had given them joy and had changed the opinion ⁶  of the king of Assyria ⁷  toward them, so that he assisted ⁸  them in the work on the temple of God, the God of Israel.

Isaiah 35:3

35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,

steady the knees that shake! ⁹ 

Ezekiel 13:22

13:22 This is because you have disheartened the righteous person with lies (although I have not grieved him), and because you have encouraged the wicked person not to turn from his evil conduct and preserve his life.

Luke 22:32

22:32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, ¹⁰  that your faith may not fail. ¹¹  When ¹²  you have turned back, ¹³  strengthen ¹⁴  your brothers.”

Luke 22:43

22:43 [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

¹ tn “But” has been added in the translation to strengthen the contrast.

² tn The Piel of אָמַץ (’amats) means “to strengthen, fortify.”

³ tn Heb “my mouth.”

⁴ tn The verb יַחְשֹׂךְ (yakhsokh) means “to restrain; to withhold.” There is no object, so many make it first person subject, “I will not restrain.” The LXX and the Syriac have a different person – “I would not restrain.” G. R. Driver, arguing that the verb is intransitive here, made it “the solace of my lips would not [added] be withheld” (see JTS 34 [1933]: 380). D. J. A. Clines says that what is definitive is the use of the verb in the next line, where it clearly means “soothed, assuaged.”

⁵ tn Heb “command”; KJV, NASB, NRSV “charge Joshua.”

⁶ tn Heb “heart.”

⁷ sn The expression “king of Assyria” is anachronistic, since Assyria fell in 612 b.c., long before the events of this chapter. Perhaps the expression is intended subtly to contrast earlier kings of Assyria who were hostile toward Israel with this Persian king who showed them favor.

⁸ tn Heb “to strengthen their hands.”

⁹ tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”

¹⁰ sn Here and in the remainder of the verse the second person pronouns are singular, so only Peter is in view. The name “Simon” has been supplied as a form of direct address to make this clear in English.

¹¹ sn That your faith may not fail. Note that Peter’s denials are pictured here as lapses, not as a total absence of faith.

¹² tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

¹³ tn Or “turned around.”

¹⁴ sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.