8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, 9 but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 8:27 And he 10 who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit 11 intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.
1 tn The imperatives in this verse are plural, so all three had to do this together.
2 tn The verb “pray” is the Hitpael from the root פָּלַל (palal). That root has the main idea of arbitration; so in this stem it means “to seek arbitration [for oneself],” or “to pray,” or “to intercede.”
3 tn Heb “I will lift up his face,” meaning, “I will regard him.”
4 tn This clause is a result clause, using the negated infinitive construct.
5 tn The word “folly” can also be taken in the sense of “disgrace.” If the latter is chosen, the word serves as the direct object. If the former, then it is an adverbial accusative.
6 sn The difference between what they said and what Job said, therefore, has to do with truth. Job was honest, spoke the truth, poured out his complaints, but never blasphemed God. For his words God said he told the truth. He did so with incomplete understanding, and with all the impatience and frustration one might expect. Now the friends, however, did not tell what was right about God. They were not honest; rather, they were self-righteous and condescending. They were saying what they thought should be said, but it was wrong.
7 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
8 tn Grk “if two of you…agree about whatever they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the pronouns, which change from second person plural to third person plural in the Greek text, have been consistently translated as second person plural.
9 tn Or “for we do not know what we ought to pray for.”
10 sn He refers to God here; Paul has not specifically identified him for the sake of rhetorical power (for by leaving the subject slightly ambiguous, he draws his audience into seeing God’s hand in places where he is not explicitly mentioned).
11 tn Grk “he,” or “it”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
12 tn Both “pray” and “be alert” are participles in the Greek text (“praying…being alert”). Both are probably instrumental, loosely connected with all of the preceding instructions. As such, they are not additional commands to do but instead are the means through which the prior instructions are accomplished.
13 tn Grk “and toward it.”