John 11:41-42

11:41 So they took away ¹  the stone. Jesus looked upward ²  and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. ³  11:42 I knew that you always listen to me, ⁴  but I said this ⁵  for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

John 9:31

9:31 We know that God doesn’t listen to ⁶  sinners, but if anyone is devout ⁷  and does his will, God ⁸  listens to ⁹  him. ¹⁰ 

Mark 9:23

9:23 Then Jesus said to him, “‘If you are able?’ ¹¹  All things are possible for the one who believes.”

Hebrews 11:17-19

11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, ¹²  yet he was ready to offer up ¹³  his only son. 11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” ¹⁴  11:19 and he reasoned ¹⁵  that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense ¹⁶  he received him back from there.

¹ tn Or “they removed.”

² tn Grk “lifted up his eyes above.”

³ tn Or “that you have heard me.”

⁴ tn Grk “that you always hear me.”

⁵ tn The word “this” is not in the Greek text. Direct objects in Greek were often omitted when clear from the context.

⁶ tn Grk “God does not hear.”

⁷ tn Or “godly.”

⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

⁹ tn Or “hears.”

¹⁰ tn Grk “this one.”

¹¹ tc Most mss (A C³ Ψ 33 Ï) have τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (to ei dunasai pisteusai, “if you are able to believe”), instead of τὸ εἰ δύνῃ (to ei dunh, “if you are able”; supported by א B C* L N* Δ Ë¹ 579 892 pc). Others have εἰ δύνῃ (or δυνάσαι) πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe”; so D K Θ Ë¹³ 28 565 al), while still others have τοῦτο εἰ δύνῃ (touto ei dunh, “if you can [do] this”; so [Ì⁴⁵] W). The reading that best explains the rise of the others is τὸ εἰ δύνῃ. The neuter article indicates that the Lord is now quoting the boy’s father who, in v. 22, says εἴ τι δύνῃ (ei ti dunh, “if you are able to do anything”). The article is thus used anaphorically (see ExSyn 238). However, scribes could easily have overlooked this idiom and would consequently read τὸ εἰ δύνῃ as the protasis of a conditional clause of the Lord’s statement. As such, it would almost demand the infinitive πιστεῦσαι, producing the reading τὸ εἰ δύνασαι πιστεῦσαι (“if you are able to believe, all things are possible…”). But the article here seems to be meaningless, prompting other scribes to modify the text still further. Some dropped the nonsensical article, while others turned it into the demonstrative τοῦτο and dropped the infinitive. It is clear that scribes had difficulty with the original wording here, and made adjustments in various directions. What might not be so clear is the exact genealogy of the descent of all the readings. However, τὸ εἰ δύνῃ is both a hard saying, best explains the rise of the other readings, and is supported by the best witnesses. It thus rightly deserves to be considered authentic.

¹² tn Here “received the promises” refers to the pledges themselves, not to the things God promised.

¹³ tn Grk “he was offering up.” The tense of this verb indicates the attempt or readiness to sacrifice Isaac without the actual completion of the deed.

¹⁴ tn Grk “in Isaac seed will be named for you.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “having reasoned,” continuing the ideas of v. 17.

¹⁶ tn Grk “in/by a symbol.”