102:17 when he responds to the prayer of the destitute, 4
and does not reject 5 their request. 6
1:18 7 Come, let’s consider your options,” 8 says the Lord.
“Though your sins have stained you like the color red,
you can become 9 white like snow;
though they are as easy to see as the color scarlet,
you can become 10 white like wool. 11
1:19 If you have a willing attitude and obey, 12
then you will again eat the good crops of the land.
41:9 you whom I am bringing back 13 from the earth’s extremities,
and have summoned from the remote regions –
I told you, “You are my servant.”
I have chosen you and not rejected you.
42:3 A crushed reed he will not break,
a dim wick he will not extinguish; 14
he will faithfully make just decrees. 15
55:7 The wicked need to abandon their lifestyle 16
and sinful people their plans. 17
They should return 18 to the Lord, and he will show mercy to them, 19
and to their God, for he will freely forgive them. 20
5:1 35 Therefore, since we have been declared righteous by faith, we have 36 peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,
1:16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is God’s power for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 37
7:1 Now this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, met Abraham as he was returning from defeating the kings and blessed him. 38
2:1 Therefore we must pay closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
1 tn Grk “They answered and said to him.” This has been simplified in the translation to “They replied.”
2 tn Or “From birth you have been evil.” The implication of this insult, in the context of John 9, is that the man whom Jesus caused to see had not previously adhered rigorously to all the conventional requirements of the OT law as interpreted by the Pharisees. Thus he had no right to instruct them about who Jesus was.
3 tn Grk “and are you teaching us?”
4 tn The Hebrew adjective עַרְעָר (’arar, “destitute”) occurs only here in the OT. It is derived from the verbal root ערר (“to strip oneself”).
5 tn Heb “despise.”
6 tn The perfect verbal forms in vv. 16-17 are functioning as future perfects, indicating future actions that will precede the future developments described in v. 15.
7 sn The Lord concludes his case against Israel by offering them the opportunity to be forgiven and by setting before them the alternatives of renewed blessing (as a reward for repentance) and final judgment (as punishment for persistence in sin).
8 tn Traditionally, “let us reason together,” but the context suggests a judicial nuance. The Lord is giving the nation its options for the future.
9 tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.
10 tn The imperfects must be translated as modal (indicating capability or possibility) to bring out the conditional nature of the offer. This purification will only occur if the people repent and change their ways.
11 tn Heb “though your sins are like red, they will become white like snow; though they are red like scarlet, they will be like wool.” The point is not that the sins will be covered up, though still retained. The metaphorical language must be allowed some flexibility and should not be pressed into a rigid literalistic mold. The people’s sins will be removed and replaced by ethical purity. The sins that are now as obvious as the color red will be washed away and the ones who are sinful will be transformed.
12 tn Heb “listen”; KJV “obedient”; NASB “If you consent and obey.”
13 tn Heb “whom I have taken hold of [i.e., to lead back].”
14 sn The “crushed reed” and “dim wick” symbolize the weak and oppressed who are on the verge of extinction.
15 tn Heb “faithfully he will bring out justice” (cf. NASB, NRSV).
16 tn Heb “Let the wicked one abandon his way.” The singular is collective.
17 tn Heb “and the man of evil his thoughts.” The singular is collective.
18 tn Heb “let him return.” The singular is collective, meaning “let them.”
19 tn The imperfect with vav (ו) conjunctive after the jussive indicates purpose/result.
20 sn The appeal and promise of vv. 6-7 echoes the language of Deut 4:25-31; 30:1-10; and 1 Kgs 8:46-53, all of which anticipate the exile and speak of the prerequisites for restoration.
21 tn Or “false christs”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”
22 tn Grk “But answering, the other rebuking him, said.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.
23 tn The particle used here (οὐδέ, oude), which expects a positive reply, makes this a rebuke – “You should fear God and not speak!”
24 tn The words “of condemnation” are not in the Greek text, but are implied.
25 sn This man has done nothing wrong is yet another declaration that Jesus was innocent of any crime.
26 tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.
27 sn Jesus, remember me is a statement of faith from the cross, as Jesus saves another even while he himself is dying. This man’s faith had shown itself when he rebuked the other thief. He hoped to be with Jesus sometime in the future in the kingdom.
28 tc ‡ The alternate readings of some
29 tn Grk “he.”
30 tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”
31 sn Jesus gives more than the criminal asked for, because the blessing will come today, not in the future. He will be among the righteous. See the note on today in 2:11.
32 sn In the NT, paradise is mentioned three times. Here it refers to the abode of the righteous dead. In Rev 2:7 it refers to the restoration of Edenic paradise predicted in Isa 51:3 and Ezek 36:35. In 2 Cor 12:4 it probably refers to the “third heaven” (2 Cor 12:2) as the place where God dwells.
33 tn Grk “slipped in.”
34 tn Or “trespass.”
35 sn Many interpreters see Rom 5:1 as beginning the second major division of the letter.
36 tc A number of important witnesses have the subjunctive ἔχωμεν (ecwmen, “let us have”) instead of ἔχομεν (ecomen, “we have”) in v. 1. Included in the subjunctive’s support are א* A B* C D K L 33 81 630 1175 1739* pm lat bo. But the indicative is not without its supporters: א1 B2 F G P Ψ 0220vid 104 365 1241 1505 1506 1739c 1881 2464 pm. If the problem were to be solved on an external basis only, the subjunctive would be preferred. Because of this, the “A” rating on behalf of the indicative in the UBS4 appears overly confident. Nevertheless, the indicative is probably correct. First, the earliest witness to Rom 5:1 has the indicative (0220vid, third century). Second, the first set of correctors is sometimes, if not often, of equal importance with the original hand. Hence, א1 might be given equal value with א*. Third, there is a good cross-section of witnesses for the indicative: Alexandrian (in 0220vid, probably א1 1241 1506 1881 al), Western (in F G), and Byzantine (noted in NA27 as pm). Thus, although the external evidence is strongly in favor of the subjunctive, the indicative is represented well enough that its ancestry could easily go back to the original. Turning to the internal evidence, the indicative gains much ground. (1) The variant may have been produced via an error of hearing (since omicron and omega were pronounced alike in ancient Greek). This, of course, does not indicate which reading was original – just that an error of hearing may have produced one of them. In light of the indecisiveness of the transcriptional evidence, intrinsic evidence could play a much larger role. This is indeed the case here. (2) The indicative fits well with the overall argument of the book to this point. Up until now, Paul has been establishing the “indicatives of the faith.” There is only one imperative (used rhetorically) and only one hortatory subjunctive (and this in a quotation within a diatribe) up till this point, while from ch. 6 on there are sixty-one imperatives and seven hortatory subjunctives. Clearly, an exhortation would be out of place in ch. 5. (3) Paul presupposes that the audience has peace with God (via reconciliation) in 5:10. This seems to assume the indicative in v. 1. (4) As C. E. B. Cranfield notes, “it would surely be strange for Paul, in such a carefully argued writing as this, to exhort his readers to enjoy or to guard a peace which he has not yet explicitly shown to be possessed by them” (Romans [ICC], 1:257). (5) The notion that εἰρήνην ἔχωμεν (eirhnhn ecwmen) can even naturally mean “enjoy peace” is problematic (ExSyn 464), yet those who embrace the subjunctive have to give the verb some such force. Thus, although the external evidence is stronger in support of the subjunctive, the internal evidence points to the indicative. Although a decision is difficult, ἔχομεν appears to be the authentic reading.
37 sn Here the Greek refers to anyone who is not Jewish.
38 sn A series of quotations from Gen 14:17-19.