35:4 Tell those who panic, 10
“Be strong! Do not fear!
Look, your God comes to avenge!
With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” 11
8:9 “The Lord who rules over all also says, ‘Gather strength, you who are listening to these words today from the mouths of the prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the Lord who rules over all, 14 so that the temple might be built.
8:1 Then the word of the Lord who rules over all 15 came to me as follows:
6:10 Finally, be strengthened in the Lord and in the strength of his power.
2:1 And although you were 18 dead 19 in your transgressions and sins,
1 tn Heb “For you will cause these people to inherit the land that I swore to their fathers to give to them.” The pronoun “them” at the end of the verse refers to either the people or to the fathers.
2 tn Or “Only be.”
3 tn Heb “so you can be careful to do.” The use of the infinitive לִשְׁמֹר (lishmor, “to keep”) after the imperatives suggests that strength and bravery will be necessary for obedience. Another option is to take the form לִשְׁמֹר as a vocative lamed (ל) with imperative (see Isa 38:20 for an example of this construction), which could be translated, “Indeed, be careful!”
4 tn Heb “commanded you.”
5 tn Heb “be wise,” but the word can mean “be successful” by metonymy.
6 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
7 tn Heb “Have I not commanded you?” The rhetorical question emphasizes the importance of the following command by reminding the listener that it is being repeated.
8 tn Or perhaps, “don’t get discouraged!”
9 tn Heb “in all which you go.”
10 tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.
11 tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.
12 tn Heb “and take heart.” Although emphatic, the repetition of the verb is redundant in contemporary English style and has been left untranslated.
13 tn Heb “the people of the land” (עַם הָאָרֶץ, ’am ha’arets); this is a technical term referring to free citizens as opposed to slaves.
14 sn These prophets who were there at the founding of the house of the
15 sn
16 tn Here αὐτοῦ (autou) has been translated as a subjective genitive (“he loves”).
17 sn A quotation from Exod 20:12 and Deut 5:16.
18 tn The adverbial participle “being” (ὄντας, ontas) is taken concessively.
19 sn Chapter 2 starts off with a participle, although you were dead, that is left dangling. The syntax in Greek for vv. 1-3 constitutes one incomplete sentence, though it seems to have been done intentionally. The dangling participle leaves the readers in suspense while they wait for the solution (in v. 4) to their spiritual dilemma.