16:10 You will not abandon me 1 to Sheol; 2
you will not allow your faithful follower 3 to see 4 the Pit. 5
16:11 You lead me in 6 the path of life; 7
I experience absolute joy in your presence; 8
you always give me sheer delight. 9
17:24 “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, 15 so that they can see my glory that you gave me because you loved me before the creation of the world 16 .
2:12 So then, my dear friends, just as you have always obeyed, not only in my presence but even more in my absence, continue working out your salvation with awe and reverence, 19
12:1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, 21 we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,
“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, 24
and a righteous scepter 25 is the scepter of your kingdom.
1 tn Or “my life.” The suffixed form of נֶפֶשׁ (nefesh, “being”) is often equivalent to a pronoun in poetic texts.
2 sn In ancient Israelite cosmology Sheol is the realm of the dead, viewed as being under the earth’s surface. See L. I. J. Stadelmann, The Hebrew Conception of the World, 165-76.
3 tn A “faithful follower” (חָסִיד [khasid], traditionally rendered “holy one”) is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God (see Pss 4:3; 12:1; 18:25; 31:23; 37:28; 86:2; 97:10). The psalmist here refers to himself, as the parallel line (“You will not abandon me to Sheol”) indicates.
4 tn That is, “experience.” The psalmist is confident that the Lord will protect him in his present crisis (see v. 1) and prevent him from dying.
5 tn The Hebrew word שָׁחַת (shakhat, “pit”) is often used as a title for Sheol (see Pss 30:9; 49:9; 55:24; 103:4). Note the parallelism with the previous line.
1 tn Heb “cause me to know”; or “cause me to experience.”
2 tn This is a metaphorical way of saying, “you preserve my life.” The phrase “path of life” stands in contrast to death/Sheol in Prov 2:18-19; 5:5-6; 15:24.
3 tn Heb “abundance of joy [is] with your face.” The plural form of the noun שִׂמְחָה (simkhah, “joy”) occurs only here and in Ps 45:15. It may emphasize the degree of joy experienced.
4 tn Heb “delight [is] in your right hand forever.” The plural form of the adjective נָעִים (na’im, “pleasant, delightful”) may here emphasize the degree of delight experienced (see Job 36:11).
1 tn As a third person imperative in Greek, ἀκολουθείτω (akolouqeitw) is usually translated “let him follow me.” This could be understood by the modern English reader as merely permissive, however (“he may follow me if he wishes”). In this context there is no permissive sense, but rather a command, so the translation “he must follow me” is preferred.
2 tn Grk “where I am, there my servant will be too.”
1 tn Or “prepare.”
2 tn Or “bring you.”
3 tn Grk “to myself.”
1 tn Grk “the ones you have given me, I want these to be where I am with me.”
2 tn Grk “before the foundation of the world.”
1 tn Grk “I am hard-pressed between the two.” Cf. L&N 30.18.
1 tn Grk “Grace to you and peace.”
1 tn Grk “with fear and trembling.” The Greek words φόβος and τρόμος both imply fear in a negative sense (L&N 25.251 and 16.6 respectively) while the former can also refer to respect and awe for deity (L&N 53.59). Paul’s use of the terms in other contexts refers to “awe and reverence in the presence of God” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 284; see discussion on 282-84). The translation “awe and reverence” was chosen to portray the attitude the believer should have toward God as they consider their behavior in light of God working through Jesus Christ (2:6-11) and in the believer’s life (2:13) to accomplish their salvation.
1 sn An allusion to Ps 110:1.
1 tn Grk “having such a great cloud of witnesses surrounding us.”
1 tn Or “to.”
2 tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.
3 tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.
4 tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.
1 sn An allusion to Isa 25:8.