8:32 “So now, children, 1 listen to me;
blessed are those who keep my ways.
8:33 Listen to my instruction 2 so that you may be wise, 3
and do not neglect it.
8:34 Blessed is the one 4 who listens to me,
watching 5 at my doors day by day,
waiting 6 beside my doorway. 7
8:35 For the one who finds me finds 8 life
and receives 9 favor from the Lord.
9:11 For because 10 of me your days will be many,
and years will be added 11 to your life.
25:12 The Lord shows his faithful followers
the way they should live. 12
25:13 They experience his favor; 13
their descendants 14 inherit the land. 15
81:13 If only my people would obey me! 16
If only Israel would keep my commands! 17
48:18 If only you had obeyed my 18 commandments,
prosperity would have flowed to you like a river, 19
deliverance would have come to you like the waves of the sea. 20
55:3 Pay attention and come to me!
Listen, so you can live! 21
Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to 22 you,
just like the reliable covenantal promises I made to David. 23
10:1 “I tell you the solemn truth, 35 the one who does not enter the sheepfold 36 by the door, 37 but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.
1 tn Heb “sons.”
2 tn Heb “discipline.”
3 tn The construction uses two imperatives joined with the vav (ו); this is a volitive sequence in which result or consequence is being expressed.
4 tn Heb “the man.”
5 tn The form לִשְׁקֹד (lishqod) is the infinitive construct serving epexegetically in the sentence. It explains how the person will listen to wisdom.
6 tn Heb “keeping” or “guarding.”
7 tn Heb “at the posts of my doors” (so KJV, ASV).
8 tc The Kethib reads plurals: “those who find me are finders of life”; this is reflected in the LXX and Syriac. But the Qere is singular: “whoever finds me finds life.” The Qere is generally favored as the original reading in such cases as these.
9 tn The preterite with vav (ו) consecutive carries the same nuance as the perfect tense that came before it, setting out the timeless principle.
10 tn The preposition בּ (bet) here may have the causal sense (R. J. Williams, Hebrew Syntax, 45, §247), although it could also be means (Williams, 44, §243).
11 tn The verb וְיוֹסִיפוּ (vÿyosifu) is the Hiphil imperfect, third masculine plural; but because there is no expressed subject the verb may be taken as a passive.
12 tn Heb “Who is this man, the one who fears the
13 tn Heb “his life in goodness dwells.” The singular is representative (see v. 14).
14 tn Or “offspring”; Heb “seed.”
15 tn Or “earth.”
16 tn Heb “if only my people were listening to me.” The Hebrew particle לוּ (lu, “if not”) introduces a purely hypothetical or contrary to fact condition (see 2 Sam 18:12).
17 tn Heb “[and if only] Israel would walk in my ways.”
18 tn Heb “paid attention to” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV); TEV “had listened to.”
19 tn Heb “like a river your peace would have been.” שָׁלוֹם (shalom) probably refers here to the peace and prosperity which God promised in return for obedience to the covenant.
20 tn Heb “and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.” צְדָקָה (tsÿdaqah) probably refers here to divine deliverance from enemies. See v. 19.
21 tn The jussive with vav (ו) conjunctive following the imperative indicates purpose/result.
22 tn Or “an eternal covenant with.”
23 tn Heb “the reliable expressions of loyalty of David.” The syntactical relationship of חַסְדֵי (khasde, “expressions of loyalty”) to the preceding line is unclear. If the term is appositional to בְּרִית (bÿrit, “covenant”), then the Lord here transfers the promises of the Davidic covenant to the entire nation. Another option is to take חַסְדֵי (khasde) as an adverbial accusative and to translate “according to the reliable covenantal promises.” In this case the new covenantal arrangement proposed here is viewed as an extension or perhaps fulfillment of the Davidic promises. A third option, the one reflected in the above translation, is to take the last line as comparative. In this case the new covenant being proposed is analogous to the Davidic covenant. Verses 4-5, which compare David’s international prominence to what Israel will experience, favors this view. In all three of these interpretations, “David” is an objective genitive; he is the recipient of covenantal promises. A fourth option would be to take David as a subjective genitive and understand the line as giving the basis for the preceding promise: “Then I will make an unconditional covenantal promise to you, because of David’s faithful acts of covenantal loyalty.”
24 tn Grk “behold, a.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has not been translated here or in the following clause because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).
25 sn This cloud is the cloud of God’s presence and the voice is his as well.
26 tn Or “surrounded.”
27 tn Grk “behold, a voice from the cloud, saying.” This is an incomplete sentence in Greek which portrays intensity and emotion. The participle λέγουσα (legousa) was translated as a finite verb in keeping with English style.
28 tn Grk “my beloved Son,” or “my Son, the beloved [one].” The force of ἀγαπητός (agaphtos) is often “pertaining to one who is the only one of his or her class, but at the same time is particularly loved and cherished” (L&N 58.53; cf. also BDAG 7 s.v. 1).
29 sn The expression listen to him comes from Deut 18:15 and makes two points: 1) Jesus is a prophet like Moses, a leader-prophet, and 2) they have much yet to learn from him.
30 tn Grk “And I give.”
31 tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”
32 tn Or “no one will seize.”
33 tn Or “is superior to all.”
34 tn Or “no one can seize.”
35 tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”
36 sn There was more than one type of sheepfold in use in Palestine in Jesus’ day. The one here seems to be a courtyard in front of a house (the Greek word used for the sheepfold here, αὐλή [aulh] frequently refers to a courtyard), surrounded by a stone wall (often topped with briars for protection).
37 tn Or “entrance.”
38 tn To this point the author has used past tenses (imperfects, aorists); now he switches to a present. The light continually shines (thus the translation, “shines on”). Even as the author writes, it is shining. The present here most likely has gnomic force (though it is possible to take it as a historical present); it expresses the timeless truth that the light of the world (cf. 8:12, 9:5, 12:46) never ceases to shine.
39 sn The author now introduces what will become a major theme of John’s Gospel: the opposition of light and darkness. The antithesis is a natural one, widespread in antiquity. Gen 1 gives considerable emphasis to it in the account of the creation, and so do the writings of Qumran. It is the major theme of one of the most important extra-biblical documents found at Qumran, the so-called War Scroll, properly titled The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons of Darkness. Connections between John and Qumran are still an area of scholarly debate and a consensus has not yet emerged. See T. A. Hoffman, “1 John and the Qumran Scrolls,” BTB 8 (1978): 117-25.
40 tn Grk “and,” but the context clearly indicates a contrast, so this has been translated as an adversative use of καί (kai).
41 tn Or “comprehended it,” or “overcome it.” The verb κατέλαβεν (katelaben) is not easy to translate. “To seize” or “to grasp” is possible, but this also permits “to grasp with the mind” in the sense of “to comprehend” (esp. in the middle voice). This is probably another Johannine double meaning – one does not usually think of darkness as trying to “understand” light. For it to mean this, “darkness” must be understood as meaning “certain people,” or perhaps “humanity” at large, darkened in understanding. But in John’s usage, darkness is not normally used of people or a group of people. Rather it usually signifies the evil environment or ‘sphere’ in which people find themselves: “They loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19). Those who follow Jesus do not walk in darkness (8:12). They are to walk while they have light, lest the darkness “overtake/overcome” them (12:35, same verb as here). For John, with his set of symbols and imagery, darkness is not something which seeks to “understand (comprehend)” the light, but represents the forces of evil which seek to “overcome (conquer)” it. The English verb “to master” may be used in both sorts of contexts, as “he mastered his lesson” and “he mastered his opponent.”