Psalms 38:13-15

38:13 But I am like a deaf man – I hear nothing;

I am like a mute who cannot speak. ¹ 

38:14 I am like a man who cannot hear

and is incapable of arguing his defense. ² 

38:15 Yet ³  I wait for you, O Lord!

You will respond, O Lord, my God!

Isaiah 53:7

53:7 He was treated harshly and afflicted, ⁴ 

but he did not even open his mouth.

Like a lamb led to the slaughtering block,

like a sheep silent before her shearers,

he did not even open his mouth. ⁵ 

Matthew 27:12-14

27:12 But when he was accused by the chief priests and the elders, he did not respond. 27:13 Then Pilate said to him, “Don’t you hear how many charges they are bringing against you?” 27:14 But he did not answer even one accusation, so that the governor was quite amazed.

Mark 15:3-5

15:3 Then ⁶  the chief priests began to accuse him repeatedly. 15:4 So Pilate asked him again, ⁷  “Have you nothing to say? See how many charges they are bringing against you!” 15:5 But Jesus made no further reply, so that Pilate was amazed.

Acts 8:32-33

8:32 Now the passage of scripture the man ⁸  was reading was this:

“He was led like a sheep to slaughter,

and like a lamb before its shearer is silent,

so he did ⁹  not open his mouth.

8:33 In humiliation ¹⁰  justice was taken from him. ¹¹ 

Who can describe his posterity? ¹² 

For his life was taken away ¹³  from the earth.” ¹⁴ 

Philippians 1:28

1:28 and by not being intimidated in any way by your opponents. This is ¹⁵  a sign of their ¹⁶  destruction, but of your salvation – a sign which ¹⁷  is from God.

¹ sn I am like a deaf man…like a mute. The psalmist is like a deaf mute; he is incapable of defending himself and is vulnerable to his enemies’ deception (see v. 14).

² tn Heb “and there is not in his mouth arguments.”

³ tn Or perhaps “surely.”

⁴ tn The translation assumes the Niphal is passive; another option is take the clause (note the subject + verb pattern) as concessive and the Niphal as reflexive, “though he humbled himself.”

⁵ sn This verse emphasizes the servant’s silent submission. The comparison to a sheep does not necessarily suggest a sacrificial metaphor. Sheep were slaughtered for food as well as for sacrificial rituals, and טֶבַח (tevakh) need not refer to sacrificial slaughter (see Gen 43:16; Prov 7:22; 9:2; Jer 50:27; note also the use of the related verb in Exod 21:37; Deut 28:31; 1 Sam 25:11).

⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

⁷ tn Grk “Pilate asked him again, saying.” The participle λέγων (legwn) is redundant and has not been translated.

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

⁹ tn Grk “does.” The present tense here was translated as a past tense to maintain consistency with the first line of the quotation (“he was led like a sheep to slaughter”), which has an aorist passive verb normally translated as a past tense in English.

¹⁰ tc ‡ Most later mss (C E Ψ 33^vid Ï sy) read “In his humiliation,” adding αὐτοῦ (autou, “his”) after ταπεινώσει (tapeinwsei, “humiliation”), while the earlier and better witnesses lack the pronoun (so Ì⁷⁴ א A B 1739 pc lat). However, the LXX of Isa 53:8 also lacks the pronoun, supplying motivation for scribes to omit it here. At the same time, scribes would also be motivated to add the pronoun both for clarity’s sake (note the similar impulse that led to the addition of δέ [de] by many of the same mss at the beginning of the next line) and to give balance to the lines (the pronoun is indisputably used five other times in vv. 32-33 in quoting Isa 53). On balance, the shorter reading is preferred.

¹¹ tn Or “justice was denied him”; Grk “his justice was taken away.”

¹² tn Or “family; or “origin.” The meaning of γενεά (genea) in the quotation is uncertain; BDAG 192 s.v. γενεά 4 suggests “family history.”

¹³ tn Grk “is taken away.” The present tense here was translated as a past tense to maintain consistency with the rest of the quotation.

¹⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 53:7-8.

¹⁵ tn Grk “which is,” continuing the sentence begun in v. 27.

¹⁶ tn Grk “to them.”

¹⁷ tn Grk “this.” The pronoun refers back to “a sign”; thus these words have been repeated for clarity.