Psalms 102:5

102:5 Because of the anxiety that makes me groan,

my bones protrude from my skin. ¹ 

Psalms 102:20

102:20 in order to hear the painful cries of the prisoners,

and to set free those condemned to die, ² 

John 1:48

1:48 Nathanael asked him, “How do you know me?” Jesus replied, ³  “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, ⁴  I saw you.”

Romans 8:22-23

8:22 For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers together until now. 8:23 Not only this, but we ourselves also, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, ⁵  groan inwardly as we eagerly await our adoption, ⁶  the redemption of our bodies. ⁷ 

Romans 8:26-27

8:26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, ⁸  but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. 8:27 And he ⁹  who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit ¹⁰  intercedes on behalf of the saints according to God’s will.

Romans 8:2

8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ¹¹  in Christ Jesus has set you ¹²  free from the law of sin and death.

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹³  brothers and sisters ¹⁴  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁵  from God our Father! ¹⁶ 

¹ tn Heb “from the sound of my groaning my bone[s] stick to my flesh.” The preposition at the beginning of the verse is causal; the phrase “sound of my groaning” is metonymic for the anxiety that causes the groaning. The point seems to be this: Anxiety (which causes the psalmist to groan) keeps him from eating (v. 4). This physical deprivation in turn makes him emaciated – he is turned to “skin and bones,” so to speak.

² tn Heb “the sons of death.” The phrase “sons of death” (see also Ps 79:11) is idiomatic for those condemned to die.

³ tn Grk “answered and said to him.” This is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation to “replied.”

⁴ sn Many have speculated about what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree. Meditating on the Messiah who was to come? A good possibility, since the fig tree was used as shade for teaching or studying by the later rabbis (Ecclesiastes Rabbah 5:11). Also, the fig tree was symbolic for messianic peace and plenty (Mic 4:4, Zech 3:10.)

⁵ tn Or “who have the Spirit as firstfruits.” The genitive πνεύματος (pneumatos) can be understood here as possessive (“the firstfruits belonging to the Spirit”) although it is much more likely that this is a genitive of apposition (“the firstfruits, namely, the Spirit”); cf. TEV, NLT.

⁶ tn See the note on “adoption” in v. 15.

⁷ tn Grk “body.”

⁸ tn Or “for we do not know what we ought to pray for.”

⁹ sn He refers to God here; Paul has not specifically identified him for the sake of rhetorical power (for by leaving the subject slightly ambiguous, he draws his audience into seeing God’s hand in places where he is not explicitly mentioned).

¹⁰ tn Grk “he,” or “it”; the referent (the Spirit) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

¹² tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

¹³ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

¹⁴ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

¹⁵ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

¹⁶ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.