The Song of Songs 1:17

1:17 the cedars are the beams of our bedroom chamber;

the pines are the rafters of our bedroom.

Genesis 32:26

32:26 Then the man said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” “I will not let you go,” Jacob replied, “unless you bless me.”

Psalms 68:24

68:24 They see your processions, O God –

the processions of my God, my king, who marches along in holy splendor.

Psalms 87:2

87:2 The Lord loves the gates of Zion

more than all the dwelling places of Jacob.

Matthew 18:20

18:20 For where two or three are assembled in my name, I am there among them.”

Matthew 28:20

28:20 teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”


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

tn Heb “dawn has arisen.”

tn Heb “and he said, ‘I will not let you go.’” The referent of the pronoun “he” (Jacob) has been specified for clarity, and the order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

sn Jacob wrestled with a man thinking him to be a mere man, and on that basis was equal to the task. But when it had gone on long enough, the night visitor touched Jacob and crippled him. Jacob’s request for a blessing can only mean that he now knew that his opponent was supernatural. Contrary to many allegorical interpretations of the passage that make fighting equivalent to prayer, this passage shows that Jacob stopped fighting, and then asked for a blessing.

tn The subject is probably indefinite, referring to bystanders in general who witness the procession.

tn The Hebrew text has simply “in holiness.” The words “who marches along” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

tn The Greek word ἰδού (idou) has been translated here as “remember” (BDAG 468 s.v. 1.c).

sn I am with you. Matthew’s Gospel begins with the prophecy that the Savior’s name would be “Emmanuel, that is, ‘God with us,’” (1:23, in which the author has linked Isa 7:14 and 8:8, 10 together) and it ends with Jesus’ promise to be with his disciples forever. The Gospel of Matthew thus forms an inclusio about Jesus in his relationship to his people that suggests his deity.

tc Most mss (Ac Θ Ë13 Ï it sy) have ἀμήν (amhn, “amen”) at the end of v. 20. Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, no good reason exists for the omission of the particle in significant and early witnesses such as א A* B D W Ë1 33 al lat sa.