1 Kings 18:12

18:12 But when I leave you, the Lord’s spirit will carry you away so I can’t find you. ¹  If I go tell Ahab I’ve seen you, he won’t be able to find you and he will kill me. ²  That would not be fair, ³  because your servant has been a loyal follower of ⁴  the Lord from my youth.

Genesis 22:12

22:12 “Do not harm the boy!” ⁵  the angel said. ⁶  “Do not do anything to him, for now I know ⁷  that you fear ⁸  God because you did not withhold your son, your only son, from me.”

Genesis 42:18

42:18 On the third day Joseph said to them, “Do as I say ⁹  and you will live, ¹⁰  for I fear God. ¹¹ 

Genesis 42:2

42:2 He then said, “Look, I hear that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there and buy grain for us ¹²  so that we may live ¹³  and not die.” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 4:1

The Story of Cain and Abel

4:1 Now ¹⁵  the man had marital relations with ¹⁶  his wife Eve, and she became pregnant ¹⁷  and gave birth to Cain. Then she said, “I have created ¹⁸  a man just as the Lord did!” ¹⁹ 

Nehemiah 5:15

5:15 But the former governors who preceded me had burdened the people and had taken food and wine from them, in addition to ²⁰  forty shekels of silver. Their associates were also domineering over the people. But I did not behave in this way, due to my fear of God.

Nehemiah 7:2

7:2 I then put in charge over Jerusalem ²¹  my brother Hanani and Hananiah ²²  the chief of the citadel, for he was a faithful man and feared God more than many do.

Proverbs 14:26

14:26 In the fear of the Lord one has ²³  strong confidence, ²⁴ 

and it will be a refuge ²⁵  for his children.

Malachi 3:16

3:16 Then those who respected ²⁶  the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord took notice. ²⁷  A scroll ²⁸  was prepared before him in which were recorded the names of those who respected the Lord and honored his name.

Matthew 10:28

10:28 Do ²⁹  not be afraid of those who kill the body ³⁰  but cannot kill the soul. Instead, fear the one who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. ³¹ 

Acts 10:2

10:2 He ³²  was a devout, God-fearing man, ³³  as was all his household; he did many acts of charity for the people ³⁴  and prayed to God regularly.

Acts 10:35

10:35 but in every nation ³⁵  the person who fears him ³⁶  and does what is right ³⁷  is welcomed before him.

[18:12]  ¹ tn Heb “to [a place] which I do not know.”

[18:12]  ² tn Heb “and I will go to inform Ahab and he will not find you and he will kill me.”

[18:12]  ³ tn The words “that would not be fair” are added to clarify the logic of Obadiah’s argument.

[18:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “has feared the Lord” (also see the note at 1 Kgs 18:3).

[22:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “Do not extend your hand toward the boy.”

[22:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “and he said, ‘Do not extend…’”; the referent (the angel) has been specified in the context for clarity. The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[22:12]  ⁷ sn For now I know. The test was designed to see if Abraham would be obedient (see v. 1).

[22:12]  ⁸ sn In this context fear refers by metonymy to obedience that grows from faith.

[42:18]  ⁹ tn Heb “Do this.”

[42:18]  ¹⁰ tn After the preceding imperative, the imperative with vav (ו) can, as here, indicate logical sequence.

[42:18]  ¹¹ sn For I fear God. Joseph brings God into the picture to awaken his brothers’ consciences. The godly person cares about the welfare of people, whether they live or die. So he will send grain back, but keep one of them in Egypt. This action contrasts with their crime of selling their brother into slavery.

[42:2]  ¹² tn Heb “and buy for us from there.” The word “grain,” the direct object of “buy,” has been supplied for clarity, and the words “from there” have been omitted in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[42:2]  ¹³ tn Following the imperatives, the prefixed verbal form with prefixed vav expresses purpose of result.

[42:2]  ¹⁴ tn The imperfect tense continues the nuance of the verb before it.

[4:1]  ¹⁵ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) introduces a new episode in the ongoing narrative.

[4:1]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the man knew,” a frequent euphemism for sexual relations.

[4:1]  ¹⁷ tn Or “she conceived.”

[4:1]  ¹⁸ tn Here is another sound play (paronomasia) on a name. The sound of the verb קָנִיתִי (qaniti, “I have created”) reflects the sound of the name Cain in Hebrew (קַיִן, qayin) and gives meaning to it. The saying uses the Qal perfect of קָנָה (qanah). There are two homonymic verbs with this spelling, one meaning “obtain, acquire” and the other meaning “create” (see Gen 14:19, 22; Deut 32:6; Ps 139:13; Prov 8:22). The latter fits this context very well. Eve has created a man.

[4:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “with the Lord.” The particle אֶת־ (’et) is not the accusative/object sign, but the preposition “with” as the ancient versions attest. Some take the preposition in the sense of “with the help of” (see BDB 85 s.v. אֵת; cf. NEB, NIV, NRSV), while others prefer “along with” in the sense of “like, equally with, in common with” (see Lev 26:39; Isa 45:9; Jer 23:28). Either works well in this context; the latter is reflected in the present translation. Some understand אֶת־ as the accusative/object sign and translate, “I have acquired a man – the Lord.” They suggest that the woman thought (mistakenly) that she had given birth to the incarnate Lord, the Messiah who would bruise the Serpent’s head. This fanciful suggestion is based on a questionable allegorical interpretation of Gen 3:15 (see the note there on the word “heel”).

[5:15]  ²⁰ tc The Hebrew term אַחַר (’akhar) is difficult here. It normally means “after,” but that makes no sense here. Some scholars emend it to אַחַד (’akhad) and supply the word “day,” which yields the sense “daily.” Cf. TEV “40 silver coins a day for food and wine.”

[7:2]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[7:2]  ²² tn Some have suggested that “Hananiah” is another name for Hanani, Nehemiah’s brother, so that only one individual is mentioned here. However, the third person plural in v. 3 indicates two people are in view.

[14:26]  ²³ tn Heb “In the fear of the Lord [is] confidence of strength.” The phrase “one has” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness.

[14:26]  ²⁴ tn Heb “confidence of strength.” This construct phrase features an attributive genitive: “strong confidence” (so most English versions; NIV “a secure fortress”).

[14:26]  ²⁵ sn The fear of the Lord will not only provide security for the parent but will also be a refuge for children. The line recalls Exod 20:5-6 where children will reap the benefits of the righteous parents. The line could also be read as “he [= God] will be a refuge for the children.”

[3:16]  ²⁶ tn Or “fear” (so NAB); NRSV “revered”; NCV “honored.”

[3:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “heard and listened”; NAB “listened attentively.”

[3:16]  ²⁸ sn The scroll mentioned here is a “memory book” (סֵפֶר זִכָּרוֹן, sefer zikkaron) in which the Lord keeps an ongoing record of the names of all the redeemed (see Exod 32:32; Isa 4:3; Dan 12:1; Rev 20:12-15).

[10:28]  ²⁹ tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated.

[10:28]  ³⁰ sn Judaism had a similar exhortation in 4 Macc 13:14-15.

[10:28]  ³¹ sn See the note on the word hell in 5:22.

[10:2]  ³² tn In the Greek text this represents a continuation of the previous sentence. Because of the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was begun here in the translation.

[10:2]  ³³ sn The description of Cornelius as a devout, God-fearing man probably means that he belonged to the category called “God-fearers,” Gentiles who worshiped the God of Israel and in many cases kept the Mosaic law, but did not take the final step of circumcision necessary to become a proselyte to Judaism. See further K. G. Kuhn, TDNT 6:732-34, 43-44, and Sir 11:17; 27:11; 39:27.

[10:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “gave many gifts to the poor.” This was known as “giving alms,” or acts of mercy (Sir 7:10; BDAG 315-16 s.v. ἐλεημοσύνη).

[10:35]  ³⁵ sn See Luke 24:47.

[10:35]  ³⁶ tn Or “shows reverence for him.”

[10:35]  ³⁷ tn Grk “works righteousness”; the translation “does what is right” for this phrase in this verse is given by L&N 25.85.