1 Samuel 15:9

15:9 However, Saul and the army spared Agag, along with the best of the flock, the cattle, the fatlings, ¹  and the lambs, as well as everything else that was of value. ²  They were not willing to slaughter them. But they did slaughter everything that was despised ³  and worthless.

1 Samuel 15:15

15:15 Saul said, “They were brought ⁴  from the Amalekites; the army spared the best of the flocks and cattle to sacrifice to the Lord our God. But everything else we slaughtered.”

Exodus 23:2

23:2 “You must not follow a crowd ⁵  in doing evil things; ⁶  in a lawsuit you must not offer testimony that agrees with a crowd so as to pervert justice, ⁷ 

Job 31:34

31:34 because I was terrified ⁸  of the great multitude, ⁹ 

and the contempt of families terrified me,

so that I remained silent

and would not go outdoors – ¹⁰ 

Proverbs 29:25

29:25 The fear of people ¹¹  becomes ¹²  a snare, ¹³ 

but whoever trusts in the Lord will be set on high. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 51:12-13

51:12 “I, I am the one who consoles you. ¹⁵ 

Why are you afraid of mortal men,

of mere human beings who are as short-lived as grass? ¹⁶ 

51:13 Why do you forget ¹⁷  the Lord, who made you,

who stretched out the sky ¹⁸ 

and founded the earth?

Why do you constantly tremble all day long ¹⁹ 

at the anger of the oppressor,

when he makes plans to destroy?

Where is the anger of the oppressor? ²⁰ 

Luke 23:20-25

23:20 Pilate addressed them once again because he wanted ²¹  to release Jesus. 23:21 But they kept on shouting, ²²  “Crucify, crucify ²³  him!” 23:22 A third time he said to them, “Why? What wrong has he done? I have found him guilty ²⁴  of no crime deserving death. ²⁵  I will therefore flog ²⁶  him and release him.” 23:23 But they were insistent, ²⁷  demanding with loud shouts that he be crucified. And their shouts prevailed. 23:24 So ²⁸  Pilate ²⁹  decided ³⁰  that their demand should be granted. 23:25 He released the man they asked for, who had been thrown in prison for insurrection and murder. But he handed Jesus over ³¹  to their will. ³² 

Galatians 1:10

1:10 Am I now trying to gain the approval of people, ³³  or of God? Or am I trying to please people? ³⁴  If I were still trying to please ³⁵  people, ³⁶  I would not be a slave ³⁷  of Christ!

Revelation 21:8

21:8 But to the cowards, unbelievers, detestable persons, murderers, the sexually immoral, and those who practice magic spells, ³⁸  idol worshipers, ³⁹  and all those who lie, their place ⁴⁰  will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. ⁴¹  That ⁴²  is the second death.”

[15:9]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text is difficult here. We should probably read וְהַמַּשְׂמַנִּים (vÿhammasmannim, “the fat ones”) rather than the MT וְהַמִּשְׂנִים (vÿhammisnim, “the second ones”). However, if the MT is retained, the sense may be as the Jewish commentator Kimchi supposed: the second-born young, thought to be better than the firstlings. (For discussion see S. R. Driver, Notes on the Hebrew Text and the Topography of the Books of Samuel, 123-24.)

[15:9]  ² tn Heb “good.”

[15:9]  ³ tc The MT has here the very odd form נְמִבְזָה (nÿmivzah), but this is apparently due to a scribal error. The translation follows instead the Niphal participle נִבְזָה (nivzah).

[15:15]  ⁴ tn Heb “they brought them.”

[23:2]  ⁵ tn The word רָבִּים (rabbim), here rendered “crowd,” is also used infrequently to refer to the “mighty,” people of importance in society (Job 35:9; cf. Lev 19:15).

[23:2]  ⁶ tn For any individual to join a group that is bent on acting wickedly would be a violation of the Law and would incur personal responsibility.

[23:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “you will not answer in a lawsuit to turn after the crowd to turn.” The form translated “agrees with” (Heb “to turn after”) is a Qal infinitive construct from נָטָה (natah); the same root is used at the end of the verse but as a Hiphil infinitive construct, “to pervert [justice].”

[31:34]  ⁸ tn Here too the verb will be the customary imperfect – it explains what he continually did in past time.

[31:34]  ⁹ tn Heb “the great multitude.” But some commentators take רַבָּה (rabbah) adverbially: “greatly” (see RSV).

[31:34]  ¹⁰ sn There is no clear apodosis for all these clauses. Some commentators transfer the verses around to make them fit the constructions. But the better view is that there is no apodosis – that Job broke off here, feeling it was useless to go further. Now he will address God and not men. But in vv. 38-40b he does return to a self-imprecation. However, there is not sufficient reason to start rearranging all the verses.

[29:25]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the fear of man.” This uses an objective genitive to describe a situation where fearing what people might do or think controls one’s life. There is no indication in the immediate context that this should be limited only to males, so the translation uses the more generic “people” here.

[29:25]  ¹² tn Heb “gives [or yields, or produces]”; NIV “will prove to be.”

[29:25]  ¹³ sn “Snare” is an implied comparison; fearing people is like being in a trap – there is no freedom of movement or sense of security.

[29:25]  ¹⁴ sn The image of being set on high comes from the military experience of finding a defensible position, a place of safety and security, such as a high wall or a mountain. Trusting in the Lord sets people free and gives them a sense of safety and security (e.g, Prov 10:27; 12:2).

[51:12]  ¹⁵ tc The plural suffix should probably be emended to the second masculine singular (which is used in v. 13). The final mem (ם) is probably dittographic; note the mem at the beginning of the next word.

[51:12]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, and of the son of man who [as] grass is given up?” The feminine singular forms should probably be emended to the masculine singular (see v. 13). They have probably been influenced by the construction אַתְּ־הִיא (’at-hi’) in vv. 9-10.

[51:13]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and that you forget.”

[51:13]  ¹⁸ tn Or “the heavens” (also in v. 16). The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.

[51:13]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and that you tremble constantly all the day.”

[51:13]  ²⁰ tn The question anticipates the answer, “Ready to disappear!” See v. 14.

[23:20]  ²¹ sn The account pictures a battle of wills – the people versus Pilate. Pilate is consistently portrayed in Luke’s account as wanting to release Jesus because he believed him to be innocent.

[23:21]  ²² tn Grk “shouting, saying.” The participle λέγοντες (legontes) is redundant and has not been translated here.

[23:21]  ²³ tn This double present imperative is emphatic.

[23:22]  ²⁴ tn Grk “no cause of death I found in him.”

[23:22]  ²⁵ sn The refrain of innocence comes once again. Pilate tried to bring some sense of justice, believing Jesus had committed no crime deserving death.

[23:22]  ²⁶ tn Or “scourge” (BDAG 749 s.v. παιδεύω 2.b.γ). See the note on “flogged” in v. 16.

[23:23]  ²⁷ tn Though a different Greek term is used here (BDAG 373 s.v. ἐπίκειμαι), this remark is like 23:5.

[23:24]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the crowd’s cries prevailing.

[23:24]  ²⁹ sn Finally Pilate gave in. He decided crucifying one Galilean teacher was better than facing a riot. Justice lost out in the process, because he did not follow his own verdict.

[23:24]  ³⁰ tn Although some translations render ἐπέκρινεν (epekrinen) here as “passed sentence” or “gave his verdict,” the point in context is not that Pilate sentenced Jesus to death here, but that finally, although convinced of Jesus’ innocence, he gave in to the crowd’s incessant demand to crucify an innocent man.

[23:25]  ³¹ tn Or “delivered up.”

[23:25]  ³² sn He handed Jesus over to their will. Here is where Luke places the major blame for Jesus’ death. It lies with the Jewish nation, especially the leadership, though in Acts 4:24-27 he will bring in the opposition of Herod, Pilate, and all people.

[1:10]  ³³ tn Grk “of men”; but here ἀνθρώπους (anqrwpou") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.

[1:10]  ³⁴ tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.

[1:10]  ³⁵ tn The imperfect verb has been translated conatively (ExSyn 550).

[1:10]  ³⁶ tn Grk “men”; but here ἀνθρώποις (anqrwpoi") is used in a generic sense of both men and women.

[1:10]  ³⁷ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[21:8]  ³⁸ tn On the term φαρμακεία (farmakeia, “magic spells”) see L&N 53.100: “the use of magic, often involving drugs and the casting of spells upon people – ‘to practice magic, to cast spells upon, to engage in sorcery, magic, sorcery.’ φαρμακεία: ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη ‘with your magic spells you deceived all the peoples (of the world)’ Re 18:23.”

[21:8]  ³⁹ tn Grk “idolaters.”

[21:8]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “their share.”

[21:8]  ⁴¹ tn Traditionally, “brimstone.”

[21:8]  ⁴² tn Grk “sulfur, which is.” The relative pronoun has been translated as “that” to indicate its connection to the previous clause. The nearest logical antecedent is “the lake [that burns with fire and sulfur],” although “lake” (λίμνη, limnh) is feminine gender, while the pronoun “which” (ὅ, Jo) is neuter gender. This means that (1) the proper antecedent could be “their place” (Grk “their share,”) agreeing with the relative pronoun in number and gender, or (2) the neuter pronoun still has as its antecedent the feminine noun “lake,” since agreement in gender between pronoun and antecedent was not always maintained, with an explanatory phrase occurring with a neuter pronoun regardless of the case of the antecedent. In favor of the latter explanation is Rev 20:14, where the phrase “the lake of fire” is in apposition to the phrase “the second death.”