1 Samuel 23:15

23:15 David realized ¹  that Saul had come out to seek his life; at that time David was in Horesh in the desert of Ziph.

Job 16:5

16:5 But ²  I would strengthen ³  you with my words; ⁴ 

comfort from my lips would bring ⁵  you relief.

Job 23:6

23:6 Would he contend ⁶  with me with great power?

No, he would only pay attention to me. ⁷ 

Isaiah 35:3-4

35:3 Strengthen the hands that have gone limp,

steady the knees that shake! ⁸ 

35:4 Tell those who panic, ⁹ 

“Be strong! Do not fear!

Look, your God comes to avenge!

With divine retribution he comes to deliver you.” ¹⁰ 

Luke 22:32

22:32 but I have prayed for you, Simon, ¹¹  that your faith may not fail. ¹²  When ¹³  you have turned back, ¹⁴  strengthen ¹⁵  your brothers.”

Luke 22:43

22:43 [Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

Acts 18:23

18:23 After he spent ¹⁶  some time there, Paul left and went through the region of Galatia ¹⁷  and Phrygia, ¹⁸  strengthening all the disciples.

Acts 18:2

18:2 There he ¹⁹  found ²⁰  a Jew named Aquila, ²¹  a native of Pontus, ²²  who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius ²³  had ordered all the Jews to depart from ²⁴  Rome. ²⁵  Paul approached ²⁶  them,

Colossians 1:9-10

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ²⁷  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ²⁸  to fill ²⁹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ³⁰  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ³¹  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Ephesians 3:16

3:16 I pray that ³²  according to the wealth of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in the inner person,

Philippians 4:13

4:13 I am able to do all things ³³  through the one ³⁴  who strengthens me.

Colossians 1:11

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ³⁵  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

[23:15]  ¹ tn Heb “saw.”

[16:5]  ² tn “But” has been added in the translation to strengthen the contrast.

[16:5]  ³ tn The Piel of אָמַץ (’amats) means “to strengthen, fortify.”

[16:5]  ⁴ tn Heb “my mouth.”

[16:5]  ⁵ tn The verb יַחְשֹׂךְ (yakhsokh) means “to restrain; to withhold.” There is no object, so many make it first person subject, “I will not restrain.” The LXX and the Syriac have a different person – “I would not restrain.” G. R. Driver, arguing that the verb is intransitive here, made it “the solace of my lips would not [added] be withheld” (see JTS 34 [1933]: 380). D. J. A. Clines says that what is definitive is the use of the verb in the next line, where it clearly means “soothed, assuaged.”

[23:6]  ⁶ tn The verb is now רִיב (riv) and not יָכַח (yakhakh, “contend”); רִיב (riv) means “to quarrel; to dispute; to contend,” often in a legal context. Here it is still part of Job’s questioning about this hypothetical meeting – would God contend with all his power?

[23:6]  ⁷ tn The verbal clause יָשִׂם בִּי (yasim bi) has been translated “he would pay [attention] to me.” Job is saying that God will not need all his power – he will just have pay attention to Job’s complaint. Job does not need the display of power – he just wants a hearing.

[35:3]  ⁸ tn Heb “staggering knees”; KJV, ASV, NRSV “feeble knees”; NIV “knees that give way.”

[35:4]  ⁹ tn Heb “Say to the hasty of heart,” i.e., those whose hearts beat quickly from fear.

[35:4]  ¹⁰ tn The jussive form וְיֹשַׁעֲכֶם (vÿyosha’akhem), which is subordinated to the preceding imperfect with vav conjunctive, indicates purpose.

[22:32]  ¹¹ sn Here and in the remainder of the verse the second person pronouns are singular, so only Peter is in view. The name “Simon” has been supplied as a form of direct address to make this clear in English.

[22:32]  ¹² sn That your faith may not fail. Note that Peter’s denials are pictured here as lapses, not as a total absence of faith.

[22:32]  ¹³ tn Grk “And when.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[22:32]  ¹⁴ tn Or “turned around.”

[22:32]  ¹⁵ sn Strengthen your brothers refers to Peter helping to strengthen their faith. Jesus quite graciously restores Peter “in advance,” even with the knowledge of his approaching denials.

[18:23]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “Having spent”; the participle ποιήσας (poihsas) is taken temporally.

[18:23]  ¹⁷ sn Galatia refers to either (1) the region of the old kingdom of Galatia in the central part of Asia Minor, or (2) the Roman province of Galatia, whose principal cities in the 1st century were Ancyra and Pisidian Antioch. The exact extent and meaning of this area has been a subject of considerable controversy in modern NT studies.

[18:23]  ¹⁸ sn Phrygia was a district in central Asia Minor west of Pisidia. See Acts 16:6.

[18:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And he.” Because of the difference between Greek style, which often begins sentences or clauses with “and,” and English style, which generally does not, καί (kai) has not been translated here. The word “there” is not in the Greek text but is implied.

[18:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “finding.” The participle εὑρών (Jeurwn) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[18:2]  ²¹ sn On Aquila and his wife Priscilla see also Acts 18:18, 26; Rom 16:3-4; 1 Cor 16:19; 2 Tim 4:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. This author uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.

[18:2]  ²² sn Pontus was a region in the northeastern part of Asia Minor. It was a Roman province.

[18:2]  ²³ sn Claudius refers to the Roman emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero Germanicus, known as Claudius, who ruled from a.d. 41-54. The edict expelling the Jews from Rome was issued in a.d. 49 (Suetonius, Claudius 25.4).

[18:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “to leave.”

[18:2]  ²⁵ map For location see JP4 A1.

[18:2]  ²⁶ tn Or “went to.”

[1:9]  ²⁷ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ²⁸ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ²⁹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ³⁰ tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ³¹ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[3:16]  ³² tn Grk “that.” In Greek v. 16 is a subordinate clause to vv. 14-15.

[4:13]  ³³ tn The Greek word translated “all things” is in emphatic position at the beginning of the Greek sentence.

[4:13]  ³⁴ tc Although some excellent witnesses lack explicit reference to the one strengthening Paul (so א* A B D* I 33 1739 lat co Cl), the majority of witnesses (א² D² [F G] Ψ 075 1881 Ï sy) add Χριστῷ (Cristw) here (thus, “through Christ who strengthens me”). But this kind of reading is patently secondary, and is a predictable variant. Further, the shorter reading is much harder, for it leaves the agent unspecified.

[1:11]  ³⁵ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.