1 Samuel 25:8

25:8 Ask your own servants; they can tell you! May my servants find favor in your sight, for we have come ¹  at the time of a holiday. Please provide us – your servants ²  and your son David – with whatever you can spare.” ³ 

Esther 5:2

5:2 When the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she met with his approval. ⁴  The king extended to Esther the gold scepter that was in his hand, and Esther approached and touched the end of the scepter.

Esther 5:6

5:6 While at the banquet of wine, the king said to Esther, “What is your request? It shall be given to you. What is your petition? Ask for as much as half the kingdom, ⁵  and it shall be done!”

Esther 7:2

7:2 On the second day of the banquet of wine the king asked Esther, “What is your request, Queen Esther? It shall be granted to you. And what is your petition? Ask up to half the kingdom, and it shall be done!”

Isaiah 49:8

49:8 This is what the Lord says:

“At the time I decide to show my favor, I will respond to you;

in the day of deliverance I will help you;

I will protect you ⁶  and make you a covenant mediator for people, ⁷ 

to rebuild ⁸  the land ⁹ 

and to reassign the desolate property.

Isaiah 55:6

55:6 Seek the Lord while he makes himself available; ¹⁰ 

call to him while he is nearby!

Isaiah 55:2

55:2 Why pay money for something that will not nourish you? ¹¹ 

Why spend ¹²  your hard-earned money ¹³  on something that will not satisfy?

Listen carefully ¹⁴  to me and eat what is nourishing! ¹⁵ 

Enjoy fine food! ¹⁶ 

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ¹⁷  brothers and sisters ¹⁸  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ¹⁹  from God our Father! ²⁰ 

[25:8]  ¹ tc The translation follows many medieval Hebrew mss in reading בָּאנוּ (ba’nu, “we have come”) rather than the MT’s בָּנוּ (banu, “we have built”).

[25:8]  ² tn This refers to the ten servants sent by David.

[25:8]  ³ tn Heb “whatever your hand will find.”

[5:2]  ⁴ tn Heb “she obtained grace in his eyes”; NASB “she obtained favor in his sight”; NIV “he was pleased with her”; NLT “he welcomed her.”

[5:6]  ⁵ sn As much as half the kingdom. Such a statement would no doubt have been understood for the exaggeration that it clearly was. Cf. the similar NT scene recorded in Mark 6:23, where Herod makes a similar promise to the daughter of Herodias. In that case the request was for the head of John the Baptist, which is a lot less than half the kingdom.

[49:8]  ⁶ tn The translation assumes the verb is derived from the root נָצָר (natsar, “protect”). Some prefer to derive it from the root יָצָר (yatsar, “form”).

[49:8]  ⁷ tn Heb “a covenant of people.” A person cannot literally be a covenant; בְּרִית (bÿrit) is probably metonymic here, indicating a covenant mediator. Here עָם (’am, “people”) appears to refer to Israel. See the note at 42:6.

[49:8]  ⁸ tn The Hiphil of קוּם (qum, “arise”) is probably used here in the sense of “rebuild.”

[49:8]  ⁹ tn The “land” probably stands by metonymy for the ruins within it.

[55:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “while he allows himself to be found.” The Niphal form has a tolerative force here.

[55:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “for what is not food.”

[55:2]  ¹² tn The interrogative particle and the verb “spend” are understood here by ellipsis (note the preceding line).

[55:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “your labor,” which stands by metonymy for that which one earns.

[55:2]  ¹⁴ tn The infinitive absolute follows the imperative and lends emphasis to the exhortation.

[55:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “good” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[55:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Let your appetite delight in fine food.”

[1:2]  ¹⁷ 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.

[1:2]  ¹⁸ 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).

[1:2]  ¹⁹ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ²⁰ 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.