2 Chronicles 32:11

32:11 Hezekiah says, “The Lord our God will rescue us from the power ¹  of the king of Assyria.” But he is misleading you and you will die of hunger and thirst! ² 

2 Chronicles 32:15

32:15 Now don’t let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this. Don’t believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to rescue his people from my power or the power of my predecessors. So how ³  can your gods rescue ⁴  you from my power?’”

Daniel 3:15-17

3:15 Now if you are ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, trigon, harp, pipes, and all kinds of music, you must bow down and pay homage to the statue that I had made. If you don’t pay homage to it, you will immediately be thrown into the midst of the furnace of blazing fire. Now, who is that god who can rescue you from my power?” ⁵  3:16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego replied to King Nebuchadnezzar, ⁶  “We do not need to give you a reply ⁷  concerning this. 3:17 If ⁸  our God whom we are serving exists, ⁹  he is able to rescue us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will rescue us, O king, from your power as well.

Daniel 6:16

6:16 So the king gave the order, ¹⁰  and Daniel was brought and thrown into a den ¹¹  of lions. The king consoled ¹²  Daniel by saying, “Your God whom you continually serve will rescue you!”

John 19:10-11

19:10 So Pilate said, ¹³  “Do you refuse to speak to me? Don’t you know I have the authority ¹⁴  to release you, and to crucify you?” ¹⁵  19:11 Jesus replied, “You would have no authority ¹⁶  over me at all, unless it was given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you ¹⁷  is guilty of greater sin.” ¹⁸ 

John 19:2

19:2 The soldiers ¹⁹  braided ²⁰  a crown of thorns ²¹  and put it on his head, and they clothed him in a purple robe. ²² 

John 2:4

2:4 Jesus replied, ²³  “Woman, ²⁴  why are you saying this to me? ²⁵  My time ²⁶  has not yet come.”

John 2:8

2:8 Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the head steward,” ²⁷  and they did.

[32:11]  ¹ tn Heb “hand.”

[32:11]  ² tn Heb “Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give you over to die by hunger and thirst, saying, ‘The Lord our God will rescue us from the hand of the king of Assyria’?’

[32:15]  ³ tn Heb “how much less.”

[32:15]  ⁴ tn The verb is plural, suggesting that the preceding אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (’elohekhem) be translated “your gods,” rather than “your God.”

[3:15]  ⁵ tn Aram “hand.” So also in v. 17.

[3:16]  ⁶ tc In the MT this word is understood to begin the following address (“answered and said to the king, ‘O Nebuchadnezzar’”). However, it seems unlikely that Nebuchadnezzar’s subordinates would address the king in such a familiar way, particularly in light of the danger that they now found themselves in. The present translation implies moving the atnach from “king” to “Nebuchadnezzar.”

[3:16]  ⁷ tn Aram “to return a word to you.”

[3:17]  ⁸ tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.

[3:17]  ⁹ tn The Aramaic expression used here is very difficult to interpret. The question concerns the meaning and syntax of אִיתַי (’itay, “is” or “exist”). There are several possibilities. (1) Some interpreters take this word closely with the participle later in the verse יָכִל (yakhil, “able”), understanding the two words to form a periphrastic construction (“if our God is…able”; cf. H. Bauer and P. Leander, Grammatik des Biblisch-Aramäischen, 365, §111b). But the separation of the two elements from one another is not an argument in favor of this understanding. (2) Other interpreters take the first part of v. 17 to mean “If it is so, then our God will deliver us” (cf. KJV, ASV, RSV, NASB). However, the normal sense of ’itay is existence; on this point see F. Rosenthal, Grammar, 45, §95. The present translation maintains the sense of existence for the verb (“If our God…exists”), even though the statement is admittedly difficult to understand in this light. The statement may be an implicit reference back to Nebuchadnezzar’s comment in v. 15, which denies the existence of a god capable of delivering from the king’s power.

[6:16]  ¹⁰ tn Aram “said.” So also in vv. 24, 25.

[6:16]  ¹¹ sn The den was perhaps a pit below ground level which could be safely observed from above.

[6:16]  ¹² tn Aram “answered and said [to Daniel].”

[19:10]  ¹³ tn Grk “said to him.” The words “to him” are not translated because they are unnecessary in contemporary English style.

[19:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “the power.”

[19:10]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “know that I have the authority to release you and the authority to crucify you.” Repetition of “the authority” is unnecessarily redundant English style.

[19:11]  ¹⁶ tn Or “power.”

[19:11]  ¹⁷ tn Or “who delivered me over to you.”

[19:11]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “has the greater sin” (an idiom).

[19:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And the soldiers.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[19:2]  ²⁰ tn Or “wove.”

[19:2]  ²¹ sn The crown of thorns was a crown plaited of some thorny material, intended as a mockery of Jesus’ “kingship.” Traditionally it has been regarded as an additional instrument of torture, but it seems more probable the purpose of the thorns was not necessarily to inflict more physical suffering but to imitate the spikes of the “radiant corona,” a type of crown portrayed on ruler’s heads on many coins of the period; the spikes on this type of crown represented rays of light pointing outward (the best contemporary illustration is the crown on the head of the Statue of Liberty in New York harbor).

[19:2]  ²² sn The purple color of the robe indicated royal status. This was further mockery of Jesus, along with the crown of thorns.

[2:4]  ²³ tn Grk “and Jesus said to her.”

[2:4]  ²⁴ sn The term Woman is Jesus’ normal, polite way of addressing women (Matt 15:28, Luke 13:12; John 4:21; 8:10; 19:26; 20:15). But it is unusual for a son to address his mother with this term. The custom in both Hebrew (or Aramaic) and Greek would be for a son to use a qualifying adjective or title. Is there significance in Jesus’ use here? It probably indicates that a new relationship existed between Jesus and his mother once he had embarked on his public ministry. He was no longer or primarily only her son, but the “Son of Man.” This is also suggested by the use of the same term in 19:26 in the scene at the cross, where the beloved disciple is “given” to Mary as her “new” son.

[2:4]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Woman, what to me and to you?” (an idiom). The phrase τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοί, γύναι (ti emoi kai soi, gunai) is Semitic in origin. The equivalent Hebrew expression in the Old Testament had two basic meanings: (1) When one person was unjustly bothering another, the injured party could say “What to me and to you?” meaning, “What have I done to you that you should do this to me?” (Judg 11:12, 2 Chr 35:21, 1 Kgs 17:18). (2) When someone was asked to get involved in a matter he felt was no business of his, he could say to the one asking him, “What to me and to you?” meaning, “That is your business, how am I involved?” (2 Kgs 3:13, Hos 14:8). Option (1) implies hostility, while option (2) implies merely disengagement. Mere disengagement is almost certainly to be understood here as better fitting the context (although some of the Greek Fathers took the remark as a rebuke to Mary, such a rebuke is unlikely).

[2:4]  ²⁶ tn Grk “my hour” (referring to the time of Jesus’ crucifixion and return to the Father).

[2:8]  ²⁷ tn Or “the master of ceremonies.”