2 Corinthians 12:9

12:9 But ¹  he said to me, “My grace is enough ²  for you, for my ³  power is made perfect ⁴  in weakness.” So then, I will boast most gladly ⁵  about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may reside in ⁶  me.

Exodus 4:11-16

4:11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave ⁷  a mouth to man, or who makes a person mute or deaf or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? ⁸  4:12 So now go, and I will be with your mouth ⁹  and will teach you ¹⁰  what you must say.” ¹¹ 

4:13 But Moses said, ¹²  “O ¹³  my Lord, please send anyone else whom you wish to send!” ¹⁴ 

4:14 Then the Lord became angry with ¹⁵  Moses, and he said, “What about ¹⁶  your brother Aaron the Levite? ¹⁷  I know that he can speak very well. ¹⁸  Moreover, he is coming ¹⁹  to meet you, and when he sees you he will be glad in his heart. ²⁰ 

4:15 “So you are to speak to him and put the words in his mouth. And as for me, I will be with your mouth ²¹  and with his mouth, ²²  and I will teach you both ²³  what you must do. ²⁴  4:16 He ²⁵  will speak for you to the people, and it will be as if ²⁶  he ²⁷  were your mouth ²⁸  and as if you were his God. ²⁹ 

Jeremiah 1:6-10

1:6 I answered, “Oh, Lord God, ³⁰  I really ³¹  do not know how to speak well enough for that, ³²  for I am too young.” ³³  1:7 The Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am too young.’ But go ³⁴  to whomever I send you and say whatever I tell you. 1:8 Do not be afraid of those to whom I send you, ³⁵  for I will be with you to protect ³⁶  you,” says the Lord. 1:9 Then the Lord reached out his hand and touched my mouth and said to me, “I will most assuredly give you the words you are to speak for me. ³⁷  1:10 Know for certain that ³⁸  I hereby give you the authority to announce to nations and kingdoms that they will be ³⁹  uprooted and torn down, destroyed and demolished, rebuilt and firmly planted.” ⁴⁰ 

Matthew 10:19-20

10:19 Whenever ⁴¹  they hand you over for trial, do not worry about how to speak or what to say, ⁴²  for what you should say will be given to you at that time. ⁴³  10:20 For it is not you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

Luke 21:15

21:15 For I will give you the words ⁴⁴  along with the wisdom ⁴⁵  that none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict.

Luke 24:49

24:49 And look, I am sending you ⁴⁶  what my Father promised. ⁴⁷  But stay in the city ⁴⁸  until you have been clothed with power ⁴⁹  from on high.”

Luke 24:1

The Resurrection

24:1 Now on the first day ⁵⁰  of the week, at early dawn, the women ⁵¹  went to the tomb, taking the aromatic spices ⁵²  they had prepared.

Colossians 3:6

3:6 Because of these things the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience. ⁵³ 

Colossians 3:10

3:10 and have been clothed with the new man ⁵⁴  that is being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it.

Colossians 1:10

1:10 so that you may live ⁵⁵  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁵⁶  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Philippians 2:13

2:13 for the one bringing forth in you both the desire and the effort – for the sake of his good pleasure – is God.

Philippians 4:13

4:13 I am able to do all things ⁵⁷  through the one ⁵⁸  who strengthens me.

James 1:17

1:17 All generous giving and every perfect gift ⁵⁹  is from above, coming down ⁶⁰  from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or the slightest hint of change. ⁶¹ 

[12:9]  ¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” because of the contrast implicit in the context.

[12:9]  ² tn Or “is sufficient.”

[12:9]  ³ tc The majority of later mss (א² A^c D¹ Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï) as well as some versional witnesses include the pronoun “my” here, but the omission of the pronoun has excellent external support (Ì^46vid א* A* B D* F G latt). Scribes probably added the pronoun for clarity, making the obvious referent explicit. This would also make “power” more parallel with “my grace.” Though the original text probably did not include “my,” scribes who added the word were following the sense of Paul’s statement.

[12:9]  ⁴ tn Or “my power comes to full strength.”

[12:9]  ⁵ tn “Most gladly,” a comparative form used with superlative meaning and translated as such.

[12:9]  ⁶ tn Or “may rest on.”

[4:11]  ⁷ tn The verb שִׂים (sim) means “to place, put, set”; the sentence here more precisely says, “Who put a mouth into a man?”

[4:11]  ⁸ sn The final question obviously demands a positive answer. But the clause is worded in such a way as to return to the theme of “I AM.” Isaiah 45:5-7 developed this same idea of God’s control over life. Moses protests that he is not an eloquent speaker, and the Lord replies with reminders about himself and promises, “I will be with your mouth,” an assertion that repeats the verb he used four times in 3:12 and 14 and in promises to Isaac and Jacob (Gen 26:3; 31:3).

[4:12]  ⁹ sn The promise of divine presence always indicates intervention (for blessing or cursing). Here it means that God would be working through the organs of speech to help Moses speak. See Deut 18:18; Jer 1:9.

[4:12]  ¹⁰ sn The verb is וְהוֹרֵיתִיךָ (vÿhoretikha), the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive. The form carries the instructional meaning because it follows the imperative “go.” In fact, there is a sequence at work here: “go…and/that I may teach you.” It is from יָרָה (yara), the same root behind תּוֹרָה (torah, “law”). This always referred to teaching either wisdom or revelation. Here Yahweh promises to teach Moses what to say.

[4:12]  ¹¹ tn The form is the imperfect tense. While it could be taken as a future (“what you will say”), an obligatory imperfect captures the significance better (“what you must say” or “what you are to say”). Not even the content of the message will be left up to Moses.

[4:13]  ¹² tn Heb “And he said”; the referent (Moses) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:13]  ¹³ tn The word בִּי (bi) is a particle of entreaty; it seeks permission to speak and is always followed by “Lord” or “my Lord.”

[4:13]  ¹⁴ tn The text has simply שְׁלַח־נָא בְּיַד־תִּשְׁלָח (shÿlakh-na’ bÿyad tishlakh, “send by the hand you will send”). This is not Moses’ resignation to doing God’s will – it is his final attempt to avoid the call. It carries the force of asking God to send someone else. This is an example of an independent relative clause governed by the genitive: “by the hand of – whomever you will send” (see GKC 488-89 §155.n).

[4:14]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and the anger of Yahweh burned against.”

[4:14]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “Is not” or perhaps “Is [there] not.”

[4:14]  ¹⁷ sn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 29) suggests that the term “Levite” may refer to a profession rather than ancestry here, because both Moses and Aaron were from the tribe of Levi and there would be little point in noting that ancestry for Aaron. In thinking through the difficult problem of the identity of Levites, he cites McNeile as saying “the Levite” referred to one who had had official training as a priest (cf. Judg 17:7, where a member of the tribe of Judah was a Levite). If it was the duty of the priest to give “torah” – to teach – then some training in the power of language would have been in order.

[4:14]  ¹⁸ tn The construction uses the Piel infinitive absolute and the Piel imperfect to express the idea that he spoke very well: דַבֵּר יְדַבֵּר (dabber yÿdabber).

[4:14]  ¹⁹ tn The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle points to the imminent future; it means “he is about to come” or “here he is coming.”

[4:14]  ²⁰ sn It is unlikely that this simply means that as a brother he will be pleased to see Moses, for the narrative has no time for that kind of comment. It is interested in more significant things. The implication is that Aaron will rejoice because of the revelation of God to Moses and the plan to deliver Israel from bondage (see B. Jacob, Exodus, 93).

[4:15]  ²¹ tn Or “I will help you speak.” The independent pronoun puts emphasis (“as for me”) on the subject (“I”).

[4:15]  ²² tn Or “and will help him speak.”

[4:15]  ²³ tn The word “both” is supplied to convey that this object (“you”) and the subject of the next verb (“you must do”) are plural in the Hebrew text, referring to Moses and Aaron. In 4:16 “you” returns to being singular in reference to Moses.

[4:15]  ²⁴ tn The imperfect tense carries the obligatory nuance here as well. The relative pronoun with this verb forms a noun clause functioning as the direct object of “I will teach.”

[4:16]  ²⁵ tn The word “he” represents the Hebrew independent pronoun, which makes the subject emphatic.

[4:16]  ²⁶ tn The phrase “as if” is supplied for clarity.

[4:16]  ²⁷ tn Heb “and it will be [that] he, he will be to you for a mouth,” or more simply, “he will be your mouth.”

[4:16]  ²⁸ tn Heb “he will be to you for a mouth.”

[4:16]  ²⁹ tn The phrase “as if” is supplied for clarity. The word “you” represents the Hebrew independent pronoun, which makes the subject emphatic.

[1:6]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Lord Yahweh.”

[1:6]  ³¹ tn Heb “Behold, I do not know how to speak.” The particle הִנֵּה (hinneh, commonly rendered “behold”) often introduces a speech and calls special attention to a specific word or the statement as a whole (see IBHS 675-78 §40.2.1).

[1:6]  ³² tn The words “well enough for that” are implicit and are supplied in the translation for clarity. Jeremiah is not claiming an absolute inability to speak.

[1:6]  ³³ tn Heb “I am a boy/youth.” The Hebrew word can refer to an infant (Exod 2:6), a young boy (1 Sam 2:11), a teenager (Gen 21:12), or a young man (2 Sam 18:5). The translation is deliberately ambiguous since it is unclear how old Jeremiah was when he was called to begin prophesying.

[1:7]  ³⁴ tn Or “For you must go and say.” The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) is likely adversative here after a negative statement (cf. BDB 474 s.v. כִּי 3.e). The Lord is probably not giving a rationale for the denial of Jeremiah’s objection but redirecting his focus, i.e., “do not say…but go…and say.”

[1:8]  ³⁵ tn Heb “be afraid of them.” The antecedent is the “whomever” in v. 7.

[1:8]  ³⁶ tn Heb “rescue.”

[1:9]  ³⁷ tn Heb “Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.” This is an example of the Hebrew “scheduling” perfect or the “prophetic” perfect where a future event is viewed as so certain it is spoken of as past. The Hebrew particle rendered here “assuredly” (Heb הִנֵּה, hinneh) underlines the certitude of the promise for the future. See the translator’s note on v. 6.

[1:10]  ³⁸ tn Heb “See!” The Hebrew imperative of the verb used here (רָאָה, ra’ah) functions the same as the particle in v. 9. See the translator’s note there.

[1:10]  ³⁹ tn Heb “I appoint you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot….” The phrase refers to the Lord giving Jeremiah authority as a prophet to declare what he, the Lord, will do; it does not mean that Jeremiah himself will do these things. The expression involves a figure of speech where the subject of a declaration is stated instead of the declaration about it. Compare a similar use of the same figure in Gen 41:13.

[1:10]  ⁴⁰ sn These three pairs represent the twofold nature of Jeremiah’s prophecies, prophecies of judgment and restoration. For the further programmatic use of these pairs for Jeremiah’s ministry see 18:7-10 and 31:27-28.

[10:19]  ⁴¹ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[10:19]  ⁴² tn Grk “how or what you might speak.”

[10:19]  ⁴³ tn Grk “in that hour.”

[21:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “a mouth.” It is a metonymy and refers to the reply the Lord will give to them.

[21:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “and wisdom.”

[24:49]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “sending on you.”

[24:49]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “the promise of my Father,” with τοῦ πατρός (tou patros) translated as a subjective genitive. This is a reference to the Holy Spirit and looks back to how one could see Messiah had come with the promise of old (Luke 3:15-18). The promise is rooted in Jer 31:31 and Ezek 36:26.

[24:49]  ⁴⁸ sn The city refers to Jerusalem.

[24:49]  ⁴⁹ sn Until you have been clothed with power refers to the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. What the Spirit supplies is enablement. See Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15. The difference the Spirit makes can be seen in Peter (compare Luke 22:54-62 with Acts 2:14-41).

[24:1]  ⁵⁰ sn The first day of the week is the day after the Sabbath.

[24:1]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the women mentioned in 23:55) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[24:1]  ⁵² tn On this term see BDAG 140-41 s.v. ἄρωμα. See also the note on “aromatic spices” in 23:56.

[3:6]  ⁵³ tc The words ἐπὶ τοὺς υἱοὺς τῆς ἀπειθείας (epi tou" Juiou" th" apeiqeia", “on the sons of disobedience”) are lacking in Ì⁴⁶ B b sa, but are found in א A C D F G H I Ψ 075 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy bo. The words are omitted by several English translations (NASB, NIV, ESV, TNIV). This textual problem is quite difficult to resolve. On the one hand, the parallel account in Eph 5:6 has these words, thus providing scribes a motive for adding them here. On the other hand, the reading without the words may be too hard: The ἐν οἷς (en |oi") of v. 7 seems to have no antecedent without υἱούς already in the text, although it could possibly be construed as neuter referring to the vice list in v. 5. Further, although the witness of B is especially important, there are other places in which B and Ì⁴⁶ share errant readings of omission. Nevertheless, the strength of the internal evidence against the longer reading is at least sufficient to cause doubt here. The decision to retain the words in the text is less than certain.

[3:10]  ⁵⁴ sn Put off all such things. The commands in vv. 8-9 are based on two reasons given in vv. 9-10 – reasons which are expressed in terms of a metaphor about clothing oneself. Paul says that they have put off the old man and have put on the new man. Two things need to be discussed in reference to Paul’s statement. (1) What is the meaning of the clothing imagery (i.e., the “have put off” and “have been clothed”)? (2) What is the meaning of the old man and the new man? Though some commentators understand the participles “have put off” (v. 9) and “have been clothed” (v. 10) as imperatives (i.e., “put off!” and “put on!”), this use of participles is extremely rare in the NT and thus unlikely here. It is better to take them as having the semantic force of indicatives, and thus they give an explanation of what had happened to the Colossians at the time of their conversion – they had taken off the old man and put on the new when they trusted in Christ (cf. 1:4). While it is difficult to say for certain what the background to Paul’s “clothing” metaphor might be (whether it is primarily Jewish and comes from the OT, or primarily Gentile and comes from some facet of the Greco-Roman religious milieu), it is nonetheless clear, on the basis of Paul’s usage of the expression, that the old man refers to man as he is in Adam and dominated by sin (cf. Rom 6:6; Eph 4:22), while the new man refers to the Christian whose new sphere of existence is in Christ. Though the metaphor of clothing oneself primarily reflects outward actions, there is a distinct inward aspect to it, as the rest of v. 10 indicates: being renewed in knowledge according to the image of the one who created it. Paul’s point, then, is that Christians should take off their dirty clothing (inappropriate behavior) and put on clean clothing (behavior consistent with knowing Christ) because this has already been accomplished in a positional sense at the time of their conversion (cf. Gal 3:27 with Rom 13:14).

[1:10]  ⁵⁵ 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]  ⁵⁶ 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.”

[4:13]  ⁵⁷ tn The Greek word translated “all things” is in emphatic position at the beginning of the Greek sentence.

[4:13]  ⁵⁸ 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.

[1:17]  ⁵⁹ tn The first phrase refers to the action of giving and the second to what is given.

[1:17]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “All generous giving and every perfect gift from above is coming down.”

[1:17]  ⁶¹ tn Grk “variation or shadow of turning” (referring to the motions of heavenly bodies causing variations of light and darkness).