2 Kings 4:4-5

4:4 Go and close the door behind you and your sons. Pour the olive oil into all the containers; ¹  set aside each one when you have filled it.” 4:5 So she left him and closed the door behind her and her sons. As they were bringing the containers to her, she was pouring the olive oil.

Deuteronomy 33:27

33:27 The everlasting God is a refuge,

and underneath you are his eternal arms; ² 

he has driven out enemies before you,

and has said, “Destroy!”

Psalms 46:2

46:2 For this reason we do not fear ³  when the earth shakes, ⁴ 

and the mountains tumble into the depths of the sea, ⁵ 

Psalms 91:1-10

Psalm 91 ⁶ 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ⁷  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ⁸ 

and resides in the protective shadow ⁹  of the mighty king ¹⁰  –

91:2 I say this about the Lord, my shelter and my stronghold,

my God in whom I trust –

91:3 he will certainly rescue you from the snare of the hunter ¹¹ 

and from the destructive plague.

91:4 He will shelter you ¹²  with his wings; ¹³ 

you will find safety under his wings.

His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ¹⁴ 

91:5 You need not fear the terrors of the night, ¹⁵ 

the arrow that flies by day,

91:6 the plague that comes in the darkness,

or the disease that comes at noon. ¹⁶ 

91:7 Though a thousand may fall beside you,

and a multitude on your right side,

it ¹⁷  will not reach you.

91:8 Certainly you will see it with your very own eyes –

you will see the wicked paid back. ¹⁸ 

91:9 For you have taken refuge in the Lord,

my shelter, the sovereign One. ¹⁹ 

91:10 No harm will overtake ²⁰  you;

no illness ²¹  will come near your home. ²² 

Proverbs 3:23

3:23 Then you will walk on your way ²³  with security,

and you ²⁴  will not stumble. ²⁵ 

Matthew 25:10

25:10 But while they had gone to buy it, the bridegroom arrived, and those who were ready went inside with him to the wedding banquet. Then ²⁶  the door was shut.

Luke 13:25

13:25 Once ²⁷  the head of the house ²⁸  gets up ²⁹  and shuts the door, then you will stand outside and start to knock on the door and beg him, ‘Lord, ³⁰  let us in!’ ³¹  But he will answer you, ³²  ‘I don’t know where you come from.’ ³³ 

John 10:27-30

10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. 10:28 I give ³⁴  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ³⁵  no one will snatch ³⁶  them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ³⁷  and no one can snatch ³⁸  them from my Father’s hand. 10:30 The Father and I ³⁹  are one.” ⁴⁰ 

John 10:1

Jesus as the Good Shepherd

10:1 “I tell you the solemn truth, ⁴¹  the one who does not enter the sheepfold ⁴²  by the door, ⁴³  but climbs in some other way, is a thief and a robber.

John 1:5

1:5 And the light shines on ⁴⁴  in the darkness, ⁴⁵  but ⁴⁶  the darkness has not mastered it. ⁴⁷ 

[4:4]  ¹ tn Heb “all these vessels.”

[33:27]  ² tn Heb “and from under, arms of perpetuity.” The words “you” and “his” are supplied in the translation for clarification. Some have perceived this line to be problematic and have offered alternative translations that differ significantly from the present translation: “He spread out the primeval tent; he extended the ancient canopy” (NAB); “He subdues the ancient gods, shatters the forces of old” (NRSV). These are based on alternate meanings or conjectural emendations rather than textual variants in the mss and versions.

[46:2]  ³ tn The imperfect is taken in a generalizing sense (cf. NEB) because the situation described in vv. 2-3 is understood as symbolizing typical world conditions. In this case the imperfect draws attention to the typical nature of the response. The covenant community characteristically responds with confidence, not fear. Another option is to take the situation described as purely hypothetical. In this case one might translate, “We will not fear, even though the earth should shake” (cf. NIV, NRSV).

[46:2]  ⁴ tn The Hiphil infinitival form is normally taken to mean “when [the earth] is altered,” being derived from מוּר (mur, “to change”). In this case the Hiphil would be intransitive, as in Ps 15:4. HALOT 560 s.v. II מור emends the form to a Niphal and derives it from a homonymic root מוּר attested in Arabic with the meaning “shake.”

[46:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “heart of the seas.” The plural may be used for emphasis, pointing to the deepest sea. Note that the next verse uses a singular pronoun (“its waters,” “its swelling”) in referring back to the plural noun.

[91:1]  ⁶ sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ⁷ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ⁸ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ⁹ sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ¹⁰ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[91:3]  ¹¹ tn The word refers specifically to a fowler (or hunter of birds).

[91:4]  ¹² tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).

[91:4]  ¹³ tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final yod (י) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod [י] at the beginning of the next word).

[91:4]  ¹⁴ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”

[91:5]  ¹⁵ tn This probably alludes to a sneak attack by enemies in the darkness of night (see Song 3:8).

[91:6]  ¹⁶ sn As in Deut 32:23-24, vv. 5-6 closely associate military attack and deadly disease. Perhaps the latter alludes to one of the effects of siege warfare on the population of an entrapped city, which was especially vulnerable to the outbreak of epidemics.

[91:7]  ¹⁷ tn Apparently the deadly disease mentioned in v. 6b is the understood subject here.

[91:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “retribution on the wicked.”

[91:9]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “for you, the Lord, my shelter, the Most High, you have made your dwelling place.”

[91:10]  ²⁰ tn Or “confront.”

[91:10]  ²¹ tn For this sense of the Hebrew term נגע see Ps 38:11.

[91:10]  ²² tn Heb “your tent.”

[3:23]  ²³ tn The noun דַּרְכֶּךָ (darkekha, “your way”) functions as an adverbial accusative of location: “on your way.”

[3:23]  ²⁴ tn Heb “your foot.” The term רַגְלְךָ (raglÿkha, “your foot”) functions as a synecdoche of part (= foot) for the whole person (= you).

[3:23]  ²⁵ sn The verb נָגַף (ragaf, “to strike; to smite”) sometimes means “to stumble” against a stone (e.g., Ps 91:12). Here the object (“stone”) is implied (BDB 619 s.v.). This is a figure (hypocatastasis) comparing stumbling on a stone in the path to making serious mistakes in life that bring harm.

[25:10]  ²⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[13:25]  ²⁷ tn The syntactical relationship between vv. 24-25 is disputed. The question turns on whether v. 25 is connected to v. 24 or not. A lack of a clear connective makes an independent idea more likely. However, one must then determine what the beginning of the sentence connects to. Though it makes for slightly awkward English, the translation has opted to connect it to “he will answer” so that this functions, in effect, as an apodosis. One could end the sentence after “us” and begin a new sentence with “He will answer” to make simpler sentences, although the connection between the two sentences is thereby less clear. The point of the passage, however, is clear. Once the door is shut, because one failed to come in through the narrow way, it is closed permanently. The moral: Do not be too late in deciding to respond.

[13:25]  ²⁸ tn Or “the master of the household.”

[13:25]  ²⁹ tn Or “rises,” or “stands up.”

[13:25]  ³⁰ tn Or “Sir.”

[13:25]  ³¹ tn Grk “Open to us.”

[13:25]  ³² tn Grk “and answering, he will say to you.” This is redundant in contemporary English and has been simplified to “he will answer you.”

[13:25]  ³³ sn For the imagery behind the statement “I do not know where you come from,” see Ps 138:6; Isa 63:16; Jer 1:5; Hos 5:3.

[10:28]  ³⁴ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ³⁵ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ³⁶ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[10:29]  ³⁷ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ³⁸ tn Or “no one can seize.”

[10:30]  ³⁹ tn Grk “I and the Father.” The order has been reversed to reflect English style.

[10:30]  ⁴⁰ tn The phrase ἕν ἐσμεν ({en esmen) is a significant assertion with trinitarian implications. ἕν is neuter, not masculine, so the assertion is not that Jesus and the Father are one person, but one “thing.” Identity of the two persons is not what is asserted, but essential unity (unity of essence).

[10:1]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[10:1]  ⁴² sn There was more than one type of sheepfold in use in Palestine in Jesus’ day. The one here seems to be a courtyard in front of a house (the Greek word used for the sheepfold here, αὐλή [aulh] frequently refers to a courtyard), surrounded by a stone wall (often topped with briars for protection).

[10:1]  ⁴³ tn Or “entrance.”

[1:5]  ⁴⁴ tn To this point the author has used past tenses (imperfects, aorists); now he switches to a present. The light continually shines (thus the translation, “shines on”). Even as the author writes, it is shining. The present here most likely has gnomic force (though it is possible to take it as a historical present); it expresses the timeless truth that the light of the world (cf. 8:12, 9:5, 12:46) never ceases to shine.

[1:5]  ⁴⁵ sn The author now introduces what will become a major theme of John’s Gospel: the opposition of light and darkness. The antithesis is a natural one, widespread in antiquity. Gen 1 gives considerable emphasis to it in the account of the creation, and so do the writings of Qumran. It is the major theme of one of the most important extra-biblical documents found at Qumran, the so-called War Scroll, properly titled The War of the Sons of Light with the Sons of Darkness. Connections between John and Qumran are still an area of scholarly debate and a consensus has not yet emerged. See T. A. Hoffman, “1 John and the Qumran Scrolls,” BTB 8 (1978): 117-25.

[1:5]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and,” but the context clearly indicates a contrast, so this has been translated as an adversative use of καί (kai).

[1:5]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “comprehended it,” or “overcome it.” The verb κατέλαβεν (katelaben) is not easy to translate. “To seize” or “to grasp” is possible, but this also permits “to grasp with the mind” in the sense of “to comprehend” (esp. in the middle voice). This is probably another Johannine double meaning – one does not usually think of darkness as trying to “understand” light. For it to mean this, “darkness” must be understood as meaning “certain people,” or perhaps “humanity” at large, darkened in understanding. But in John’s usage, darkness is not normally used of people or a group of people. Rather it usually signifies the evil environment or ‘sphere’ in which people find themselves: “They loved darkness rather than light” (John 3:19). Those who follow Jesus do not walk in darkness (8:12). They are to walk while they have light, lest the darkness “overtake/overcome” them (12:35, same verb as here). For John, with his set of symbols and imagery, darkness is not something which seeks to “understand (comprehend)” the light, but represents the forces of evil which seek to “overcome (conquer)” it. The English verb “to master” may be used in both sorts of contexts, as “he mastered his lesson” and “he mastered his opponent.”