Acts 9:8-9

9:8 So Saul got up from the ground, but although his eyes were open, ¹  he could see nothing. ²  Leading him by the hand, his companions ³  brought him into Damascus. 9:9 For ⁴  three days he could not see, and he neither ate nor drank anything. ⁵ 

Acts 9:17

9:17 So Ananias departed and entered the house, placed ⁶  his hands on Saul ⁷  and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came here, ⁸  has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” ⁹ 

Genesis 19:11

19:11 Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, from the youngest to the oldest, ¹⁰  with blindness. The men outside ¹¹  wore themselves out trying to find the door.

Genesis 19:2

19:2 He said, “Here, my lords, please turn aside to your servant’s house. Stay the night ¹²  and wash your feet. Then you can be on your way early in the morning.” ¹³  “No,” they replied, “we’ll spend the night in the town square.” ¹⁴ 

Genesis 6:8

6:8 But ¹⁵  Noah found favor ¹⁶  in the sight of ¹⁷  the Lord.

Isaiah 29:10

29:10 For the Lord has poured out on you

a strong urge to sleep deeply. ¹⁸ 

He has shut your eyes (the prophets),

and covered your heads (the seers).

John 9:39

9:39 Jesus ¹⁹  said,] ²⁰  “For judgment I have come into this world, so that those who do not see may gain their sight, ²¹  and the ones who see may become blind.”

Romans 11:7-10

11:7 What then? Israel failed to obtain what it was diligently seeking, but the elect obtained it. The ²²  rest were hardened, 11:8 as it is written,

“God gave them a spirit of stupor,

eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear,

to this very day.” ²³ 

11:9 And David says,

“Let their table become a snare and trap,

a stumbling block and a retribution for them;

11:10 let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see,

and make their backs bend continually.” ²⁴ 

Romans 11:25

11:25 For I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, ²⁵  so that you may not be conceited: A partial hardening has happened to Israel ²⁶  until the full number ²⁷  of the Gentiles has come in.

[9:8]  ¹ tn Grk “his eyes being open,” a genitive absolute construction that has been translated as a concessive adverbial participle.

[9:8]  ² sn He could see nothing. This sign of blindness, which was temporary until v. 18, is like the sign of deafness experienced by Zechariah in Luke 1. It allowed some time for Saul (Paul) to reflect on what had happened without distractions.

[9:8]  ³ tn Grk “they”; the referents (Saul’s companions) have been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:9]  ⁴ tn Grk “And for.” 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.

[9:9]  ⁵ tn The word “anything” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader. The fasting might indicate an initial realization of Luke 5:33-39. Fasting was usually accompanied by reflective thought.

[9:17]  ⁶ tn Grk “and placing his hands on Saul, he said.” The participle ἐπιθείς (epiqei") has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style. For the same reason καί (kai) has not been translated before the participle.

[9:17]  ⁷ tn Grk “on him”; the referent (Saul) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[9:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “on the road in which you came,” but the relative clause makes for awkward English style, so it was translated as a temporal clause (“as you came here”).

[9:17]  ⁹ sn Be filled with the Holy Spirit. Here someone who is not an apostle (Ananias) commissions another person with the Spirit.

[19:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “from the least to the greatest.”

[19:11]  ¹¹ tn Heb “they”; the referent (the men of Sodom outside the door) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[19:2]  ¹² tn The imperatives have the force of invitation.

[19:2]  ¹³ tn These two verbs form a verbal hendiadys: “you can rise up early and go” means “you can go early.”

[19:2]  ¹⁴ sn The town square refers to the wide street area at the gate complex of the city.

[6:8]  ¹⁵ tn The disjunctive clause (conjunction + subject + verb) is contrastive here: God condemns the human race, but he is pleased with Noah.

[6:8]  ¹⁶ tn The Hebrew expression “find favor [in the eyes of]” is an idiom meaning “to be an object of another’s favorable disposition or action,” “to be a recipient of another’s favor, kindness, mercy.” The favor/kindness is often earned, coming in response to an action or condition (see Gen 32:5; 39:4; Deut 24:1; 1 Sam 25:8; Prov 3:4; Ruth 2:10). This is the case in Gen 6:8, where v. 9 gives the basis (Noah’s righteous character) for the divine favor.

[6:8]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “in the eyes of,” an anthropomorphic expression for God’s opinion or decision. The Lord saw that the whole human race was corrupt, but he looked in favor on Noah.

[29:10]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “a disposition [or “spirit”] of deep sleep.” Through this mixed metaphor (sleep is likened to a liquid which one pours and in turn symbolizes spiritual dullness) the prophet emphasizes that God himself has given the people over to their spiritual insensitivity as a form of judgment.

[9:39]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “And Jesus.” 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.

[9:39]  ²⁰ tc ‡ Some early and important witnesses (Ì⁷⁵ א* W b sa^ms ac² mf) lack the words, “He said, ‘Lord, I believe,’ and he worshiped him. Jesus said,” (vv. 38-39a). This is weighty evidence for the omission of these words. It is difficult to overstate the value of Ì⁷⁵ here, since it is the only currently available papyrus ms extant for the text of John 9:38-39. Further, א is an important and early Alexandrian witness for the omission. The versional testimony and codex W also give strong support to the omission. Nearly all other mss, however, include these words. The omission may have been occasioned by parablepsis (both vv. 37 and 39 begin with “Jesus said to him”), though it is difficult to account for such an error across such a wide variety of witnesses. On the other hand, the longer reading appears to be motivated by liturgical concerns (so R. E. Brown, John [AB], 1:375), since the verb προσκυνέω (proskunew, “I worship”) is used in John 4:20-25 of worshiping God, and again with the same sense in 12:20. If these words were authentic here, this would be the only place in John’s Gospel where Jesus is the explicit object of προσκυνέω. Even if these words are not authentic, such an omission would nevertheless hardly diminish John’s high Christology (cf. 1:1; 5:18-23; 14:6-10; 20:28), nor the implicit worship of him by Thomas (20:28). Nevertheless, a decision is difficult, and the included words may reflect a very early tradition about the blind man’s response to Jesus.

[9:39]  ²¹ tn Or “that those who do not see may see.”

[11:7]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[11:8]  ²³ sn A quotation from Deut 29:4; Isa 29:10.

[11:10]  ²⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 69:22-23.

[11:25]  ²⁵ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[11:25]  ²⁶ tn Or “Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.”

[11:25]  ²⁷ tn Grk “fullness.”