Daniel 3:17

3:17 If ¹  our God whom we are serving exists, ²  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 3:1

Daniel’s Friends Are Tested

3:1 ³ King Nebuchadnezzar had a golden ⁴  statue made. ⁵  It was ninety feet ⁶  tall and nine feet ⁷  wide. He erected it on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon.

Daniel 1:1

Daniel Finds Favor in Babylon

1:1 In the third ⁸  year of the reign of King Jehoiakim of Judah, King Nebuchadnezzar ⁹  of Babylon advanced against Jerusalem ¹⁰  and laid it under siege. ¹¹ 

Esther 4:15-17

4:15 Then Esther sent this reply to Mordecai: 4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ¹²  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ¹³  If I perish, I perish!”

4:17 So Mordecai set out to do everything that Esther had instructed him.

Psalms 50:15

50:15 Pray to me when you are in trouble! ¹⁴ 

I will deliver you, and you will honor me!” ¹⁵ 

Psalms 91:15

91:15 When he calls out to me, I will answer him.

I will be with him when he is in trouble;

I will rescue him and bring him honor.

Proverbs 3:5-6

3:5 Trust ¹⁶  in the Lord with all your heart, ¹⁷ 

and do not rely ¹⁸  on your own understanding. ¹⁹ 

3:6 Acknowledge ²⁰  him in all your ways, ²¹ 

and he will make your paths straight. ²² 

Isaiah 37:4

37:4 Perhaps the Lord your God will hear all these things the chief adviser has spoken on behalf of his master, the king of Assyria, who sent him to taunt the living God. ²³  When the Lord your God hears, perhaps he will punish him for the things he has said. ²⁴  So pray for this remnant that remains.’” ²⁵ 

Jeremiah 33:3

33:3 ‘Call on me in prayer and I will answer you. I will show you great and mysterious ²⁶  things which you still do not know about.’

Matthew 18:12

18:12 What do you think? If someone ²⁷  owns a hundred ²⁸  sheep and one of them goes astray, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go look for the one that went astray? ²⁹ 

Matthew 18:19

18:19 Again, I tell you the truth, ³⁰  if two of you on earth agree about whatever you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ³¹ 

Acts 4:24-31

4:24 When they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind ³²  and said, “Master of all, ³³  you who made the heaven, the earth, ³⁴  the sea, and everything that is in them, 4:25 who said by the Holy Spirit through ³⁵  your servant David our forefather, ³⁶ 

‘Why do the nations ³⁷  rage, ³⁸ 

and the peoples plot foolish ³⁹  things?

4:26 The kings of the earth stood together, ⁴⁰ 

and the rulers assembled together,

against the Lord and against his ⁴¹  Christ.’ ⁴² 

4:27 “For indeed both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, assembled together in this city against ⁴³  your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, ⁴⁴  4:28 to do as much as your power ⁴⁵  and your plan ⁴⁶  had decided beforehand ⁴⁷  would happen. 4:29 And now, Lord, pay attention to ⁴⁸  their threats, and grant ⁴⁹  to your servants ⁵⁰  to speak your message ⁵¹  with great courage, ⁵²  4:30 while you extend your hand to heal, and to bring about miraculous signs ⁵³  and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 4:31 When ⁵⁴  they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken, ⁵⁵  and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak ⁵⁶  the word of God ⁵⁷  courageously. ⁵⁸ 

Acts 12:4

12:4 When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads ⁵⁹  of soldiers to guard him. Herod ⁶⁰  planned ⁶¹  to bring him out for public trial ⁶²  after the Passover.

Romans 15:30

15:30 Now I urge you, brothers and sisters, ⁶³  through our Lord Jesus Christ and through the love of the Spirit, to join fervently with me in prayer to God on my behalf.

Romans 15:2

15:2 Let each of us please his neighbor for his good to build him up.

Romans 4:17-18

4:17 (as it is written, “I have made you the father of many nations”). ⁶⁴  He is our father ⁶⁵  in the presence of God whom he believed – the God who ⁶⁶  makes the dead alive and summons the things that do not yet exist as though they already do. ⁶⁷  4:18 Against hope Abraham ⁶⁸  believed ⁶⁹  in hope with the result that he became the father of many nations ⁷⁰  according to the pronouncement, ⁷¹  “so will your descendants be.” ⁷² 

[3:17]  ¹ tc The ancient versions typically avoid the conditional element of v. 17.

[3:17]  ² 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.

[3:1]  ³ sn The LXX introduces this chapter with the following chronological note: “in the eighteenth year of.” Such a date would place these events at about the time of the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. (cf. 2 Kgs 25:8). However, there seems to be no real basis for associating the events of Daniel 3 with this date.

[3:1]  ⁴ sn There is no need to think of Nebuchadnezzar’s image as being solid gold. No doubt the sense is that it was overlaid with gold (cf. Isa 40:19; Jer 10:3-4), with the result that it presented a dazzling self-compliment to the greatness of Nebuchadnezzar’s achievements.

[3:1]  ⁵ sn According to a number of patristic authors, the image represented a deification of Nebuchadnezzar himself. This is not clear from the biblical text, however.

[3:1]  ⁶ tn Aram “sixty cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 90 feet (27.4 m) high.

[3:1]  ⁷ tn Aram “six cubits.” Assuming a length of 18 inches for the standard cubit, the image would be 9 feet (2.74 m) wide.

[1:1]  ⁸ sn The third year of the reign of Jehoiakim would be ca. 605 B.C. At this time Daniel would have been a teenager. The reference to Jehoiakim’s third year poses a serious crux interpretum, since elsewhere these events are linked to his fourth year (Jer 25:1; cf. 2 Kgs 24:1; 2 Chr 36:5-8). Apparently Daniel is following an accession year chronology, whereby the first partial year of a king’s reign was reckoned as the accession year rather than as the first year of his reign. Jeremiah, on the other hand, is following a nonaccession year chronology, whereby the accession year is reckoned as the first year of the king’s reign. In that case, the conflict is only superficial. Most modern scholars, however, have concluded that Daniel is historically inaccurate here.

[1:1]  ⁹ sn King Nebuchadnezzar ruled Babylon from ca. 605-562 B.C.

[1:1]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[1:1]  ¹¹ sn This attack culminated in the first of three major deportations of Jews to Babylon. The second one occurred in 597 B.C. and included among many other Jewish captives the prophet Ezekiel. The third deportation occurred in 586 B.C., at which time the temple and the city of Jerusalem were thoroughly destroyed.

[4:16]  ¹² tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

[4:16]  ¹³ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

[50:15]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “call [to] me in a day of trouble.”

[50:15]  ¹⁵ sn In vv. 7-15 the Lord makes it clear that he was not rebuking Israel because they had failed to offer sacrifices (v. 8a). On the contrary, they had been faithful in doing so (v. 8b). However, their understanding of the essence of their relationship with God was confused. Apparently they believed that he needed/desired such sacrifices and that offering them would ensure their prosperity. But the Lord owns all the animals of the world and did not need Israel’s meager sacrifices (vv. 9-13). Other aspects of the relationship were more important to the Lord. He desired Israel to be thankful for his blessings (v. 14a), to demonstrate gratitude for his intervention by repaying the vows they made to him (v. 14b), and to acknowledge their absolute dependence on him (v. 15a). Rather than viewing their sacrifices as somehow essential to God’s well-being, they needed to understand their dependence on him.

[3:5]  ¹⁶ sn The word בְּטַח (bÿtakh, “trust”) is used in the OT in (1) literal physical sense: to physically lean upon something for support and (2) figurative sense: to rely upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 105 s.v. I בְּטַח; HALOT 120 s.v. I בטח). The verb is often used with false securities, people trusting in things that prove to be worthless. But here the object of the secure trust is the Lord who is a reliable object of confidence.

[3:5]  ¹⁷ sn The “heart” functions as a metonymy of subject encompassing mind, emotions and will (BDB 524 s.v. לֵב 2).

[3:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “do not lean.” The verb שָׁעַן (sha’an, “to lean; to rely”) is used in (1) literal physical sense of leaning upon something for support and (2) figurative sense of relying upon someone or something for help or protection (BDB 1043 s.v.). Here it functions figuratively (hypocatastasis: implied comparison); relying on one’s own understanding is compared to leaning on something that is unreliable for support (e.g., Isa 10:20).

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “your understanding.” The term בִּינָה (binah, “understanding”) is used elsewhere in this book of insight given by God from the instructions in Proverbs (Prov 2:3; 7:4; 8:14; 9:6, 10; 23:23). Here it refers to inherent human understanding that functions in relative ignorance unless supplemented by divine wisdom (Job 28:12-28; 39:26). The reflexive pronoun “own” is supplied in the translation to clarify this point. It is dangerous for a person to rely upon mere human wisdom (Prov 14:12; 16:25).

[3:6]  ²⁰ tn Heb “know him.” The verb יָדַע (yadah, “to know”) includes mental awareness of who God is and the consequential submission to his lordship. To know him is to obey him. The sage is calling for a life of trust and obedience in which the disciple sees the Lord in every event and relies on him. To acknowledge the Lord in every event means trusting and obeying him for guidance in right conduct.

[3:6]  ²¹ tn The term דֶרֶךְ (derekh, “way”) is figurative (hypocatastasis: implied comparison) referring to a person’s course of life, actions and undertakings (Prov 2:8; 3:6, 23; 11:5; 20:24; 29:27; 31:3; BDB 203 s.v. 5; cf. TEV “in everything you do”; NCV, NLT “in all you do”). This is a call for total commitment in trust for obedience in all things.

[3:6]  ²² tn The verb יָשָׁר (yashar) means “to make smooth; to make straight” (BDB 444 s.v.). This phrase means “to make the way free from obstacles,” that is, to make it successful (e.g., Isa 40:3). The straight, even road is the right road; God will make the way smooth for the believer.

[37:4]  ²³ tn Heb “all the words of the chief adviser whom his master, the king of Assyria, sent to taunt the living God.”

[37:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “and rebuke the words which the Lord your God hears.”

[37:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and lift up a prayer on behalf of the remnant that is found.”

[33:3]  ²⁶ tn This passive participle or adjective is normally used to describe cities or walls as “fortified” or “inaccessible.” All the lexicons, however, agree in seeing it used here metaphorically of “secret” or “mysterious” things, things that Jeremiah could not know apart from the Lord’s revelation. G. L. Keown, P. J. Scalise, and T. G. Smothers (Jeremiah 26-52 [WBC], 170) make the interesting observation that the word is used here in a context in which the fortifications of Jerusalem are about to fall to the Babylonians; the fortified things in God’s secret counsel fall through answer to prayer.

[18:12]  ²⁷ tn Grk “a certain man.” The Greek word ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpo") is used here in a somewhat generic sense.

[18:12]  ²⁸ sn This individual with a hundred sheep is a shepherd of modest means, as flocks often had up to two hundred head of sheep.

[18:12]  ²⁹ sn Look for the one that went astray. The parable pictures God’s pursuit of the sinner. On the image of Jesus as the Good Shepherd, see John 10:1-18.

[18:19]  ³⁰ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[18:19]  ³¹ tn Grk “if two of you…agree about whatever they ask, it will be done for them by my Father who is in heaven.” The passive construction has been translated as an active one in keeping with contemporary English style, and the pronouns, which change from second person plural to third person plural in the Greek text, have been consistently translated as second person plural.

[4:24]  ³² sn With one mind. Compare Acts 1:14.

[4:24]  ³³ tn Or “Lord of all.”

[4:24]  ³⁴ tn Grk “and the earth, and the sea,” but καί (kai) has not been translated before “the earth” and “the sea” since contemporary English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[4:25]  ³⁵ tn Grk “by the mouth of” (an idiom).

[4:25]  ³⁶ tn Or “ancestor”; Grk “father.”

[4:25]  ³⁷ tn Or “Gentiles.”

[4:25]  ³⁸ sn The Greek word translated rage includes not only anger but opposition, both verbal and nonverbal. See L&N 88.185.

[4:25]  ³⁹ tn Or “futile”; traditionally, “vain.”

[4:26]  ⁴⁰ tn Traditionally, “The kings of the earth took their stand.”

[4:26]  ⁴¹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[4:26]  ⁴² sn A quotation from Ps 2:1-2.

[4:27]  ⁴³ sn The application of Ps 2:1-2 is that Jews and Gentiles are opposing Jesus. The surprise of the application is that Jews are now found among the enemies of God’s plan.

[4:27]  ⁴⁴ sn A wordplay on “Christ,” v. 26, which means “one who has been anointed.”

[4:28]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “hand,” here a metaphor for God’s strength or power or authority.

[4:28]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “purpose,” “will.”

[4:28]  ⁴⁷ tn Or “had predestined.” Since the term “predestine” is something of a technical theological term, not in wide usage in contemporary English, the translation “decide beforehand” was used instead (see L&N 30.84). God’s direction remains as the major theme.

[4:29]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “Lord, take notice of.”

[4:29]  ⁴⁹ sn Grant to your servants to speak your message with great courage. The request is not for a stop to persecution or revenge on the opponents, but for boldness (great courage) to carry out the mission of proclaiming the message of what God is doing through Jesus.

[4:29]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “slaves.” See the note on the word “servants” in 2:18.

[4:29]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “word.”

[4:29]  ⁵² tn Or “with all boldness.”

[4:30]  ⁵³ tn The miraculous nature of these signs is implied in the context.

[4:31]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “And when.” 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.

[4:31]  ⁵⁵ sn The place where they were assembled…was shaken. This signifies that God is in their midst. See Acts 16:26; Exod 19:18; Ps 114:7; Isa 6:4.

[4:31]  ⁵⁶ tn The imperfect verb has been translated as an ingressive imperfect (“began to speak”). Logical sequencing suggests that their speaking began after they were filled with the Spirit. The prayer was answered immediately.

[4:31]  ⁵⁷ tn Or “speak God’s message.”

[4:31]  ⁵⁸ tn Or “with boldness.”

[12:4]  ⁵⁹ sn Four squads of soldiers. Each squad was a detachment of four soldiers.

[12:4]  ⁶⁰ tn Grk “guard him, planning to bring him out.” The Greek construction continues with a participle (βουλόμενος, boulomeno") and an infinitive (ἀναγαγεῖν, anagagein), but this creates an awkward and lengthy sentence in English. Thus a reference to Herod was introduced as subject and the participle translated as a finite verb (“Herod planned”).

[12:4]  ⁶¹ tn Or “intended”; Grk “wanted.”

[12:4]  ⁶² tn Grk “to bring him out to the people,” but in this context a public trial (with certain condemnation as the result) is doubtless what Herod planned. L&N 15.176 translates this phrase “planning to bring him up for a public trial after the Passover.”

[15:30]  ⁶³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:13.

[4:17]  ⁶⁴ tn Verses 16-17 comprise one sentence in Greek, but this has been divided into two sentences due to English requirements.

[4:17]  ⁶⁵ tn The words “He is our father” are not in the Greek text but are supplied to show that they resume Paul’s argument from 16b. (It is also possible to supply “Abraham had faith” here [so REB], taking the relative clause [“who is the father of us all”] as part of the parenthesis, and making the connection back to “the faith of Abraham,” but such an option is not as likely [C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:243].)

[4:17]  ⁶⁶ tn “The God” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity.

[4:17]  ⁶⁷ tn Or “calls into existence the things that do not exist.” The translation of ὡς ὄντα (Jw" onta) allows for two different interpretations. If it has the force of result, then creatio ex nihilo is in view and the variant rendering is to be accepted (so C. E. B. Cranfield, Romans [ICC], 1:244). A problem with this view is the scarcity of ὡς plus participle to indicate result (though for the telic idea with ὡς plus participle, cf. Rom 15:15; 1 Thess 2:4). If it has a comparative force, then the translation given in the text is to be accepted: “this interpretation fits the immediate context better than a reference to God’s creative power, for it explains the assurance with which God can speak of the ‘many nations’ that will be descended from Abraham” (D. Moo, Romans [NICNT], 282; so also W. Sanday and A. C. Headlam, Romans [ICC], 113). Further, this view is in line with a Pauline idiom, viz., verb followed by ὡς plus participle (of the same verb or, in certain contexts, its antonym) to compare present reality with what is not a present reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:7; 5:3; 7:29, 30 (three times), 31; Col 2:20 [similarly, 2 Cor 6:9, 10]).

[4:18]  ⁶⁸ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Abraham) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:18]  ⁶⁹ tn Grk “who against hope believed,” referring to Abraham. The relative pronoun was converted to a personal pronoun and, because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[4:18]  ⁷⁰ sn A quotation from Gen 17:5.

[4:18]  ⁷¹ tn Grk “according to that which had been spoken.”

[4:18]  ⁷² sn A quotation from Gen 15:5.