Deuteronomy 32:6

32:6 Is this how you repay ¹  the Lord,

you foolish, unwise people?

Is he not your father, your creator?

He has made you and established you.

Psalms 100:3

100:3 Acknowledge that the Lord is God!

He made us and we belong to him; ² 

we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

Psalms 138:8

138:8 The Lord avenges me. ³ 

O Lord, your loyal love endures.

Do not abandon those whom you have made! ⁴ 

Isaiah 19:25

19:25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ⁵  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ⁶  Israel!”

Isaiah 29:23

29:23 For when they see their children,

whom I will produce among them, ⁷ 

they will honor ⁸  my name.

They will honor the Holy One of Jacob; ⁹ 

they will respect ¹⁰  the God of Israel.

Isaiah 43:21

43:21 the people whom I formed for myself,

so they might praise me.” ¹¹ 

Isaiah 44:21

44:21 Remember these things, O Jacob,

O Israel, for you are my servant.

I formed you to be my servant;

O Israel, I will not forget you! ¹² 

Isaiah 60:21

60:21 All of your people will be godly; ¹³ 

they will possess the land permanently.

I will plant them like a shoot;

they will be the product of my labor,

through whom I reveal my splendor. ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 61:3

61:3 to strengthen those who mourn in Zion,

by giving them a turban, instead of ashes,

oil symbolizing joy, ¹⁵  instead of mourning,

a garment symbolizing praise, ¹⁶  instead of discouragement. ¹⁷ 

They will be called oaks of righteousness, ¹⁸ 

trees planted by the Lord to reveal his splendor. ¹⁹ 

Jeremiah 31:33

31:33 “But I will make a new covenant with the whole nation of Israel ²⁰  after I plant them back in the land,” ²¹  says the Lord. ²²  “I will ²³  put my law within them ²⁴  and write it on their hearts and minds. ²⁵  I will be their God and they will be my people. ²⁶ 

Jeremiah 32:39-40

32:39 I will give them a single-minded purpose to live in a way that always shows respect for me. They will want to do that for ²⁷  their own good and the good of the children who descend from them. 32:40 I will make a lasting covenant ²⁸  with them that I will never stop doing good to them. ²⁹  I will fill their hearts and minds with respect for me so that ³⁰  they will never again turn ³¹  away from me.

John 3:3-6

3:3 Jesus replied, ³²  “I tell you the solemn truth, ³³  unless a person is born from above, ³⁴  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ³⁵  3:4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” ³⁶ 

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, ³⁷  unless a person is born of water and spirit, ³⁸  he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 3:6 What is born of the flesh is flesh, ³⁹  and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.

John 3:21

3:21 But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, so that it may be plainly evident that his deeds have been done in God. ⁴⁰ 

John 3:1

Conversation with Nicodemus

3:1 Now a certain man, a Pharisee ⁴¹  named Nicodemus, who was a member of the Jewish ruling council, ⁴² 

Colossians 3:9

3:9 Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with its practices

Colossians 3:2

3:2 Keep thinking about things above, not things on the earth,

Colossians 1:5

1:5 Your faith and love have arisen ⁴³  from the hope laid up ⁴⁴  for you in heaven, which you have heard about in the message of truth, the gospel ⁴⁵ 

Colossians 1:17

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ⁴⁶  in him.

Philippians 1:6

1:6 For I am sure of this very thing, ⁴⁷  that the one ⁴⁸  who began a good work in ⁴⁹  you will perfect it ⁵⁰  until the day of Christ Jesus.

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.

Hebrews 13:21

13:21 equip you with every good thing to do his will, working in us ⁵¹  what is pleasing before him through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever. ⁵²  Amen.

[32:6]  ¹ tn Or “treat” (TEV).

[100:3]  ² tn The present translation (like most modern translations) follows the Qere (marginal reading), which reads literally, “and to him [are] we.” The Kethib (consonantal text) has “and not we.” The suffixed preposition לו (“to him”) was confused aurally with the negative particle לא because the two sound identical.

[138:8]  ³ tn Heb “avenges on my behalf.” For the meaning “to avenge” for the verb גָּמַר (gamar), see HALOT 197-98 s.v. גמר.

[138:8]  ⁴ tn Heb “the works of your hands.” Many medieval Hebrew mss read the singular, “work of your hands.”

[19:25]  ⁵ tn Heb “which the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will bless [it], saying.” The third masculine singular suffix on the form בֵּרֲכוֹ (berakho) should probably be emended to a third feminine singular suffix בֵּרֲכָהּ (berakhah), for its antecedent would appear to be the feminine noun אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) at the end of v. 24.

[19:25]  ⁶ tn Or “my inheritance” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[29:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “for when he sees his children, the work of my hands in his midst.”

[29:23]  ⁸ tn Or “treat as holy” (also in the following line); NASB, NRSV “will sanctify.”

[29:23]  ⁹ sn Holy One of Jacob is similar to the phrase “Holy One of Israel” common throughout Isaiah; see the sn at Isa 1:4.

[29:23]  ¹⁰ tn Or “fear,” in the sense of “stand in awe of.”

[43:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “[so] they might declare my praise.”

[44:21]  ¹² tc The verb in the Hebrew text is a Niphal imperfect with a pronominal suffix. Although the Niphal ordinarily has the passive sense, it can have a reflexive nuance as well (see above translation). Some have suggested an emendation to a Qal form: “Do not forget me” (all the ancient versions, NEB, REB; see GKC 369 §117.x). “Do not forget me” would make a good parallel with “remember these things” in the first line. Since the MT is the harder reading and fits with Israel’s complaint that God had forgotten her (Isa 40:27), the MT reading should be retained (NASB, NKJV, NRSV, ESV). The passive has been rendered as an active in the translation in keeping with contemporary English style (so also NIV, NCV, TEV, NLT).

[60:21]  ¹³ tn Or “righteous” (NASB, NIV, NRSV, NLT); NAB “just.”

[60:21]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “a shoot of his planting, the work of my hands, to reveal splendor.”

[61:3]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “oil of joy” (KJV, ASV); NASB, NIV, NRSV “the oil of gladness.”

[61:3]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “garment of praise.”

[61:3]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “a faint spirit” (so NRSV); KJV, ASV “the spirit of heaviness”; NASB “a spirit of fainting.”

[61:3]  ¹⁸ tn Rather than referring to the character of the people, צֶדֶק (tsedeq) may carry the nuance “vindication” here, suggesting that God’s restored people are a testimony to his justice. See v. 2, which alludes to the fact that God will take vengeance against the enemies of his people. Cf. NAB “oaks of justice.”

[61:3]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “a planting of the Lord to reveal splendor.”

[31:33]  ²⁰ tn Heb “with the house of Israel.” All commentators agree that the term here refers to both the whole nation which was divided into the house of Israel and the house of Judah in v. 30.

[31:33]  ²¹ tn Heb “after those days.” Commentators are generally agreed that this refers to the return from exile and the repopulation of the land referred to in vv. 27-28 and not to something subsequent to the time mentioned in v. 30. This is the sequencing that is also presupposed in other new covenant passages such as Deut 30:1-6; Ezek 11:17-20; 36:24-28.

[31:33]  ²² tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[31:33]  ²³ tn Heb “‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after these days:’ says the Lord, ‘I will….’” The sentence has been reworded and restructured to avoid the awkwardness of the original style.

[31:33]  ²⁴ tn Heb “in their inward parts.” The Hebrew word here refers to the seat of the thoughts, emotions, and decisions (Jer 9:8 [9:7 HT]). It is essentially synonymous with “heart” in Hebrew psychological terms.

[31:33]  ²⁵ tn The words “and minds” is not in the text but is supplied in the translation to bring the English psychology more into line with the Hebrew where the “heart” is the center both of knowing/thinking/reflecting and deciding/willing.

[31:33]  ²⁶ sn Compare Jer 24:7; 30:22; 31:1 and see the study note on 30:2.

[32:39]  ²⁷ tn Heb “I will give to them one heart and one way to [= in order that they may] fear me all the days for good to them.” The phrase “one heart” refers both to unanimity of will and accord (cf. 1 Chr 12:38 [12:39 HT]; 2 Chr 30:12) and to singleness of purpose or intent (cf. Ezek 11:19 and see BDB 525 s.v. ֵלב 4 where reference is made to “inclinations, resolutions, and determinations of the will”). The phrase “one way” refers to one way of life or conduct (cf. BDB 203 s.v. דֶּרֶךְ 6.a where reference is made to moral action and character), a way of life that is further qualified by the goal of showing “fear, reverence, respect” for the Lord. The Hebrew sentence has been broken up to avoid a long complex sentence in English which is contrary to contemporary English style. However, an attempt has been made to preserve all the connections of the original.

[32:40]  ²⁸ tn Heb “an everlasting covenant.” For the rationale for the rendering “agreement” and the nature of the biblical covenants see the study note on 11:2.

[32:40]  ²⁹ tn Or “stop being gracious to them” or “stop blessing them with good”; Heb “turn back from them to do good to them.”

[32:40]  ³⁰ tn Or “I will make them want to fear and respect me so much that”; Heb “I will put the fear of me in their hearts.” However, as has been noted several times, “heart” in Hebrew is more the center of the volition (and intellect) than the center of emotions as it is in English. Both translations are intended to reflect the difference in psychology.

[32:40]  ³¹ tn The words “never again” are not in the text but are implicit from the context and are supplied not only by this translation but by a number of others.

[3:3]  ³² tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[3:3]  ³³ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:3]  ³⁴ tn The word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) has a double meaning, either “again” (in which case it is synonymous with παλίν [palin]) or “from above” (BDAG 92 s.v. ἄνωθεν). This is a favorite technique of the author of the Fourth Gospel, and it is lost in almost all translations at this point. John uses the word 5 times, in 3:3, 7; 3:31; 19:11 and 23. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Nicodemus apparently understood it the other way, which explains his reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” The author uses the technique of the “misunderstood question” often to bring out a particularly important point: Jesus says something which is misunderstood by the disciples or (as here) someone else, which then gives Jesus the opportunity to explain more fully and in more detail what he really meant.

[3:3]  ³⁵ sn What does Jesus’ statement about not being able to see the kingdom of God mean within the framework of John’s Gospel? John uses the word kingdom (βασιλεία, basileia) only 5 times (3:3, 5; 18:36 [3x]). Only here is it qualified with the phrase of God. The fact that John does not stress the concept of the kingdom of God does not mean it is absent from his theology, however. Remember the messianic implications found in John 2, both the wedding and miracle at Cana and the cleansing of the temple. For Nicodemus, the term must surely have brought to mind the messianic kingdom which Messiah was supposed to bring. But Nicodemus had missed precisely this point about who Jesus was. It was the Messiah himself with whom Nicodemus was speaking. Whatever Nicodemus understood, it is clear that the point is this: He misunderstood Jesus’ words. He over-literalized them, and thought Jesus was talking about repeated physical birth, when he was in fact referring to new spiritual birth.

[3:4]  ³⁶ tn The grammatical structure of the question in Greek presupposes a negative reply.

[3:5]  ³⁷ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:5]  ³⁸ tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”).

[3:6]  ³⁹ sn What is born of the flesh is flesh, i.e., what is born of physical heritage is physical. (It is interesting to compare this terminology with that of the dialogue in John 4, especially 4:23, 24.) For John the “flesh” (σάρξ, sarx) emphasizes merely the weakness and mortality of the creature – a neutral term, not necessarily sinful as in Paul. This is confirmed by the reference in John 1:14 to the Logos becoming “flesh.” The author avoids associating sinfulness with the incarnate Christ.

[3:21]  ⁴⁰ sn John 3:16-21 provides an introduction to the (so-called) “realized” eschatology of the Fourth Gospel: Judgment has come; eternal life may be possessed now, in the present life, as well as in the future. The terminology “realized eschatology” was originally coined by E. Haenchen and used by J. Jeremias in discussion with C. H. Dodd, but is now characteristically used to describe Dodd’s own formulation. See L. Goppelt, Theology of the New Testament, 1:54, note 10, and R. E. Brown (John [AB], 1:cxvii-cxviii) for further discussion. Especially important to note is the element of choice portrayed in John’s Gospel. If there is a twofold reaction to Jesus in John’s Gospel, it should be emphasized that that reaction is very much dependent on a person’s choice, a choice that is influenced by his way of life, whether his deeds are wicked or are done in God (John 3:20-21). For John there is virtually no trace of determinism at the surface. Only when one looks beneath the surface does one find statements like “no one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him” (John 6:44).

[3:1]  ⁴¹ sn See the note on Pharisees in 1:24.

[3:1]  ⁴² tn Grk “a ruler of the Jews” (denoting a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews).

[1:5]  ⁴³ tn Col 1:3-8 form one long sentence in the Greek text and have been divided at the end of v. 4 and v. 6 and within v. 6 for clarity, in keeping with the tendency in contemporary English toward shorter sentences. Thus the phrase “Your faith and love have arisen from the hope” is literally “because of the hope.” The perfect tense “have arisen” was chosen in the English to reflect the fact that the recipients of the letter had acquired this hope at conversion in the past, but that it still remains and motivates them to trust in Christ and to love one another.

[1:5]  ⁴⁴ tn BDAG 113 s.v. ἀπόκειμαι 2 renders ἀποκειμένην (apokeimenhn) with the expression “reserved” in this verse.

[1:5]  ⁴⁵ tn The term “the gospel” (τοῦ εὐαγγελίου, tou euangeliou) is in apposition to “the word of truth” (τῷ λόγῳ τῆς ἀληθείας, tw logw th" alhqeia") as indicated in the translation.

[1:17]  ⁴⁶ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[1:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Grk “since I am sure of this very thing.” The verse begins with an adverbial participle that is dependent on the main verb in v. 3 (“I thank”). Paul here gives one reason for his thankfulness.

[1:6]  ⁴⁸ tn The referent is clearly God from the overall context of the paragraph and the mention of “the day of Christ Jesus” at the end, which would be redundant if Christ were referred to here.

[1:6]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “among.”

[1:6]  ⁵⁰ tn The word “it” is not in the Greek text but has been supplied. Direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[13:21]  ⁵¹ tc Some mss (C P Ψ 6 629* 630 1505 pm latt sy^h) read ὑμῖν (Jumin, “in you”) here, but ἡμῖν (Jhmin) has stronger external support (Ì⁴⁶ א A D^vid K 0243 0285 33 81 104 326 365 629^c 1175 1739 1881 pm sy^p co). It is also more likely that ἡμῖν would have been changed to ὑμῖν in light of the “you” which occurs at the beginning of the verse than vice versa.

[13:21]  ⁵² tc ‡ Most mss (א A [C*] 0243 0285 33 1739 1881 Ï latt) include the words “and ever” here, but the shorter reading (supported by Ì⁴⁶ C³ D Ψ 6 104 365 1505 al) is preferred on internal grounds. It seemed more likely that scribes would assimilate the wording to the common NT doxological expression “for ever and ever,” found especially in the Apocalypse (cf., e.g., 1 Tim 1:17; 2 Tim 4:18; Rev 4:9; 22:5) than to the “forever” of Heb 13:8. Nevertheless, a decision is difficult here. NA²⁷ places the phrase in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.