Ecclesiastes 11:6

11:6 Sow your seed in the morning,

and do not stop working ¹  until the evening; ² 

for you do not know which activity ³  will succeed ⁴  –

whether this one or that one, or whether both will prosper equally. ⁵ 

Deuteronomy 15:10

15:10 You must by all means lend ⁶  to him and not be upset by doing it, ⁷  for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt.

Psalms 41:1-2

Psalm 41 ⁸ 

For the music director; a psalm of David.

41:1 How blessed ⁹  is the one who treats the poor properly! ¹⁰ 

When trouble comes, ¹¹  the Lord delivers him. ¹² 

41:2 May the Lord protect him and save his life! ¹³ 

May he be blessed ¹⁴  in the land!

Do not turn him over ¹⁵  to his enemies! ¹⁶ 

Psalms 126:5-6

126:5 Those who shed tears as they plant

will shout for joy when they reap the harvest. ¹⁷ 

126:6 The one who weeps as he walks along, carrying his bag ¹⁸  of seed,

will certainly come in with a shout of joy, carrying his sheaves of grain. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 11:18

11:18 The wicked person ²⁰  earns ²¹  deceitful wages, ²² 

but the one who sows ²³  righteousness reaps ²⁴  a genuine ²⁵  reward. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 19:17

19:17 The one who is gracious ²⁷  to the poor lends ²⁸  to the Lord,

and the Lord ²⁹  will repay him ³⁰  for his good deed. ³¹ 

Matthew 10:13

10:13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you. ³² 

Matthew 10:42

10:42 And whoever gives only a cup of cold water to one of these little ones in the name of a disciple, I tell you the truth, ³³  he will never lose his reward.”

Matthew 25:40

25:40 And the king will answer them, ³⁴  ‘I tell you the truth, ³⁵  just as you did it for one of the least of these brothers or sisters ³⁶  of mine, you did it for me.’

Luke 14:14

14:14 Then ³⁷  you will be blessed, ³⁸  because they cannot repay you, for you will be repaid ³⁹  at the resurrection of the righteous.”

Luke 14:2

14:2 There ⁴⁰  right ⁴¹  in front of him was a man suffering from dropsy. ⁴² 

Colossians 1:6

1:6 that has come to you. Just as in the entire world this gospel ⁴³  is bearing fruit and growing, so it has also been bearing fruit and growing ⁴⁴  among you from the first day you heard it and understood the grace of God in truth.

Galatians 6:8-10

6:8 because the person who sows to his own flesh ⁴⁵  will reap corruption ⁴⁶  from the flesh, ⁴⁷  but the one who sows to the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. 6:9 So we must not grow weary ⁴⁸  in doing good, for in due time we will reap, if we do not give up. ⁴⁹  6:10 So then, ⁵⁰  whenever we have an opportunity, let us do good to all people, and especially to those who belong to the family of faith. ⁵¹ 

Hebrews 6:10

6:10 For God is not unjust so as to forget your work and the love you have demonstrated for his name, in having served and continuing to serve the saints.

[11:6]  ¹ tn Heb “do not let your hand rest.” The Hebrew phrase “do not let your hand rest” is an idiom that means “do not stop working” or “do not be idle” (e.g., Eccl 7:18); cf. BDB 628 s.v. נוּחַ B.1. Several English versions capture the sense of the idiom well: “do not stop working” (NEB); “do not be idle” (MLB); “let not your hand be idle” (NAB); “let not your hands be idle” (NIV); “stay not your hand” (Moffatt). The term “hand” is a synecdoche of part (i.e., do not let your hand rest) for the whole person (i.e., do not allow yourself to stop working).

[11:6]  ² tn The terms “morning” (בֹּקֶר, boqer) and “evening” (עֶרֶב, ’erev) form a merism (a figure of speech using two polar extremes to include everything in between) that connotes “from morning until evening.” The point is not that the farmer should plant at two times in the day (morning and evening), but that he should plant all day long (from morning until evening). This merism is reflected in several translations: “in the morning…until evening” (NEB, Moffatt).

[11:6]  ³ tn The term “activity” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

[11:6]  ⁴ tn The verb כָּשֵׁר (kasher, “to prosper”) is used metonymically to denote “will succeed.” In 11:10, it means “skill in work.”

[11:6]  ⁵ tn Or “together.”

[15:10]  ⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which the translation indicates with “by all means.”

[15:10]  ⁷ tc Heb “your heart must not be grieved in giving to him.” The LXX and Orig add, “you shall surely lend to him sufficient for his need,” a suggestion based on the same basic idea in v. 8. Such slavish adherence to stock phrases is without warrant in most cases, and certainly here.

[41:1]  ⁸ sn Psalm 41. The psalmist is confident (vv. 11-12) that the Lord has heard his request to be healed (vv. 4-10), and he anticipates the joy he will experience when the Lord intervenes (vv. 1-3). One must assume that the psalmist is responding to a divine oracle of assurance (see P. C. Craigie, Psalms 1-50 [WBC], 319-20). The final verse is a fitting conclusion to this psalm, but it is also serves as a fitting conclusion to the first “book” (or major editorial division) of the Psalter. Similar statements appear at or near the end of each of the second, third, and fourth “books” of the Psalter (see Pss 72:19, 89:52, and 106:48 respectively).

[41:1]  ⁹ tn The Hebrew noun is an abstract plural. The word often refers metonymically to the happiness that God-given security and prosperity produce (see Pss 1:1, 3; 2:12; 34:9; 65:4; 84:12; 89:15; 106:3; 112:1; 127:5; 128:1; 144:15).

[41:1]  ¹⁰ sn One who treats the poor properly. The psalmist is characterizing himself as such an individual and supplying a reason why God has responded favorably to his prayer. The Lord’s attitude toward the merciful mirrors their treatment of the poor.

[41:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “in the day of trouble” (see Ps 27:5).

[41:1]  ¹² tn That is, the one who has been kind to the poor. The prefixed verbal form could be taken as jussive of prayer (“may the Lord deliver,” see v. 2), but the preceding parallel line is a declaration of fact, not a prayer per se. The imperfect can be taken here as future (“will deliver,” cf. NEB, NASB) or as generalizing (“delivers,” cf. NIV, NRSV). The parallel line, which has a generalizing tone, favors the latter. At the same time, though the psalmist uses a generalizing style here, he clearly has himself primarily in view.

[41:2]  ¹³ tn The prefixed verbal forms are taken as jussives in the translation because the jussive is clearly used in the final line of the verse, suggesting that this is a prayer. The psalmist stops to pronounce a prayer of blessing on the godly individual envisioned in v. 1. Of course, he actually has himself primarily in view. He mixes confidence (vv. 1, 3) with petition (v. 2) because he stands in the interval between the word of assurance and the actual intervention by God.

[41:2]  ¹⁴ tc The translation follows the consonantal Hebrew text (Kethib), which has a Pual (passive) prefixed form, regarded here as a jussive. The Pual of the verb אָשַׁר (’ashar) also appears in Prov 3:18. The marginal reading (Qere) assumes a vav (ו) consecutive and Pual perfect. Some, with the support of the LXX, change the verb to a Piel (active) form with an objective pronominal suffix, “and may he bless him,” or “and he will bless him” (cf. NIV).

[41:2]  ¹⁵ tn The negative particle אַל (’al) before the prefixed verbal form indicates the verb is a jussive and the statement a prayer. Those who want to take v. 2 as a statement of confidence suggest emending the negative particle to לֹא (lo’), which is used with the imperfect. See the earlier note on the verbal forms in line one of this verse. According to GKC 322 §109.e, this is a case where the jussive is used rhetorically to “express that something cannot or should not happen.” In this case one might translate, “you will not turn him over to his enemies,” and take the preceding verbal forms as indicative in mood.

[41:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “do not give him over to the desire of his enemies” (see Ps 27:12).

[126:5]  ¹⁷ sn O. Borowski says regarding this passage: “The dependence on rain for watering plants, the uncertainty of the quantity and timing of the rains, and the possibility of crop failure due to pests and diseases appear to have kept the farmer in a gloomy mood during sowing” (Agriculture in Iron Age Israel, 54). Perhaps the people were experiencing a literal drought, the effects of which cause them to lament their plight as they plant their seed in hopes that the rain would come. However, most take the language as metaphorical. Like a farmer sowing his seed, the covenant community was enduring hardship as they waited for a new outpouring of divine blessing. Yet they are confident that a time of restoration will come and relieve their anxiety, just as the harvest brings relief and joy to the farmer.

[126:6]  ¹⁸ tn The noun occurs only here and in Job 28:18 in the OT. See HALOT 646 s.v. I מֶשֶׁךְ which gives “leather pouch” as the meaning.

[126:6]  ¹⁹ tn The Hebrew noun אֲלֻמָּה (’alummah, “sheaf”) occurs only here and in Gen 37:7 in the OT.

[11:18]  ²⁰ tn The form is the masculine singular adjective used as a substantive.

[11:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “makes” (so NAB).

[11:18]  ²² tn Heb “wages of deception.”

[11:18]  ²³ sn The participle “sowing” provides an implied comparison (the figure is known as hypocatastasis) with the point of practicing righteousness and inspiring others to do the same. What is sown will yield fruit (1 Cor 9:11; 2 Cor 9:6; Jas 3:18).

[11:18]  ²⁴ tn The term “reaps” does not appear in the Hebrew but has been supplied in the translation from context for the sake of smoothness.

[11:18]  ²⁵ tn Heb “true” (so NASB, NRSV); KJV, NAB, NIV “sure.”

[11:18]  ²⁶ sn A wordplay (paronomasia) occurs between “deceptive” (שָׁקֶר, shaqer) and “reward” (שֶׂכֶר, sekher), underscoring the contrast by the repetition of sounds. The wages of the wicked are deceptive; the reward of the righteous is sure.

[19:17]  ²⁷ sn The participle חוֹנֵן (khonen, “shows favor to”) is related to the word for “grace.” The activity here is the kind favor shown poor people for no particular reason and with no hope of repayment. It is literally an act of grace.

[19:17]  ²⁸ tn The form מַלְוֵה (malveh) is the Hiphil participle from לָוָה (lavah) in construct; it means “to cause to borrow; to lend.” The expression here is “lender of the Lord.” The person who helps the poor becomes the creditor of God.

[19:17]  ²⁹ tn Heb “he.” The referent of the 3rd person masculine singular pronoun is “the Lord” in the preceding line, which has been supplied here in the translation for clarity.

[19:17]  ³⁰ sn The promise of reward does not necessarily mean that the person who gives to the poor will get money back; the rewards in the book of Proverbs involve life and prosperity in general.

[19:17]  ³¹ tn Heb “and his good deed will repay him.” The word גְּמֻלוֹ (gÿmulo) could be (1) the subject or (2) part of a double accusative of the verb. Understanding it as part of the double accusative makes better sense, for then the subject of the verb is God. How “his deed” could repay him is not immediately obvious.

[10:13]  ³² sn The response to these messengers determines how God’s blessing is bestowed – if the messengers are not welcomed, their blessing will return to them. Jesus shows just how important their mission is by this remark.

[10:42]  ³³ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[25:40]  ³⁴ tn Grk “answering, the king will say to them.” This is somewhat redundant and has been simplified in the translation.

[25:40]  ³⁵ tn Grk “Truly (ἀμήν, amhn), I say to you.”

[25:40]  ³⁶ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). In this context Jesus is ultimately speaking of his “followers” (whether men or women, adults or children), but the familial connotation of “brothers and sisters” is also important to retain here.

[14:14]  ³⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate that this follows from the preceding action. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[14:14]  ³⁸ sn You will be blessed. God notes and approves of such generosity.

[14:14]  ³⁹ sn The passive verb will be repaid looks at God’s commendation.

[14:2]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “And there.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[14:2]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “behold.” The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1). Here it has been translated as “right” in the phrase “right in front of him,” giving a similar effect of vividness in the translation.

[14:2]  ⁴² sn The condition called dropsy involves swollen limbs resulting from the accumulation of fluid in the body’s tissues, especially the legs.

[1:6]  ⁴³ tn Grk “just as in the entire world it is bearing fruit.” The antecedent (“the gospel”) of the implied subject (“it”) of ἐστιν (estin) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[1:6]  ⁴⁴ tn Though the participles are periphrastic with the present tense verb ἐστίν (estin), the presence of the temporal indicator “from the day” in the next clause indicates that this is a present tense that reaches into the past and should be translated as “has been bearing fruit and growing.” For a discussion of this use of the present tense, see ExSyn 519-20.

[6:8]  ⁴⁵ tn BDAG 915 s.v. σάρξ 2.c.α states: “In Paul’s thought esp., all parts of the body constitute a totality known as σ. or flesh, which is dominated by sin to such a degree that wherever flesh is, all forms of sin are likew. present, and no good thing can live in the σάρξ…Gal 5:13, 24;…Opp. τὸ πνεῦμα…Gal 3:3; 5:16, 17ab; 6:8ab.”

[6:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “destruction.”

[6:8]  ⁴⁷ tn See the note on the previous occurrence of the word “flesh” in this verse.

[6:9]  ⁴⁸ tn Or “not become discouraged,” “not lose heart” (L&N 25.288).

[6:9]  ⁴⁹ tn Or “if we do not become extremely weary,” “if we do not give out,” “if we do not faint from exhaustion” (L&N 23.79).

[6:10]  ⁵⁰ tn There is a double connective here that cannot be easily preserved in English: “consequently therefore,” emphasizing the conclusion of what Paul has been arguing.

[6:10]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “to those who are members of the family of [the] faith.”