Exodus 14:10

14:10 When ¹  Pharaoh got closer, ²  the Israelites looked up, ³  and there were the Egyptians marching after them, ⁴  and they were terrified. ⁵  The Israelites cried out to the Lord, ⁶ 

Psalms 18:4-5

18:4 The waves ⁷  of death engulfed me,

the currents ⁸  of chaos ⁹  overwhelmed me. ¹⁰ 

18:5 The ropes of Sheol tightened around me, ¹¹ 

the snares of death trapped me. ¹² 

Psalms 31:13

31:13 For I hear what so many are saying, ¹³ 

the terrifying news that comes from every direction. ¹⁴ 

When they plot together against me,

they figure out how they can take my life.

Psalms 55:4-5

55:4 My heart beats violently ¹⁵  within me;

the horrors of death overcome me. ¹⁶ 

55:5 Fear and panic overpower me; ¹⁷ 

terror overwhelms ¹⁸  me.

Psalms 61:2

61:2 From the most remote place on earth ¹⁹ 

I call out to you in my despair. ²⁰ 

Lead me ²¹  up to an inaccessible rocky summit! ²² 

Psalms 142:4

142:4 Look to the right and see!

No one cares about me. ²³ 

I have nowhere to run; ²⁴ 

no one is concerned about my life. ²⁵ 

Matthew 8:26

8:26 But ²⁶  he said to them, “Why are you cowardly, you people of little faith?” Then he got up and rebuked ²⁷  the winds and the sea, ²⁸  and it was dead calm.

John 16:33

16:33 I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In the world you have trouble and suffering, ²⁹  but take courage ³⁰  – I have conquered the world.” ³¹ 

Acts 14:22

14:22 They strengthened ³²  the souls of the disciples and encouraged them to continue ³³  in the faith, saying, “We must enter the kingdom ³⁴  of God through many persecutions.” ³⁵ 

Acts 14:2

14:2 But the Jews who refused to believe ³⁶  stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds ³⁷  against the brothers.

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ³⁸  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

Colossians 1:8-10

1:8 who also told us of your love in the Spirit.

Paul’s Prayer for the Growth of the Church

1:9 For this reason we also, from the day we heard about you, ³⁹  have not ceased praying for you and asking God ⁴⁰  to fill ⁴¹  you with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, 1:10 so that you may live ⁴²  worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects ⁴³  – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ⁴⁴  brothers and sisters ⁴⁵  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ⁴⁶  from God our Father! ⁴⁷ 

Colossians 3:12

Exhortation to Unity and Love

3:12 Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with a heart of mercy, ⁴⁸  kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience,

[14:10]  ¹ tn The disjunctive vav introduces a circumstantial clause here.

[14:10]  ² tn Heb “drew near.”

[14:10]  ³ tn Heb “lifted up their eyes,” an expression that indicates an intentional and careful looking – they looked up and fixed their sights on the distance.

[14:10]  ⁴ tn The construction uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) with the participle, traditionally rendered “and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them.” The deictic particle calls attention in a dramatic way to what was being seen. It captures the surprise and the sudden realization of the people.

[14:10]  ⁵ tn The verb “feared” is intensified by the adverb מְאֹד (mÿ’od): “they feared greatly” or “were terrified.” In one look their defiant boldness seems to have evaporated.

[14:10]  ⁶ sn Their cry to the Lord was proper and necessary. But their words to Moses were a rebuke and disloyal, showing a lack of faith and understanding. Their arrogance failed them in the crisis because it was built on the arm of flesh. Moses would have to get used to this murmuring, but here he takes it in stride and gives them the proper instructions. They had cried to the Lord, and now the Lord would deliver.

[18:4]  ⁷ tc Ps 18:4 reads “ropes,” while 2 Sam 22:5 reads “waves.” The reading of the psalm has been influenced by the next verse (note “ropes of Sheol”) and perhaps also by Ps 116:3 (where “ropes of death” appears, as here, with the verb אָפַף, ’afaf). However, the parallelism of v. 4 (note “currents” in the next line) favors the reading “waves.” While the verb אָפַף is used with “ropes” as subject in Ps 116:3, it can also be used with engulfing “waters” as subject (see Jonah 2:5). Death is compared to surging waters in v. 4 and to a hunter in v. 5.

[18:4]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun נַחַל (nakhal) usually refers to a river or stream, but in this context the plural form likely refers to the currents of the sea (see vv. 15-16).

[18:4]  ⁹ tn The noun בְלִיַּעַל (vÿliyya’al) is used here as an epithet for death. Elsewhere it is a common noun meaning “wickedness, uselessness.” It is often associated with rebellion against authority and other crimes that result in societal disorder and anarchy. The phrase “man/son of wickedness” refers to one who opposes God and the order he has established. The term becomes an appropriate title for death, which, through human forces, launches an attack against God’s chosen servant.

[18:4]  ¹⁰ tn In this poetic narrative context the prefixed verbal form is best understood as a preterite indicating past tense, not an imperfect. (Note the perfect verbal form in the parallel/preceding line.) The verb בָּעַת (ba’at) sometimes by metonymy carries the nuance “frighten,” but the parallelism (see “engulfed”) favors the meaning “overwhelm” here.

[18:5]  ¹¹ tn Heb “surrounded me.”

[18:5]  ¹² tn Heb “confronted me.”

[31:13]  ¹³ tn Heb “the report of many.”

[31:13]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “the terror from all around.”

[55:4]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “shakes, trembles.”

[55:4]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “the terrors of death have fallen on me.”

[55:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “fear and trembling enter into me.”

[55:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “covers.” The prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) consecutive carries on the descriptive (present progressive) force of the preceding imperfect.

[61:2]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “from the end of the earth.” This may indicate (1) the psalmist is exiled in a distant land, or (2) it may be hyperbolic (the psalmist feels alienated from God’s presence, as if he were in a distant land).

[61:2]  ²⁰ tn Heb “while my heart faints.”

[61:2]  ²¹ tn The imperfect verbal form here expresses the psalmist’s wish or prayer.

[61:2]  ²² tn Heb “on to a rocky summit [that] is higher than I.”

[142:4]  ²³ tn Heb “there is no one who recognizes me.”

[142:4]  ²⁴ tn Heb “ a place of refuge perishes from me.”

[142:4]  ²⁵ tn Heb “there is no one who seeks for the sake of my life.”

[8:26]  ²⁶ tn Grk “And.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[8:26]  ²⁷ tn Or “commanded” (often with the implication of a threat, L&N 33.331).

[8:26]  ²⁸ sn Who has authority over the seas and winds is discussed in the OT: Ps 104:3; 135:7; 107:23-30. When Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea he was making a statement about who he was.

[16:33]  ²⁹ tn The one Greek term θλῖψις (qliyis) has been translated by an English hendiadys (two terms that combine for one meaning) “trouble and suffering.” For modern English readers “tribulation” is no longer clearly understandable.

[16:33]  ³⁰ tn Or “but be courageous.”

[16:33]  ³¹ tn Or “I am victorious over the world,” or “I have overcome the world.”

[14:22]  ³² tn Grk “to Antioch, strengthening.” Due to the length of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences, a new sentence was started here. This participle (ἐπιστηρίζοντες, episthrizonte") and the following one (παρακαλοῦντες, parakalounte") have been translated as finite verbs connected by the coordinating conjunction “and.”

[14:22]  ³³ sn And encouraged them to continue. The exhortations are like those noted in Acts 11:23; 13:43. An example of such a speech is found in Acts 20:18-35. Christianity is now characterized as “the faith.”

[14:22]  ³⁴ sn This reference to the kingdom of God clearly refers to its future arrival.

[14:22]  ³⁵ tn Or “sufferings.”

[14:2]  ³⁶ tn Or “who would not believe.”

[14:2]  ³⁷ tn Or “embittered their minds” (Grk “their souls”). BDAG 502 s.v. κακόω 2 has “make angry, embitter τὰς ψυχάς τινων κατά τινος poison the minds of some persons against another Ac 14:2.”

[1:4]  ³⁸ tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).

[1:9]  ³⁹ tn Or “heard about it”; Grk “heard.” There is no direct object stated in the Greek (direct objects were frequently omitted in Greek when clear from the context). A direct object is expected by an English reader, however, so most translations supply one. Here, however, it is not entirely clear what the author “heard”: a number of translations supply “it” (so KJV, NASB, NRSV; NAB “this”), but this could refer back either to (1) “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8, or (2) “your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints” (v. 4). In light of this uncertainty, other translations supply “about you” (TEV, NIV, CEV, NLT). This is preferred by the present translation since, while it does not resolve the ambiguity entirely, it does make it less easy for the English reader to limit the reference only to “your love in the Spirit” at the end of v. 8.

[1:9]  ⁴⁰ tn The term “God” does not appear in the Greek text, but the following reference to “the knowledge of his will” makes it clear that “God” is in view as the object of the “praying and asking,” and should therefore be included in the English translation for clarity.

[1:9]  ⁴¹ tn The ἵνα (Jina) clause has been translated as substantival, indicating the content of the prayer and asking. The idea of purpose may also be present in this clause.

[1:10]  ⁴² tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”

[1:10]  ⁴³ tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”

[1:2]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ⁴⁶ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ⁴⁷ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[3:12]  ⁴⁸ tn If the genitive construct σπλάγχνα οἰκτιρμοῦ (splancna oiktirmou) is a hendiadys then it would be “compassion” or “tenderheartedness.” See M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 161.