Exodus 24:4

24:4 and Moses wrote down all the words of the Lord. Early in the morning he built ¹  an altar at the foot ²  of the mountain and arranged ³  twelve standing stones ⁴  – according to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Joshua 4:3-4

4:3 Instruct them, ‘Pick up twelve stones from the middle of the Jordan, from the very place where the priests ⁵  stand firmly, and carry them over with you and put them in the place where you camp tonight.’”

4:4 Joshua summoned the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one per tribe.

Joshua 4:20

4:20 Now Joshua set up in Gilgal the ⁶  twelve stones they had taken from the Jordan.

Ezra 6:17

6:17 For the dedication of this temple of God they offered one hundred bulls, two hundred rams, four hundred lambs, and twelve male goats for the sin of all Israel, according to the number of the tribes of Israel.

Jeremiah 31:1

31:1 At that time I will be the God of all the clans of Israel ⁷ 

and they will be my people.

I, the Lord, affirm it!” ⁸ 

Ezekiel 37:16-22

37:16 “As for you, son of man, take one branch, and write on it, ‘For Judah, and for the Israelites associated with him.’ Then take another branch and write on it, ‘For Joseph, the branch of Ephraim and all the house of Israel associated with him.’ 37:17 Join ⁹  them as one stick; ¹⁰  they will be as one in your hand. 37:18 When your people ¹¹  say to you, ‘Will you not tell us what these things mean?’ 37:19 tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the branch of Joseph which is in the hand of Ephraim and the tribes of Israel associated with him, and I will place them on the stick of Judah, ¹²  and make them into one stick – they will be one in my hand.’ ¹³  37:20 The sticks you write on will be in your hand in front of them. 37:21 Then tell them, ‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: Look, I am about to take the Israelites from among the nations where they have gone. I will gather them from round about and bring them to their land. 37:22 I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over them all. They will never again be two nations and never again be divided into two kingdoms. ¹⁴ 

Ezekiel 47:13

Boundaries for the Land

47:13 This is what the sovereign Lord says: “Here ¹⁵  are the borders ¹⁶  you will observe as you allot the land to the twelve tribes of Israel. (Joseph will have two portions.) ¹⁷ 

Ephesians 2:20

2:20 because you have been built ¹⁸  on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, ¹⁹  with Christ Jesus himself as ²⁰  the cornerstone. ²¹ 

Ephesians 4:4-6

4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you too were called to the one hope of your calling, 4:5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism, 4:6 one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

Revelation 7:4-8

7:4 Now ²²  I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, ²³  one hundred and forty-four thousand, sealed from all ²⁴  the tribes of the people of Israel: ²⁵ 

7:5 From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed,

from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand,

7:6 from the tribe of Asher, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Naphtali, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand,

7:7 from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand,

7:8 from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand,

from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand were sealed.

Revelation 21:12

21:12 It has ²⁶  a massive, high wall ²⁷  with twelve gates, ²⁸  with twelve angels at the gates, and the names of the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel ²⁹  are written on the gates. ³⁰ 

[24:4]  ¹ tn The two preterites quite likely form a verbal hendiadys (the verb “to get up early” is frequently in such constructions). Literally it says, “and he got up early [in the morning] and he built”; this means “early [in the morning] he built.” The first verb becomes the adverb.

[24:4]  ² tn “under.”

[24:4]  ³ tn The verb “arranged” is not in the Hebrew text but has been supplied to clarify exactly what Moses did with the twelve stones.

[24:4]  ⁴ tn The thing numbered is found in the singular when the number is plural – “twelve standing-stone.” See GKC 433 §134.f. The “standing-stone” could be a small piece about a foot high, or a huge column higher than men. They served to commemorate treaties (Gen 32), or visions (Gen 28) or boundaries, or graves. Here it will function with the altar as a place of worship.

[4:3]  ⁵ tn Heb “the feet of the priests.”

[4:20]  ⁶ tn Heb “these,” referring specifically to the twelve stones mentioned in vv. 3-7.

[31:1]  ⁷ sn This verse repeats v. 22 but with specific reference to all the clans of Israel, i.e., to all Israel and Judah. It functions here as a transition to the next section which will deal with the restoration of Israel (31:3-20) and Judah (31:21-25) and their reunification in the land (31:27-29) under a new covenant relation with God (31:31-37). See also the study note on 30:3 for further reference to this reunification in Jeremiah and the other prophets.

[31:1]  ⁸ tn Heb “Oracle of the Lord.”

[37:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “bring near.”

[37:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “one to one for you for one stick.”

[37:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “the sons of your people.”

[37:19]  ¹² tn Heb “I will place them on it, that is, on the stick of Judah.”

[37:19]  ¹³ sn The reunification of Israel and Judah is envisioned as well in Ezek 33:23, 29; Jer 3:18; 23:5-6; Hos 1:11; Amos 9:11.

[37:22]  ¹⁴ sn Jeremiah also attested to the reuniting of the northern and southern kingdoms (Jer 3:12, 14; 31:2-6).

[47:13]  ¹⁵ tc This translation follows the reading זֶה (zeh) instead of גֵּה (geh), a nonexistent word, as supported by the LXX.

[47:13]  ¹⁶ tn Or “territory”; see D. I. Block, Ezekiel (NICOT), 2:715.

[47:13]  ¹⁷ tc The grammar is awkward, though the presence of these words is supported by the versions. L. C. Allen (Ezekiel [WBC], 2:274) suggests that it is an explanatory gloss.

[2:20]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “having been built.”

[2:20]  ¹⁹ sn Apostles and prophets. Because the prophets appear after the mention of the apostles and because they are linked together in 3:5 as recipients of revelation about the church, they are to be regarded not as Old Testament prophets, but as New Testament prophets.

[2:20]  ²⁰ tn Grk “while Christ Jesus himself is” or “Christ Jesus himself being.”

[2:20]  ²¹ tn Or perhaps “capstone” (NAB). The meaning of ἀκρογωνιαῖος (akrogwniaio") is greatly debated. The meaning “capstone” is proposed by J. Jeremias (TDNT 1:792), but the most important text for this meaning (T. Sol. 22:7-23:4) is late and possibly not even an appropriate parallel. The only place ἀκρογωνιαῖος is used in the LXX is Isa 28:16, and there it clearly refers to a cornerstone that is part of a foundation. Furthermore, the imagery in this context has the building growing off the cornerstone upward, whereas if Christ were the capstone, he would not assume his position until the building was finished, which vv. 21-22 argue against.

[7:4]  ²² tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the introduction of new but related material.

[7:4]  ²³ tn Grk “who were sealed.”

[7:4]  ²⁴ tn Normally, “every,” but since 144,000 is the total number, “all” is clearer here.

[7:4]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the sons of Israel,” normally an idiom for the Israelites as an ethnic entity (L&N 11.58). However, many scholars understand the expression in this context to refer to Christians rather than ethnic Israelites.

[21:12]  ²⁶ tn Grk “jasper, having.” Here a new sentence was started in the translation.

[21:12]  ²⁷ tn Grk “a (city) wall great and high.”

[21:12]  ²⁸ tn On this term BDAG 897 s.v. πυλών 1 states, “gate, esp. of the large, impressive gateways at the entrance of temples and palaces…of the entrances of the heavenly Jerusalem…οἱ πυλῶνες αὐτῆς οὐ μὴ κλεισθῶσιν its entrances shall never be shut Rv 21:25; cp. vss. 12ab, 13abcd, 15, 21ab; 22:14.”

[21:12]  ²⁹ tn Grk “of the sons of Israel.” The translation “nation of Israel” is given in L&N 11.58.

[21:12]  ³⁰ tn Grk “on them”; the referent (the gates) has been specified in the translation for clarity.