Exodus 34:11

34:11 “Obey ¹  what I am commanding you this day. I am going to drive out ²  before you the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Leviticus 19:37

19:37 You must be sure to obey all my statutes and regulations. ³  I am the Lord.’”

Leviticus 19:2

19:2 “Speak to the whole congregation of the Israelites and tell them, ‘You must be holy because I, the Lord your God, am holy.

Leviticus 7:17

7:17 but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned up in the fire ⁴  on the third day.

Nehemiah 1:5

1:5 Then I said, “Please, O LORD God of heaven, great and awesome God, who keeps his loving covenant ⁵  with those who love him and obey ⁶  his commandments,

Psalms 105:45

105:45 so that they might keep his commands

and obey ⁷  his laws.

Praise the Lord!

Ezekiel 37:24

37:24 “‘My servant David will be king over them; there will be one shepherd for all of them. They will follow ⁸  my regulations and carefully observe my statutes. ⁹ 

John 15:3

15:3 You are clean already ¹⁰  because of the word that I have spoken to you.

John 15:10

15:10 If you obey ¹¹  my commandments, you will remain ¹²  in my love, just as I have obeyed ¹³  my Father’s commandments and remain ¹⁴  in his love.

John 15:14

15:14 You are my friends ¹⁵  if you do what I command you.

[34:11]  ¹ tn The covenant duties begin with this command to “keep well” what is being commanded. The Hebrew expression is “keep for you”; the preposition and the suffix form the ethical dative, adding strength to the imperative.

[34:11]  ² tn Again, this is the futur instans use of the participle.

[19:37]  ³ tn Heb “And you shall keep all my statutes and all my regulations and you shall do them.” This appears to be a kind of verbal hendiadys, where the first verb is a modifier of the action of the second verb (see GKC 386 §120.d, although שָׁמַר [shamar, “to keep”] is not cited there; cf. Lev 22:31).

[7:17]  ⁴ tn Heb “burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely” (likewise in v. 19).

[1:5]  ⁵ tn Heb “the covenant and loyal love.” The phrase is a hendiadys: the first noun retains its full nominal sense, while the second noun functions adjectivally (“loyal love” = loving). Alternately, the first might function adjectivally and the second noun function as the noun: “covenant and loyal love” = covenant fidelity (see Neh 9:32).

[1:5]  ⁶ tn Heb “keep.” The Hebrew verb שָׁמַר (shamar, “to observe; to keep”) is often used as an idiom that means “to obey” the commandments of God (e.g., Exod 20:6; Deut 5:16; 23:24; 29:8; Judg 2:22; 1 Kgs 2:43; 11:11; Ps 119:8, 17, 34; Jer 35:18; Ezek 17:14; Amos 2:4). See BDB 1036 s.v. 3.c.

[105:45]  ⁷ tn Heb “guard.”

[37:24]  ⁸ tn Heb “walk [in].”

[37:24]  ⁹ tn Heb “and my statutes they will guard and they will do them.”

[15:3]  ¹⁰ sn The phrase you are clean already occurs elsewhere in the Gospel of John only at the washing of the disciples’ feet in 13:10, where Jesus had used it of the disciples being cleansed from sin. This further confirms the proposed understanding of John 15:2 and 15:6 since Judas was specifically excluded from this statement (but not all of you).

[15:10]  ¹¹ tn Or “keep.”

[15:10]  ¹² tn Or “reside.”

[15:10]  ¹³ tn Or “kept.”

[15:10]  ¹⁴ tn Or “reside.”

[15:14]  ¹⁵ sn This verse really explains John 15:10 in another way. Those who keep Jesus’ commandments are called his friends, those friends for whom he lays down his life (v. 13). It is possible to understand this verse as referring to a smaller group within Christianity as a whole, perhaps only the apostles who were present when Jesus spoke these words. Some have supported this by comparing it to the small group of associates and advisers to the Roman Emperor who were called “Friends of the Emperor.” Others would see these words as addressed only to those Christians who as disciples were obedient to Jesus. In either case the result would be to create a sort of “inner circle” of Christians who are more privileged than mere “believers” or average Christians. In context, it seems clear that Jesus’ words must be addressed to all true Christians, not just some narrower category of believers, because Jesus’ sacrificial death, which is his act of love toward his friends (v. 13) applies to all Christians equally (cf. John 13:1).