Exodus 18:12

18:12 Then Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, brought ¹  a burnt offering and sacrifices for God, ²  and Aaron and all the elders of Israel came to eat food ³  with the father-in-law of Moses before God.

Genesis 18:18

18:18 After all, Abraham ⁴  will surely become ⁵  a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ⁶  using his name.

Genesis 31:54

31:54 Then Jacob offered a sacrifice ⁷  on the mountain and invited his relatives to eat the meal. ⁸  They ate the meal and spent the night on the mountain.

Deuteronomy 12:7

12:7 Both you and your families ⁹  must feast there before the Lord your God and rejoice in all the output of your labor with which he ¹⁰  has blessed you.

Ecclesiastes 9:7

Life is Brief, so Cherish its Joys

9:7 Go, eat your food ¹¹  with joy,

and drink your wine with a happy heart,

because God has already approved your works.

Luke 15:23-24

15:23 Bring ¹²  the fattened calf ¹³  and kill it! Let us eat ¹⁴  and celebrate, 15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is found!’ ¹⁵  So ¹⁶  they began to celebrate.

Luke 15:1

The Parable of the Lost Sheep and Coin

15:1 Now all the tax collectors ¹⁷  and sinners were coming ¹⁸  to hear him.

Colossians 1:16-18

1:16 for all things in heaven and on earth were created by him – all things, whether visible or invisible, whether thrones or dominions, ¹⁹  whether principalities or powers – all things were created through him and for him.

1:17 He himself is before all things and all things are held together ²⁰  in him.

1:18 He is the head of the body, the church, as well as the beginning, the firstborn ²¹  from among the dead, so that he himself may become first in all things. ²² 

[18:12]  ¹ tn The verb is “and he took” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB). It must have the sense of getting the animals for the sacrifice. The Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate have “offered.” But Cody argues because of the precise wording in the text Jethro did not offer the sacrifices but received them (A. Cody, “Exodus 18,12: Jethro Accepts a Covenant with the Israelites,” Bib 49 [1968]: 159-61).

[18:12]  ² sn Jethro brought offerings as if he were the one who had been delivered. The “burnt offering” is singular, to honor God first. The other sacrifices were intended for the invited guests to eat (a forerunner of the peace offering). See B. Jacob, Exodus, 498.

[18:12]  ³ tn The word לֶחֶם (lekhem) here means the sacrifice and all the foods that were offered with it. The eating before God was part of covenantal ritual, for it signified that they were in communion with the Deity, and with one another.

[18:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “And Abraham.” The disjunctive clause is probably causal, giving a reason why God should not hide his intentions from Abraham. One could translate, “Should I hide from Abraham what I am about to do, seeing that Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation?”

[18:18]  ⁵ tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.

[18:18]  ⁶ tn Theoretically the Niphal can be translated either as passive or reflexive/reciprocal. (The Niphal of “bless” is only used in formulations of the Abrahamic covenant. See Gen 12:2; 18:18; 28:14.) Traditionally the verb is taken as passive here, as if Abram were going to be a channel or source of blessing. But in later formulations of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen 22:18; 26:4) the Hitpael replaces this Niphal form, suggesting a translation “will bless [i.e., “pronounce blessings upon”] themselves [or “one another”].” The Hitpael of “bless” is used with a reflexive/reciprocal sense in Deut 29:18; Ps 72:17; Isa 65:16; Jer 4:2. Gen 18:18 (like 12:2) predicts that Abraham will be held up as a paradigm of divine blessing and that people will use his name in their blessing formulae. For examples of blessing formulae utilizing an individual as an example of blessing see Gen 48:20 and Ruth 4:11.

[31:54]  ⁷ tn The construction is a cognate accusative with the verb, expressing a specific sacrifice.

[31:54]  ⁸ tn Heb “bread, food.” Presumably this was a type of peace offering, where the person bringing the offering ate the animal being sacrificed.

[12:7]  ⁹ tn Heb “and your houses,” referring to entire households. The pronouns “you” and “your” are plural in the Hebrew text.

[12:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” See note on “he” in 12:5.

[9:7]  ¹¹ tn Heb “your bread.”

[15:23]  ¹² tn Grk “And bring.” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[15:23]  ¹³ tn Or “the prize calf” (L&N 65.8). See also L&N 44.2, “grain-fattened.” Such a calf was usually reserved for religious celebrations.

[15:23]  ¹⁴ tn The participle φαγόντες (fagontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[15:24]  ¹⁵ sn This statement links the parable to the theme of 15:6, 9.

[15:24]  ¹⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the father’s remarks in the preceding verses.

[15:1]  ¹⁷ sn See the note on tax collectors in 3:12.

[15:1]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “were drawing near.”

[1:16]  ¹⁹ tn BDAG 579 s.v. κυριότης 3 suggests “bearers of the ruling powers, dominions” here.

[1:17]  ²⁰ tn BDAG 973 s.v. συνίστημι B.3 suggests “continue, endure, exist, hold together” here.

[1:18]  ²¹ tn See the note on the term “firstborn” in 1:15. Here the reference to Jesus as the “firstborn from among the dead” seems to be arguing for a chronological priority, i.e., Jesus was the first to rise from the dead.

[1:18]  ²² tn Grk “in order that he may become in all things, himself, first.”