Exodus 18:18

18:18 You will surely wear out, ¹  both you and these people who are with you, for this is too ²  heavy a burden ³  for you; you are not able to do it by yourself.

Genesis 21:10-12

21:10 So she said to Abraham, “Banish ⁴  that slave woman and her son, for the son of that slave woman will not be an heir along with my son Isaac!”

21:11 Sarah’s demand displeased Abraham greatly because Ishmael was his son. ⁵  21:12 But God said to Abraham, “Do not be upset ⁶  about the boy or your slave wife. Do ⁷  all that Sarah is telling ⁸  you because through Isaac your descendants will be counted. ⁹ 

Genesis 21:1

The Birth of Isaac

21:1 The Lord visited ¹⁰  Sarah just as he had said he would and did ¹¹  for Sarah what he had promised. ¹² 

Genesis 8:6-7

8:6 At the end of forty days, ¹³  Noah opened the window he had made in the ark ¹⁴  8:7 and sent out a raven; it kept flying ¹⁵  back and forth until the waters had dried up on the earth.

Genesis 8:22

8:22 “While the earth continues to exist, ¹⁶ 

planting time ¹⁷  and harvest,

cold and heat,

summer and winter,

and day and night will not cease.”

Acts 15:2

15:2 When Paul and Barnabas had a major argument and debate ¹⁸  with them, the church ¹⁹  appointed Paul and Barnabas and some others from among them to go up to meet with ²⁰  the apostles and elders in Jerusalem ²¹  about this point of disagreement. ²² 

Galatians 2:2

2:2 I went there ²³  because of ²⁴  a revelation and presented ²⁵  to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so ²⁶  only in a private meeting with the influential people, ²⁷  to make sure that I was not running – or had not run ²⁸  – in vain.

[18:18]  ¹ tn The verb means “to fall and fade” as a leaf (Ps 1:3). In Ps 18:45 it is used figuratively of foes fading away, failing in strength and courage (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 166). Here the infinitive absolute construction heightens the meaning.

[18:18]  ² tn Gesenius lists the specialized use of the comparative min (מ) where with an adjective the thought expressed is that the quality is too difficult for the attainment of a particular aim (GKC 430 §133.c).

[18:18]  ³ tn Here “a burden” has been supplied.

[21:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “drive out.” The language may seem severe, but Sarah’s maternal instincts sensed a real danger in that Ishmael was not treating Isaac with the proper respect.

[21:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “and the word was very wrong in the eyes of Abraham on account of his son.” The verb רָעַע (ra’a’) often refers to what is morally or ethically “evil.” It usage here suggests that Abraham thought Sarah’s demand was ethically (and perhaps legally) wrong.

[21:12]  ⁶ tn Heb “Let it not be evil in your eyes.”

[21:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “listen to her voice.” The idiomatic expression means “obey; comply.” Here her advice, though harsh, is necessary and conforms to the will of God. Later (see Gen 25), when Abraham has other sons, he sends them all away as well.

[21:12]  ⁸ tn The imperfect verbal form here draws attention to an action that is underway.

[21:12]  ⁹ tn Or perhaps “will be named”; Heb “for in Isaac offspring will be called to you.” The exact meaning of the statement is not clear, but it does indicate that God’s covenantal promises to Abraham will be realized through Isaac, not Ishmael.

[21:1]  ¹⁰ sn The Hebrew verb translated “visit” (פָּקַד, paqad ) often describes divine intervention for blessing or cursing; it indicates God’s special attention to an individual or a matter, always with respect to his people’s destiny. He may visit (that is, destroy) the Amalekites; he may visit (that is, deliver) his people in Egypt. Here he visits Sarah, to allow her to have the promised child. One’s destiny is changed when the Lord “visits.” For a more detailed study of the term, see G. André, Determining the Destiny (ConBOT).

[21:1]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the Lord did.” The divine name has not been repeated here in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[21:1]  ¹² tn Heb “spoken.”

[8:6]  ¹³ tn The introductory verbal form וַיְהִי (vayÿhi), traditionally rendered “and it came to pass,” serves as a temporal indicator and has not been translated here.

[8:6]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “opened the window in the ark which he had made.” The perfect tense (“had made”) refers to action preceding the opening of the window, and is therefore rendered as a past perfect. Since in English “had made” could refer to either the ark or the window, the order of the phrases was reversed in the translation to clarify that the window is the referent.

[8:7]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and it went out, going out and returning.” The Hebrew verb יָצָא (yatsa’), translated here “flying,” is modified by two infinitives absolute indicating that the raven went back and forth.

[8:22]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “yet all the days of the earth.” The idea is “[while there are] yet all the days of the earth,” meaning, “as long as the earth exists.”

[8:22]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “seed,” which stands here by metonymy for the time when seed is planted.

[15:2]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “no little argument and debate” (an idiom).

[15:2]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the church, or the rest of the believers at Antioch) has been specified to avoid confusion with the Judaizers mentioned in the preceding clause.

[15:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “go up to,” but in this context a meeting is implied.

[15:2]  ²¹ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[15:2]  ²² tn Or “point of controversy.” It is unclear whether this event parallels Gal 2:1-10 or that Gal 2 fits with Acts 11:30. More than likely Gal 2:1-10 is to be related to Acts 11:30.

[2:2]  ²³ tn Grk “I went up”; one always spoke idiomatically of going “up” to Jerusalem.

[2:2]  ²⁴ tn Or “in accordance with.” According to BDAG 512 s.v. κατά B.5.a.δ, “Oft. the norm is at the same time the reason, so that in accordance with and because of are merged…Instead of ‘in accordance w.’ κ. can mean simply because of, as a result of, on the basis of…κ. ἀποκάλυψιν Gal 2:2.”

[2:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “set before them.”

[2:2]  ²⁶ tn Grk “Gentiles, but only privately…to make sure.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started with “But” and the words “I did so,” an implied repetition from the previous clause, were supplied to make a complete English sentence.

[2:2]  ²⁷ tn L&N 87.42 has “important persons, influential persons, prominent persons” for οἱ δοκοῦντες and translates this phrase in Gal 2:2 as “in a private meeting with the prominent persons.” The “prominent people” referred to here are the leaders of the Jerusalem church.

[2:2]  ²⁸ tn Here the first verb (τρέχω, trecw, “was not running”) is present subjunctive, while the second (ἔδραμον, edramon, “had not run”) is aorist indicative.