Ezekiel 44:7

44:7 When you bring foreigners, those uncircumcised in heart and in flesh, into my sanctuary, you desecrate ¹  it – even my house – when you offer my food, the fat and the blood. You ²  have broken my covenant by all your abominable practices.

Psalms 50:16

50:16 God says this to the evildoer: ³ 

“How can you declare my commands,

and talk about my covenant? ⁴ 

Psalms 93:5

93:5 The rules you set down ⁵  are completely reliable. ⁶ 

Holiness ⁷  aptly adorns your house, O Lord, forever. ⁸ 

Joel 3:17

The Lord’s Presence in Zion

3:17 You will be convinced ⁹  that I the Lord am your God,

dwelling on Zion, my holy mountain.

Jerusalem ¹⁰  will be holy –

conquering armies ¹¹  will no longer pass through it.

Zechariah 14:21

14:21 Every cooking pot in Jerusalem and Judah will become holy in the sight of the Lord who rules over all, so that all who offer sacrifices may come and use some of them to boil their sacrifices in them. On that day there will no longer be a Canaanite ¹²  in the house of the Lord who rules over all.

Mark 16:16

16:16 The one who believes and is baptized will be saved, but the one who does not believe will be condemned.

John 3:3-5

3:3 Jesus replied, ¹³  “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁴  unless a person is born from above, ¹⁵  he cannot see the kingdom of God.” ¹⁶  3:4 Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb and be born a second time, can he?” ¹⁷ 

3:5 Jesus answered, “I tell you the solemn truth, ¹⁸  unless a person is born of water and spirit, ¹⁹  he cannot enter the kingdom of God.

Titus 1:5-9

Titus’ Task on Crete

1:5 The reason I left you in Crete was to set in order the remaining matters and to appoint elders in every town, as I directed you. 1:6 An elder must be blameless, ²⁰  the husband of one wife, ²¹  with faithful children ²²  who cannot be charged with dissipation or rebellion. 1:7 For the overseer ²³  must be blameless as one entrusted with God’s work, ²⁴  not arrogant, not prone to anger, not a drunkard, not violent, not greedy for gain. 1:8 Instead he must be hospitable, devoted to what is good, sensible, upright, devout, and self-controlled. 1:9 He must hold firmly to the faithful message as it has been taught, ²⁵  so that he will be able to give exhortation in such healthy teaching ²⁶  and correct those who speak against it.

[44:7]  ¹ tn Heb “to desecrate.”

[44:7]  ² tc The Greek, Syriac, and Latin versions read “you.” The Masoretic text reads “they.”

[50:16]  ³ tn Heb “evil [one].” The singular adjective is used here in a representative sense; it refers to those within the larger covenant community who have blatantly violated the Lord’s commandments. In the psalms the “wicked” (רְשָׁעִים, rÿsha’im) are typically proud, practical atheists (Ps 10:2, 4, 11) who hate God’s commands, commit sinful deeds, speak lies and slander, and cheat others (Ps 37:21).

[50:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “What to you to declare my commands and lift up my covenant upon your mouth?” The rhetorical question expresses sarcastic amazement. The Lord is shocked that such evildoers would give lip-service to his covenantal demands, for their lifestyle is completely opposed to his standards (see vv. 18-20).

[93:5]  ⁵ tn Traditionally “your testimonies.” The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to the demands of God’s covenant law. See Ps 19:7.

[93:5]  ⁶ sn The rules you set down. God’s covenant contains a clear, reliable witness to his moral character and demands.

[93:5]  ⁷ sn Holiness refers here to God’s royal transcendence (see vv. 1-4), as well as his moral authority and perfection (see v. 5a).

[93:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “for your house holiness is fitting, O Lord, for length of days.”

[3:17]  ⁹ tn Heb “know.”

[3:17]  ¹⁰ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[3:17]  ¹¹ tn Heb “strangers” or “foreigners.” In context, this refers to invasions by conquering armies.

[14:21]  ¹² tn Or “merchant”; “trader” (because Canaanites, especially Phoenicians, were merchants and traders; cf. BDB 489 s.v. I and II כְּנַעֲנִי). English versions have rendered the term as “Canaanite” (KJV, NKJV, NASB, NIV), “trader” (RSV, NEB), “traders” (NRSV, NLT), or “merchant” (NAB), although frequently a note is given explaining the other option. Cf. also John 2:16.

[3:3]  ¹³ tn Grk “answered and said to him.”

[3:3]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:3]  ¹⁵ tn The word ἄνωθεν (anwqen) has a double meaning, either “again” (in which case it is synonymous with παλίν [palin]) or “from above” (BDAG 92 s.v. ἄνωθεν). This is a favorite technique of the author of the Fourth Gospel, and it is lost in almost all translations at this point. John uses the word 5 times, in 3:3, 7; 3:31; 19:11 and 23. In the latter 3 cases the context makes clear that it means “from above.” Here (3:3, 7) it could mean either, but the primary meaning intended by Jesus is “from above.” Nicodemus apparently understood it the other way, which explains his reply, “How can a man be born when he is old? He can’t enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” The author uses the technique of the “misunderstood question” often to bring out a particularly important point: Jesus says something which is misunderstood by the disciples or (as here) someone else, which then gives Jesus the opportunity to explain more fully and in more detail what he really meant.

[3:3]  ¹⁶ sn What does Jesus’ statement about not being able to see the kingdom of God mean within the framework of John’s Gospel? John uses the word kingdom (βασιλεία, basileia) only 5 times (3:3, 5; 18:36 [3x]). Only here is it qualified with the phrase of God. The fact that John does not stress the concept of the kingdom of God does not mean it is absent from his theology, however. Remember the messianic implications found in John 2, both the wedding and miracle at Cana and the cleansing of the temple. For Nicodemus, the term must surely have brought to mind the messianic kingdom which Messiah was supposed to bring. But Nicodemus had missed precisely this point about who Jesus was. It was the Messiah himself with whom Nicodemus was speaking. Whatever Nicodemus understood, it is clear that the point is this: He misunderstood Jesus’ words. He over-literalized them, and thought Jesus was talking about repeated physical birth, when he was in fact referring to new spiritual birth.

[3:4]  ¹⁷ tn The grammatical structure of the question in Greek presupposes a negative reply.

[3:5]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “Truly, truly, I say to you.”

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn Or “born of water and wind” (the same Greek word, πνεύματος [pneumatos], may be translated either “spirit/Spirit” or “wind”).

[1:6]  ²⁰ tn Grk “if anyone is blameless…” as a continuation of v. 5b, beginning to describe the elder’s character.

[1:6]  ²¹ tn Or “married only once,” “devoted solely to his wife.” See the note on “wife” in 1 Tim 3:2; also 1 Tim 3:12; 5:9.

[1:6]  ²² tn Or “believing children.” The phrase could be translated “believing children,” but the parallel with 1 Tim 3:4 (“keeping his children in control”) argues for the sense given in the translation.

[1:7]  ²³ sn The overseer is another term for the same official position of leadership as the “elder.” This is seen in the interchange of the two terms in this passage and in Acts 20:17, 28, as well as in the parallels between these verses and 1 Tim 3:1-7.

[1:7]  ²⁴ tn Grk “as God’s steward.”

[1:9]  ²⁵ tn Grk “the faithful message in accordance with the teaching” (referring to apostolic teaching).

[1:9]  ²⁶ tn Grk “the healthy teaching” (referring to what was just mentioned).