Genesis 1:31

1:31 God saw all that he had made – and it was very good! ¹  There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.

Exodus 31:17

31:17 It is a sign between me and the Israelites forever; for in six days ²  the Lord made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he rested and was refreshed.’” ³ 

Isaiah 62:5

62:5 As a young man marries a young woman,

so your sons ⁴  will marry you.

As a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,

so your God will rejoice over you.

Isaiah 65:18-19

65:18 But be happy and rejoice forevermore

over what I am about to create!

For look, I am ready to create Jerusalem ⁵  to be a source of joy, ⁶ 

and her people to be a source of happiness. ⁷ 

65:19 Jerusalem will bring me joy,

and my people will bring me happiness. ⁸ 

The sound of weeping or cries of sorrow

will never be heard in her again.

Jeremiah 32:41

32:41 I will take delight in doing good to them. I will faithfully and wholeheartedly plant them ⁹  firmly in the land.’

Zephaniah 3:17

3:17 The Lord your God is in your midst;

he is a warrior who can deliver.

He takes great delight in you; ¹⁰ 

he renews you by his love; ¹¹ 

he shouts for joy over you.” ¹² 

Luke 15:5-6

15:5 Then ¹³  when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. 15:6 Returning ¹⁴  home, he calls together ¹⁵  his ¹⁶  friends and neighbors, telling them, ‘Rejoice with me, because I have found my sheep that was lost.’

Luke 15:22-24

15:22 But the father said to his slaves, ¹⁷  ‘Hurry! Bring the best robe, ¹⁸  and put it on him! Put a ring on his finger ¹⁹  and sandals ²⁰  on his feet! 15:23 Bring ²¹  the fattened calf ²²  and kill it! Let us eat ²³  and celebrate, 15:24 because this son of mine was dead, and is alive again – he was lost and is found!’ ²⁴  So ²⁵  they began to celebrate.

[1:31]  ¹ tn The Hebrew text again uses הִנֵּה (hinneh) for the sake of vividness. It is a particle that goes with the gesture of pointing, calling attention to something.

[31:17]  ² tn The expression again forms an adverbial accusative of time.

[31:17]  ³ sn The word “rest” essentially means “to cease, stop.” So describing God as “resting” on the seventh day does not indicate that he was tired – he simply finished creation and then ceased or stopped. But in this verse is a very bold anthropomorphism in the form of the verb וַיִּנָּפַשׁ (vayyinnafash), a Niphal preterite from the root נָפַשׁ (nafash), the word that is related to “life, soul” or more specifically “breath, throat.” The verb is usually translated here as “he was refreshed,” offering a very human picture. It could also be rendered “he took breath” (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 345). Elsewhere the verb is used of people and animals. The anthropomorphism is clearly intended to teach people to stop and refresh themselves physically, spiritually, and emotionally on this day of rest.

[62:5]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has “your sons,” but this produces an odd metaphor and is somewhat incongruous with the parallelism. In the context (v. 4b, see also 54:5-7) the Lord is the one who “marries” Zion. Therefore several prefer to emend “your sons” to בֹּנָיִךְ (bonayikh, “your builder”; e.g., NRSV). In Ps 147:2 the Lord is called the “builder of Jerusalem.” However, this emendation is not the best option for at least four reasons. First, although the Lord is never called the “builder” of Jerusalem in Isaiah, the idea of Zion’s children possessing the land does occur (Isa 49:20; 54:3; cf. also 14:1; 60:21). Secondly, all the ancient versions support the MT reading. Thirdly, although the verb בָּעַל (ba’al) can mean “to marry,” its basic idea is “to possess.” Consequently, the verb stresses a relationship more than a state. All the ancient versions render this verb “to dwell in” or “to dwell with.” The point is not just that the land will be reinhabited, but that it will be in a relationship of “belonging” to the Israelites. Hence a relational verb like בָּעַל is used (J. N. Oswalt, Isaiah [NICOT], 2:581). Finally, “sons” is a well-known metaphor for “inhabitants” (J. de Waard, Isaiah, 208).

[65:18]  ⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[65:18]  ⁶ tn Heb “Jerusalem, joy.” The next verse suggests the meaning: The Lord will create Jerusalem to be a source of joy to himself.

[65:18]  ⁷ tn Heb “her people, happiness.” See the preceding note.

[65:19]  ⁸ tn Heb “and I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and be happy in my people.”

[32:41]  ⁹ tn Heb “will plant them in the land with faithfulness with all my heart and with all my soul.” The latter expressions are, of course, anthropomorphisms (see Deut 6:5).

[3:17]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he rejoices over you with joy.”

[3:17]  ¹¹ tc The MT reads, “he is silent in his love,” but this makes no sense in light of the immediately preceding and following lines. Some take the Hiphil verb form as causative (see Job 11:3) rather than intransitive and translate, “he causes [you] to be silent by his love,” that is, “he soothes [you] by his love.” The present translation follows the LXX and assumes an original reading יְחַדֵּשׁ (yÿkhaddesh, “he renews”) with ellipsis of the object (“you”).

[3:17]  ¹² tn Heb “he rejoices over you with a shout of joy.”

[15:5]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[15:6]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And coming into his…” Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.

[15:6]  ¹⁵ sn A touch of drama may be present, as the term calls together can mean a formal celebration (1 Kgs 1:9-10).

[15:6]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “the”; in context the article is used as a possessive pronoun (ExSyn 215). It occurs before “neighbors” as well (“his friends and his neighbors”) but has not been translated the second time because of English style.

[15:22]  ¹⁷ tn See the note on the word “slave” in 7:2.

[15:22]  ¹⁸ sn With the instructions Hurry! Bring the best robe, there is a total acceptance of the younger son back into the home.

[15:22]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “hand”; but χείρ (ceir) can refer to either the whole hand or any relevant part of it (L&N 8.30).

[15:22]  ²⁰ sn The need for sandals underlines the younger son’s previous destitution, because he was barefoot.

[15:23]  ²¹ 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]  ²² 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]  ²³ tn The participle φαγόντες (fagontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

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

[15:24]  ²⁵ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the father’s remarks in the preceding verses.