Genesis 12:3

12:3 I will bless those who bless you, ¹ 

but the one who treats you lightly ²  I must curse,

and all the families of the earth will bless one another ³  by your name.”

Genesis 12:1

The Obedience of Abram

12:1 Now the Lord said ⁴  to Abram, ⁵ 

“Go out ⁶  from your country, your relatives, and your father’s household

to the land that I will show you. ⁷ 

Genesis 8:1

8:1 But God remembered ⁸  Noah and all the wild animals and domestic animals that were with him in the ark. God caused a wind to blow over ⁹  the earth and the waters receded.

Psalms 22:27

22:27 Let all the people of the earth acknowledge the Lord and turn to him! ¹⁰ 

Let all the nations ¹¹  worship you! ¹² 

Isaiah 11:10

Israel is Reclaimed and Reunited

11:10 At that time ¹³  a root from Jesse ¹⁴  will stand like a signal flag for the nations. Nations will look to him for guidance, ¹⁵  and his residence will be majestic.

Isaiah 19:23

19:23 At that time there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will visit Egypt, and the Egyptians will visit Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. ¹⁶ 

Isaiah 19:25

19:25 The Lord who commands armies will pronounce a blessing over the earth, saying, ¹⁷  “Blessed be my people, Egypt, and the work of my hands, Assyria, and my special possession, ¹⁸  Israel!”

Luke 2:10-11

2:10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid! Listen carefully, ¹⁹  for I proclaim to you good news ²⁰  that brings great joy to all the people: 2:11 Today ²¹  your Savior is born in the city ²²  of David. ²³  He is Christ ²⁴  the Lord.

Luke 2:32

2:32 a light, ²⁵ 

for revelation to the Gentiles,

and for glory ²⁶  to your people Israel.”

Acts 13:47-48

13:47 For this ²⁷  is what the Lord has commanded us: ‘I have appointed ²⁸  you to be a light ²⁹  for the Gentiles, to bring salvation ³⁰  to the ends of the earth.’” ³¹  13:48 When the Gentiles heard this, they began to rejoice ³²  and praise ³³  the word of the Lord, and all who had been appointed for eternal life ³⁴  believed.

Romans 15:9-13

15:9 and thus the Gentiles glorify God for his mercy. ³⁵  As it is written, “Because of this I will confess you among the Gentiles, and I will sing praises to your name.” ³⁶  15:10 And again it says: “Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.” ³⁷  15:11 And again, “Praise the Lord all you Gentiles, and let all the peoples praise him.” ³⁸  15:12 And again Isaiah says, “The root of Jesse will come, and the one who rises to rule over the Gentiles, in him will the Gentiles hope.” ³⁹  15:13 Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, ⁴⁰  so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Revelation 5:9-10

5:9 They were singing a new song: ⁴¹ 

“You are worthy to take the scroll

and to open its seals

because you were killed, ⁴² 

and at the cost of your own blood ⁴³  you have purchased ⁴⁴  for God

persons ⁴⁵  from every tribe, language, ⁴⁶  people, and nation.

5:10 You have appointed ⁴⁷  them ⁴⁸  as a kingdom and priests ⁴⁹  to serve ⁵⁰  our God, and they will reign ⁵¹  on the earth.”

[12:3]  ¹ tn The Piel cohortative has as its object a Piel participle, masculine plural. Since the Lord binds himself to Abram by covenant, those who enrich Abram in any way share in the blessings.

[12:3]  ² tn In this part of God’s statement there are two significant changes that often go unnoticed. First, the parallel and contrasting participle מְקַלֶּלְךָ (mÿqallelkha) is now singular and not plural. All the versions and a few Masoretic mss read the plural. But if it had been plural, there would be no reason to change it to the singular and alter the parallelism. On the other hand, if it was indeed singular, it is easy to see why the versions would change it to match the first participle. The MT preserves the original reading: “the one who treats you lightly.” The point would be a contrast with the lavish way that God desires to bless many. The second change is in the vocabulary. The English usually says, “I will curse those who curse you.” But there are two different words for curse here. The first is קָלַל (qalal), which means “to be light” in the Qal, and in the Piel “to treat lightly, to treat with contempt, to curse.” The second verb is אָרַר (’arar), which means “to banish, to remove from the blessing.” The point is simple: Whoever treats Abram and the covenant with contempt as worthless God will banish from the blessing. It is important also to note that the verb is not a cohortative, but a simple imperfect. Since God is binding himself to Abram, this would then be an obligatory imperfect: “but the one who treats you with contempt I must curse.”

[12:3]  ³ 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 on”] 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 12:2 predicts that Abram 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.

[12:1]  ⁴ sn The Lord called Abram while he was in Ur (see Gen 15:7; Acts 7:2); but the sequence here makes it look like it was after the family left to migrate to Canaan (11:31-32). Genesis records the call of Abram at this place in the narrative because it is the formal beginning of the account of Abram. The record of Terah was brought to its end before this beginning.

[12:1]  ⁵ tn The call of Abram begins with an imperative לֶךְ־לְךָ (lekh-lÿkha, “go out”) followed by three cohortatives (v. 2a) indicating purpose or consequence (“that I may” or “then I will”). If Abram leaves, then God will do these three things. The second imperative (v. 2b, literally “and be a blessing”) is subordinated to the preceding cohortatives and indicates God’s ultimate purpose in calling and blessing Abram. On the syntactical structure of vv. 1-2 see R. B. Chisholm, “Evidence from Genesis,” A Case for Premillennialism, 37. For a similar sequence of volitive forms see Gen 45:18.

[12:1]  ⁶ tn The initial command is the direct imperative (לֶךְ, lekh) from the verb הָלַךְ (halakh). It is followed by the lamed preposition with a pronominal suffix (לְךָ, lÿkha) emphasizing the subject of the imperative: “you leave.”

[12:1]  ⁷ sn To the land that I will show you. The call of Abram illustrates the leading of the Lord. The command is to leave. The Lord’s word is very specific about what Abram is to leave (the three prepositional phrases narrow to his father’s household), but is not specific at all about where he is to go. God required faith, a point that Heb 11:8 notes.

[8:1]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew word translated “remembered” often carries the sense of acting in accordance with what is remembered, i.e., fulfilling covenant promises (see B. S. Childs, Memory and Tradition in Israel [SBT], especially p. 34).

[8:1]  ⁹ tn Heb “to pass over.”

[22:27]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “may all the ends of the earth remember and turn to the Lord.” The prefixed verbal forms in v. 27 are understood as jussives (cf. NEB). Another option (cf. NIV, NRSV) is to take the forms as imperfects and translate, “all the people of the earth will acknowledge and turn…and worship.” See vv. 29-32.

[22:27]  ¹¹ tn Heb “families of the nations.”

[22:27]  ¹² tn Heb “before you.”

[11:10]  ¹³ tn Or “in that day” (KJV). The verb that introduces this verse serves as a discourse particle and is untranslated; see note on “in the future” in 2:2.

[11:10]  ¹⁴ sn See the note at v. 1.

[11:10]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “ a root from Jesse, which stands for a signal flag of the nations, of him nations will inquire” [or “seek”].

[19:23]  ¹⁶ tn The text could be translated, “and Egypt will serve Assyria” (cf. NAB), but subjugation of one nation to the other does not seem to be a theme in vv. 23-25. Rather the nations are viewed as equals before the Lord (v. 25). Therefore it is better to take אֶת (’et) in v. 23b as a preposition, “together with,” rather than the accusative sign. The names of the two countries are understood to refer by metonymy to their respective inhabitants.

[19:25]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “which the Lord who commands armies [traditionally, the Lord of hosts] will bless [it], saying.” The third masculine singular suffix on the form בֵּרֲכוֹ (berakho) should probably be emended to a third feminine singular suffix בֵּרֲכָהּ (berakhah), for its antecedent would appear to be the feminine noun אֶרֶץ (’erets, “earth”) at the end of v. 24.

[19:25]  ¹⁸ tn Or “my inheritance” (NAB, NASB, NIV).

[2:10]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “behold.”

[2:10]  ²⁰ tn Grk “I evangelize to you great joy.”

[2:11]  ²¹ sn The Greek word for today (σήμερον, shmeron) occurs eleven times in the Gospel of Luke (2:11; 4:21; 5:26; 12:28; 13:32-33; 19:5, 9; 22:34, 61; 23:43) and nine times in Acts. Its use, especially in passages such as 2:11, 4:21, 5:26; 19:5, 9, signifies the dawning of the era of messianic salvation and the fulfillment of the plan of God. Not only does it underscore the idea of present fulfillment in Jesus’ ministry, but it also indicates salvific fulfillment present in the church (cf. Acts 1:6; 3:18; D. L. Bock, Luke [BECNT], 1:412; I. H. Marshall, Luke, [NIGTC], 873).

[2:11]  ²² tn Or “town.” See the note on “city” in v. 4.

[2:11]  ²³ tn This is another indication of a royal, messianic connection.

[2:11]  ²⁴ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[2:32]  ²⁵ tn The syntax of this verse is disputed. Most read “light” and “glory” in parallelism, so Jesus is a light for revelation to the Gentiles and is glory to the people for Israel. Others see “light” (1:78-79) as a summary, while “revelation” and “glory” are parallel, so Jesus is light for all, but is revelation for the Gentiles and glory for Israel. Both readings make good sense and either could be correct, but Luke 1:78-79 and Acts 26:22-23 slightly favor this second option.

[2:32]  ²⁶ sn In other words, Jesus is a special cause for praise and honor (“glory”) for the nation.

[13:47]  ²⁷ tn Here οὕτως (Joutws) is taken to refer to what follows, the content of the quotation, as given for this verse by BDAG 742 s.v. οὕτω/οὕτως 2.

[13:47]  ²⁸ tn BDAG 1004 s.v. τίθημι 3.a has “τιθέναι τινὰ εἴς τι place/appoint someone to or for (to function as) someth….Ac 13:47.” This is a double accusative construction of object (“you”) and complement (“a light”).

[13:47]  ²⁹ sn Paul alludes here to the language of the Servant in Isaiah, pointing to Isa 42:6; 49:6. He and Barnabas do the work of the Servant in Isaiah.

[13:47]  ³⁰ tn Grk “that you should be for salvation,” but more simply “to bring salvation.”

[13:47]  ³¹ sn An allusion to Isa 42:6 and 49:6. The expression the ends of the earth recalls Luke 3:6 and Acts 1:8. Paul sees himself and Barnabas as carrying out the commission of Luke 24:27. (See 2 Cor 6:2, where servant imagery also appears concerning Paul’s message.)

[13:48]  ³² tn The imperfect verb ἔχαιρον (ecairon) and the following ἐδόξαζον (edoxazon) are translated as ingressive imperfects.

[13:48]  ³³ tn Or “glorify.” Although “honor” is given by BDAG 258 s.v. δοξάζω as a translation, it would be misleading here, because the meaning is “to honor in the sense of attributing worth to something,” while in contemporary English usage one speaks of “honoring” a contract in the sense of keeping its stipulations. It is not a synonym for “obey” in this context (“obey the word of the Lord”), but that is how many English readers would understand it.

[13:48]  ³⁴ sn Note the contrast to v. 46 in regard to eternal life.

[15:9]  ³⁵ tn There are two major syntactical alternatives which are both awkward: (1) One could make “glorify” dependent on “Christ has become a minister” and coordinate with “to confirm” and the result would be rendered “Christ has become a minister of circumcision to confirm the promises…and so that the Gentiles might glorify God.” (2) One could make “glorify” dependent on “I tell you” and coordinate with “Christ has become a minister” and the result would be rendered “I tell you that Christ has become a minister of circumcision…and that the Gentiles glorify God.” The second rendering is preferred.

[15:9]  ³⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 18:49.

[15:10]  ³⁷ sn A quotation from Deut 32:43.

[15:11]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 117:1.

[15:12]  ³⁹ sn A quotation from Isa 11:10.

[15:13]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “in the believing” or “as [you] believe,” with the object “him” supplied from the context. The referent could be God (15:13a) or Christ (15:12).

[5:9]  ⁴¹ tn The redundant participle λέγοντες (legontes) has not been translated here.

[5:9]  ⁴² tn Or “slaughtered”; traditionally, “slain.”

[5:9]  ⁴³ tn The preposition ἐν (en) is taken to indicate price here, like the Hebrew preposition ב (bet) does at times. BDAG 329 s.v. ἐν 5.b states, “The ἐν which takes the place of the gen. of price is also instrumental ἠγόρασας ἐν τῷ αἵματί σου Rv 5:9 (cp. 1 Ch 21:24 ἀγοράζω ἐν ἀργυρίῳ).”

[5:9]  ⁴⁴ tc The Greek text as it stands above (i.e., the reading τῷ θεῷ [tw qew] alone) is found in codex A. א 2050 2344 Ï sy add the term “us” (ἡμᾶς, Jhmas), either before or after τῷ θεῷ, as an attempt to clarify the object of “purchased” (ἠγόρασας, hgorasa"). A few mss (1 vg^ms) delete the reference to God altogether and simply replace it with “us” (ἡμᾶς). This too is an attempt to remove ambiguity in the phrase and provide an object for “purchased.” The shorter reading, supported by the best witness for Revelation, best accounts for the other readings.

[5:9]  ⁴⁵ tn The word “persons” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[5:9]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “and language,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[5:10]  ⁴⁷ tn The verb ἐποίησας (epoihsas) is understood to mean “appointed” here. For an example of this use, see Mark 3:14.

[5:10]  ⁴⁸ tc The vast majority of witnesses have αὐτούς (autous, “them”) here, while the Textus Receptus reads ἡμᾶς (Jhmas, “us”) with insignificant support (pc gig vg^cl sa Prim Bea). There is no question that the original text read αὐτούς here.

[5:10]  ⁴⁹ tn The reference to “kingdom and priests” may be a hendiadys: “priestly kingdom.”

[5:10]  ⁵⁰ tn The words “to serve” are not in the Greek text, but are implied by the word “priests.”

[5:10]  ⁵¹ tc The textual problem here between the present tense βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, “they are reigning”; so A 1006 1611 Ï^K pc) and the future βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, “they will reign”; so א 1854 2053 Ï^A pc lat co) is a difficult one. Both readings have excellent support. On the one hand, the present tense seems to be the harder reading in this context. On the other hand, codex A elsewhere mistakes the future for the present (20:6). Further, the lunar sigma in uncial script could have been overlooked by some scribes, resulting in the present tense. All things considered, there is a slight preference for the future.