Genesis 18:18

18:18 After all, Abraham ¹  will surely become ²  a great and powerful nation, and all the nations on the earth will pronounce blessings on one another ³  using his name.

Psalms 71:18

71:18 Even when I am old and gray, ⁴ 

O God, do not abandon me,

until I tell the next generation about your strength,

and those coming after me about your power. ⁵ 

Psalms 78:4-6

78:4 we will not hide from their ⁶  descendants.

We will tell the next generation

about the Lord’s praiseworthy acts, ⁷ 

about his strength and the amazing things he has done.

78:5 He established a rule ⁸  in Jacob;

he set up a law in Israel.

He commanded our ancestors

to make his deeds known to their descendants, ⁹ 

78:6 so that the next generation, children yet to be born,

might know about them.

They will grow up and tell their descendants about them. ¹⁰ 

Psalms 145:4

145:4 One generation will praise your deeds to another,

and tell about your mighty acts! ¹¹ 

Zechariah 1:4-6

1:4 “Do not be like your ancestors, to whom the former prophets called out, saying, ‘The Lord who rules over all says, “Turn now from your evil wickedness,”’ but they would by no means obey me,” says the Lord. 1:5 “As for your ancestors, where are they? And did the prophets live forever? 1:6 But have my words and statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, not outlived your fathers? ¹²  Then they paid attention ¹³  and confessed, ‘The Lord who rules over all has indeed done what he said he would do to us, because of our sinful ways.’”

Acts 20:25-28

20:25 “And now ¹⁴  I know that none ¹⁵  of you among whom I went around proclaiming the kingdom ¹⁶  will see me ¹⁷  again. 20:26 Therefore I declare ¹⁸  to you today that I am innocent ¹⁹  of the blood of you all. ²⁰  20:27 For I did not hold back from ²¹  announcing ²²  to you the whole purpose ²³  of God. 20:28 Watch out for ²⁴  yourselves and for all the flock of which ²⁵  the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, ²⁶  to shepherd the church of God ²⁷  that he obtained ²⁸  with the blood of his own Son. ²⁹ 

Romans 15:4

15:4 For everything that was written in former times was written for our instruction, so that through endurance and through encouragement of the scriptures we may have hope.

Romans 15:1

Exhortation for the Strong to Help the Weak

15:1 But we who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak, and not just please ourselves. ³⁰ 

Colossians 1:11

1:11 being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might for the display of ³¹  all patience and steadfastness, joyfully

Colossians 1:2

1:2 to the saints, the faithful ³²  brothers and sisters ³³  in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you ³⁴  from God our Father! ³⁵ 

Colossians 3:15-17

3:15 Let the peace of Christ be in control in your heart (for you were in fact called as one body ³⁶  to this peace), and be thankful. 3:16 Let the word of Christ ³⁷  dwell in you richly, teaching and exhorting one another with all wisdom, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, all with grace ³⁸  in your hearts to God. 3:17 And whatever you do in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

Hebrews 11:4

11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith ³⁹  he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith ⁴⁰  he still speaks, though he is dead.

Hebrews 11:1

People Commended for Their Faith

11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see.

Hebrews 1:14

1:14 Are they not all ministering spirits, sent out to serve those ⁴¹  who will inherit salvation?

Hebrews 3:2

3:2 who is faithful to the one who appointed him, as Moses was also in God’s ⁴²  house. ⁴³ 

Hebrews 3:15

3:15 As it says, ⁴⁴  “Oh, that today you would listen as he speaks! ⁴⁵  Do not harden your hearts as in the rebellion.” ⁴⁶ 

[18:18]  ¹ 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]  ² tn The infinitive absolute lends emphasis to the finite verb that follows.

[18:18]  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 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.

[71:18]  ⁴ tn Heb “and even unto old age and gray hair.”

[71:18]  ⁵ tn Heb “until I declare your arm to a generation, to everyone who comes your power.” God’s “arm” here is an anthropomorphism that symbolizes his great strength.

[78:4]  ⁶ tn The pronominal suffix refers back to the “fathers” (“our ancestors,” v. 3).

[78:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “to a following generation telling the praises of the Lord.” “Praises” stand by metonymy for the mighty acts that prompt worship. Cf. Ps 9:14.

[78:5]  ⁸ tn The Hebrew noun עֵדוּת (’edut) refers here to God’s command that the older generation teach their children about God’s mighty deeds in the nation’s history (see Exod 10:2; Deut 4:9; 6:20-25).

[78:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “which he commanded our fathers to make them known to their sons.” The plural suffix “them” probably refers back to the Lord’s mighty deeds (see vv. 3-4).

[78:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “in order that they might know, a following generation, sons [who] will be born, they will arise and will tell to their sons.”

[145:4]  ¹¹ tn The prefixed verbal forms in v. 4 are understood as imperfects, indicating how the psalmist expects his audience to respond to his praise. Another option is to take the forms as jussives, indicating the psalmist’s wish, “may one generation praise…and tell about.”

[1:6]  ¹² tc BHS suggests אֶתְכֶם (’etkhem, “you”) for the MT אֲבֹתֵיכֶם (’avotekhem, “your fathers”) to harmonize with v. 4. In v. 4 the ancestors would not turn but in v. 6 they appear to have done so. The subject in v. 6, however, is to be construed as Zechariah’s own listeners.

[1:6]  ¹³ tn Heb “they turned” (so ASV). Many English versions have “they repented” here; cf. CEV “they turned back to me.”

[20:25]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “And now, behold.” Here ἰδού (idou) has not been translated.

[20:25]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “all of you…will not see.” Greek handles its negation somewhat differently from English, and the translation follows English grammatical conventions.

[20:25]  ¹⁶ sn Note how Paul’s usage of the expression proclaiming the kingdom is associated with (and intertwined with) his testifying to the good news of God’s grace in v. 24. For Paul the two concepts were interrelated.

[20:25]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “will see my face” (an idiom for seeing someone in person).

[20:26]  ¹⁸ tn Or “testify.”

[20:26]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “clean, pure,” thus “guiltless” (BDAG 489 s.v. καθαρός 3.a).

[20:26]  ²⁰ tn That is, “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible” (an idiom). According to L&N 33.223, the meaning of the phrase “that I am innocent of the blood of all of you” is “that if any of you should be lost, I am not responsible.” However, due to the length of this phrase and its familiarity to many modern English readers, the translation was kept closer to formal equivalence in this case. The word “you” is not in the Greek text, but is implied; Paul is addressing the Ephesian congregation (in the person of its elders) in both v. 25 and 27.

[20:27]  ²¹ tn Or “did not avoid.” BDAG 1041 s.v. ὑποστέλλω 2.b has “shrink from, avoid implying fear…οὐ γὰρ ὑπεστειλάμην τοῦ μὴ ἀναγγεῖλαι I did not shrink from proclaiming Ac 20:27”; L&N 13.160 has “to hold oneself back from doing something, with the implication of some fearful concern – ‘to hold back from, to shrink from, to avoid’…‘for I have not held back from announcing to you the whole purpose of God’ Ac 20:27.”

[20:27]  ²² tn Or “proclaiming,” “declaring.”

[20:27]  ²³ tn Or “plan.”

[20:28]  ²⁴ tn Or “Be on your guard for” (cf. v. 29). Paul completed his responsibility to the Ephesians with this warning.

[20:28]  ²⁵ tn Grk “in which.”

[20:28]  ²⁶ tn Or “guardians.” BDAG 379-80 s.v. ἐπίσκοπος 2 states, “The term was taken over in Christian communities in ref. to one who served as overseer or supervisor, with special interest in guarding the apostolic tradition…Ac 20:28.” This functional term describes the role of the elders (see v. 17). They were to guard and shepherd the congregation.

[20:28]  ²⁷ tc The reading “of God” (τοῦ θεοῦ, tou qeou) is found in א B 614 1175 1505 al vg sy; other witnesses have “of the Lord” (τοῦ κυρίου, tou kuriou) here (so Ì⁷⁴ A C* D E Ψ 33 1739 al co), while the majority of the later minuscule mss conflate these two into “of the Lord and God” (τοῦ κυρίου καὶ [τοῦ] θεοῦ, tou kuriou kai [tou] qeou). Although the evidence is evenly balanced between the first two readings, τοῦ θεοῦ is decidedly superior on internal grounds. The final prepositional phrase of this verse, διὰ τοῦ αἵματος τοῦ ἰδίου (dia tou {aimato" tou idiou), could be rendered “through his own blood” or “through the blood of his own.” In the latter translation, the object that “own” modifies must be supplied (see tn below for discussion). But this would not be entirely clear to scribes; those who supposed that ἰδίου modified αἵματος would be prone to alter “God” to “Lord” to avoid the inference that God had blood. In a similar way, later scribes would be prone to conflate the two titles, thereby affirming the deity (with the construction τοῦ κυρίου καὶ θεοῦ following the Granville Sharp rule and referring to a single person [see ExSyn 272, 276-77, 290]) and substitutionary atonement of Christ. For these reasons, τοῦ θεοῦ best explains the rise of the other readings and should be considered authentic.

[20:28]  ²⁸ tn Or “acquired.”

[20:28]  ²⁹ tn Or “with his own blood”; Grk “with the blood of his own.” The genitive construction could be taken in two ways: (1) as an attributive genitive (second attributive position) meaning “his own blood”; or (2) as a possessive genitive, “with the blood of his own.” In this case the referent is the Son, and the referent has been specified in the translation for clarity. See further C. F. DeVine, “The Blood of God,” CBQ 9 (1947): 381-408.

[15:1]  ³⁰ tn Grk “and not please ourselves.” NT Greek negatives used in contrast like this are often not absolute, but relative: “not so much one as the other.”

[1:11]  ³¹ tn The expression “for the display of” is an attempt to convey in English the force of the Greek preposition εἰς (eis) in this context.

[1:2]  ³² tn Grk “and faithful.” The construction in Greek (as well as Paul’s style) suggests that the saints are identical to the faithful; hence, the καί (kai) is best left untranslated (cf. Eph 1:1). See ExSyn 281-82.

[1:2]  ³³ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).

[1:2]  ³⁴ tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”

[1:2]  ³⁵ tc Most witnesses, including some important ones (א A C F G I [P] 075 Ï it bo), read “and the Lord Jesus Christ” at the end of this verse, no doubt to conform the wording to the typical Pauline salutation. However, excellent and early witnesses (B D K L Ψ 33 81 1175 1505 1739 1881 al sa) lack this phrase. Since the omission is inexplicable as arising from the longer reading (otherwise, these mss would surely have deleted the phrase in the rest of the corpus Paulinum), it is surely authentic.

[3:15]  ³⁶ tn Grk “in one body.” This phrase emphasizes the manner in which the believers were called, not the goal of their calling, and focuses upon their unity.

[3:16]  ³⁷ tc Since “the word of Christ” occurs nowhere else in the NT, two predictable variants arose: “word of God” and “word of the Lord.” Even though some of the witnesses for these variants are impressive (κυρίου [kuriou, “of the Lord”] in א* I 1175 pc bo; θεοῦ [qeou, “of God”] in A C* 33 104 323 945 al), the reading Χριστοῦ (Cristou, “of Christ”) is read by an excellent cross-section of witnesses (Ì⁴⁶ א² B C² D F G Ψ 075 1739 1881 Ï lat sa). On both internal and external grounds, Χριστοῦ is strongly preferred.

[3:16]  ³⁸ tn Grk “with grace”; “all” is supplied as it is implicitly related to all the previous instructions in the verse.

[11:4]  ³⁹ tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through which.”

[11:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Or “through his sacrifice”; Grk “through it.”

[1:14]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “sent for service for the sake of those.”

[3:2]  ⁴² tn Grk “his”; in the translation the referent (God) has been specified for clarity.

[3:2]  ⁴³ tc ‡ The reading adopted by the translation follows a few early mss and some versions (Ì^13,46vid B vg^ms co Ambr). The majority of mss (א A C D Ψ 0243 0278 33 1739 1881 Ï lat sy) insert “all” (“in all his house”), apparently in anticipation of Heb 3:5 which quotes directly from Num 12:7. On balance, the omission better explains the rise of ὅλῳ ({olw, “all”) than vice versa. NA²⁷ puts ὅλῳ in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

[3:15]  ⁴⁴ tn Grk “while it is said.”

[3:15]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “today if you hear his voice.”

[3:15]  ⁴⁶ sn A quotation from Ps 95:7b-8.