Genesis 6:9

The Judgment of the Flood

6:9 This is the account of Noah. ¹ 

Noah was a godly man; he was blameless ² 

among his contemporaries. ³  He ⁴  walked with ⁵  God.

Psalms 112:4-5

112:4 In the darkness a light ⁶  shines for the godly,

for each one who is merciful, compassionate, and just. ⁷ 

112:5 It goes well for the one ⁸  who generously lends money,

and conducts his business honestly. ⁹ 

Mark 6:20

6:20 because Herod stood in awe of ¹⁰  John and protected him, since he knew that John ¹¹  was a righteous and holy man. When Herod ¹²  heard him, he was thoroughly baffled, ¹³  and yet ¹⁴  he liked to listen to John. ¹⁵ 

Luke 2:25

The Prophecy of Simeon

2:25 Now ¹⁶  there was a man in Jerusalem ¹⁷  named Simeon who was righteous ¹⁸  and devout, looking for the restoration ¹⁹  of Israel, and the Holy Spirit ²⁰  was upon him.

Acts 10:22

10:22 They said, “Cornelius the centurion, ²¹  a righteous ²²  and God-fearing man, well spoken of by the whole Jewish nation, ²³  was directed by a holy angel to summon you to his house and to hear a message ²⁴  from you.”

[6:9]  ¹ sn There is a vast body of scholarly literature about the flood story. The following studies are particularly helpful: A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels; M. Kessler, “Rhetorical Criticism of Genesis 7,” Rhetorical Criticism: Essays in Honor of James Muilenburg (PTMS), 1-17; I. M. Kikawada and A. Quinn, Before Abraham Was; A. R. Millard, “A New Babylonian ‘Genesis Story’,” TynBul 18 (1967): 3-18; G. J. Wenham, “The Coherence of the Flood Narrative,” VT 28 (1978): 336-48.

[6:9]  ² tn The Hebrew term תָּמִים (tamim, “blameless”) is used of men in Gen 17:1 (associated with the idiom “walk before,” which means “maintain a proper relationship with,” see 24:40); Deut 18:13 (where it means “blameless” in the sense of not guilty of the idolatrous practices listed before this; see Josh 24:14); Pss 18:23, 26 (“blameless” in the sense of not having violated God’s commands); 37:18 (in contrast to the wicked); 101:2, 6 (in contrast to proud, deceitful slanderers; see 15:2); Prov 2:21; 11:5 (in contrast to the wicked); 28:10; Job 12:4.

[6:9]  ³ tn Heb “Noah was a godly man, blameless in his generations.” The singular “generation” can refer to one’s contemporaries, i.e., those living at a particular point in time. The plural “generations” can refer to successive generations in the past or the future. Here, where it is qualified by “his” (i.e., Noah’s), it refers to Noah’s contemporaries, comprised of the preceding generation (his father’s generation), those of Noah’s generation, and the next generation (those the same age as his children). In other words, “his generations” means the generations contemporary with him. See BDB 190 s.v. דוֹר.

[6:9]  ⁴ tn Heb “Noah.” The proper name has been replaced with the pronoun in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[6:9]  ⁵ tn The construction translated “walked with” is used in Gen 5:22, 24 (see the note on this phrase in 5:22) and in 1 Sam 25:15, where it refers to David’s and Nabal’s men “rubbing shoulders” in the fields. Based on the use in 1 Sam 25:15, the expression seems to mean “live in close proximity to,” which may, by metonymy, mean “maintain cordial relations with.”

[112:4]  ⁶ tn In this context “light” symbolizes divine blessing in its various forms (see v. 2), including material prosperity and stability.

[112:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “merciful and compassionate and just.” The Hebrew text has three singular adjectives, which are probably substantival and in apposition to the “godly” (which is plural, however). By switching to the singular, the psalmist focuses on each individual member of the group known as the “godly.” Note how vv. 5-9, like vv. 1-2a, use the singular to describe the representative godly individual who typifies the whole group.

[112:5]  ⁸ tn Heb “man.”

[112:5]  ⁹ tn Heb “he sustains his matters with justice.”

[6:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “was fearing,” “was respecting”; the imperfect tense connotes an ongoing fear or respect for John.

[6:20]  ¹¹ tn Grk “he”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ¹² tn Grk “he”; the referent (Herod) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:20]  ¹³ tc In place of ἠπόρει (hporei, “he was baffled”) the majority of mss (A C D ˹ 33 Ï lat sy) have ἐποίει (epoiei, “he did”; cf. KJV’s “he did many things.”) The best mss (א B L [W] Θ 2427 co) support the reading followed in the translation. The variation may be no more than a simple case of confusion of letters, since the two readings look very much alike. The verb ποιέω (poiew, “I do”) certainly occurs more frequently than ἀπορέω (aporew, “I am at a loss”), so a scribe would be more likely to write a more familiar word. Further, even though the reading ἐποίει is the harder reading in terms of the sense, it is virtually nonsensical here, rendering it most likely an unintentional corruption.

[6:20]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “and.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “and yet” to indicate the concessive nature of the final clause.

[6:20]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “him”; the referent (John) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:25]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “And behold.” Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic. The Greek word ἰδού (idou) at the beginning of this statement has not been translated because it has no exact English equivalent here, but adds interest and emphasis (BDAG 468 s.v. 1).

[2:25]  ¹⁷ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:25]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “This man was righteous.” The Greek text begins a new sentence here, but this was changed to a relative clause in the translation to avoid redundancy.

[2:25]  ¹⁹ tn Or “deliverance,” “consolation.”

[2:25]  ²⁰ sn Once again, by mentioning the Holy Spirit, Luke stresses the prophetic enablement of a speaker. The Spirit has fallen on both men (Zechariah, 1:67) and women (Elizabeth, 1:41) in Luke 1–2 as they share the will of the Lord.

[10:22]  ²¹ sn See the note on the word centurion in 10:1.

[10:22]  ²² tn Or “just.”

[10:22]  ²³ tn The phrase τοῦ ἔθνους τῶν ᾿Ιουδαίων (tou eqnou" twn Ioudaiwn) is virtually a technical term for the Jewish nation (1 Macc 10:25; 11:30, 33; Josephus, Ant. 14.10.22 [14.248]). “All the Jewish people,” while another possible translation of the Greek phrase, does not convey the technical sense of a reference to the nation in English.

[10:22]  ²⁴ tn Grk “hear words.”