Genesis 16:13
Context16:13 So Hagar named the Lord who spoke to her, “You are the God who sees me,” 1 for she said, “Here I have seen one who sees me!” 2
Exodus 24:10-11
Context24:10 and they saw 3 the God of Israel. Under his feet 4 there was something like a pavement 5 made of sapphire, clear like the sky itself. 6 24:11 But he did not lay a hand 7 on the leaders of the Israelites, so they saw God, 8 and they ate and they drank. 9
Exodus 33:14
Context33:14 And the Lord 10 said, “My presence 11 will go with you, 12 and I will give you rest.” 13
Exodus 33:19-23
Context33:19 And the Lord 14 said, “I will make all my goodness 15 pass before your face, and I will proclaim the Lord by name 16 before you; I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, I will show mercy to whom I will show mercy.” 17 33:20 But he added, “You cannot see my face, for no one can 18 see me and live.” 19 33:21 The Lord said, “Here 20 is a place by me; you will station yourself 21 on a rock. 33:22 When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and will cover 22 you with my hand 23 while I pass by. 24 33:23 Then I will take away my hand, and you will see my back, 25 but my face must not be seen.” 26
Numbers 12:8
Context12:8 With him I will speak face to face, 27 openly, 28 and not in riddles; and he will see the form 29 of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?”
Deuteronomy 5:24
Context5:24 You said, “The Lord our God has shown us his great glory 30 and we have heard him speak from the middle of the fire. It is now clear to us 31 that God can speak to human beings and they can keep on living.
Deuteronomy 34:10
Context34:10 No prophet ever again arose in Israel like Moses, who knew the Lord face to face. 32
Jude 1:22-23
Context1:22 And have mercy on those who waver; 1:23 save 33 others by snatching them out of the fire; have mercy 34 on others, coupled with a fear of God, 35 hating even the clothes stained 36 by the flesh. 37
Jude 1:21-22
Context1:21 maintain 38 yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating 39 the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life. 40 1:22 And have mercy on those who waver;
Isaiah 6:5
Context6:5 I said, “Too bad for me! I am destroyed, 41 for my lips are contaminated by sin, 42 and I live among people whose lips are contaminated by sin. 43 My eyes have seen the king, the Lord who commands armies.” 44
John 1:18
Context1:18 No one has ever seen God. The only one, 45 himself God, who is in closest fellowship with 46 the Father, has made God 47 known. 48
John 1:2
Context1:2 The Word 49 was with God in the beginning.
Colossians 3:18
Context3:18 Wives, submit to your 50 husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.
Colossians 4:6
Context4:6 Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you should answer everyone.
Galatians 1:6
Context1:6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one 51 who called you by the grace of Christ 52 and are following 53 a different 54 gospel –
Ephesians 1:17
Context1:17 I pray that 55 the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, 56 may give you spiritual wisdom and revelation 57 in your growing knowledge of him, 58
Colossians 1:15
Context1:15 59 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn 60 over all creation, 61
Colossians 1:2
Context1:2 to the saints, the faithful 62 brothers and sisters 63 in Christ, at Colossae. Grace and peace to you 64 from God our Father! 65
Colossians 1:10
Context1:10 so that you may live 66 worthily of the Lord and please him in all respects 67 – bearing fruit in every good deed, growing in the knowledge of God,
Hebrews 11:27
Context11:27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible.
[16:13] 1 tn Heb “God of my seeing.” The pronominal suffix may be understood either as objective (“who sees me,” as in the translation) or subjective (“whom I see”).
[16:13] 2 tn Heb “after one who sees me.”
[24:10] 3 sn S. R. Driver (Exodus, 254) wishes to safeguard the traditional idea that God could not be seen by reading “they saw the place where the God of Israel stood” so as not to say they saw God. But according to U. Cassuto there is not a great deal of difference between “and they saw the God” and “the
[24:10] 4 sn S. R. Driver suggests that they saw the divine Glory, not directly, but as they looked up from below, through what appeared to be a transparent blue sapphire pavement (Exodus, 254).
[24:10] 6 tn Heb “and like the body of heaven for clearness.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heaven” or “sky” depending on the context; here, where sapphire is mentioned (a blue stone) “sky” seems more appropriate, since the transparent blueness of the sapphire would appear like the blueness of the cloudless sky.
[24:11] 7 tn Heb “he did not stretch out his hand,” i.e., to destroy them.
[24:11] 8 tn The verb is חָזָה (khazah); it can mean “to see, perceive” or “see a vision” as the prophets did. The LXX safeguarded this by saying, “appeared in the place of God.” B. Jacob says they beheld – prophetically, religiously (Exodus, 746) – but the meaning of that is unclear. The fact that God did not lay a hand on them – to kill them – shows that they saw something that they never expected to see and live. Some Christian interpreters have taken this to refer to a glorious appearance of the preincarnate Christ, the second person of the Trinity. They saw the brilliance of this manifestation – but not the detail. Later, Moses will still ask to see God’s glory – the real presence behind the phenomena.
[24:11] 9 sn This is the covenant meal, the peace offering, that they are eating there on the mountain. To eat from the sacrifice meant that they were at peace with God, in covenant with him. Likewise, in the new covenant believers draw near to God on the basis of sacrifice, and eat of the sacrifice because they are at peace with him, and in Christ they see the Godhead revealed.
[33:14] 10 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (the
[33:14] 11 sn Heb “my face.” This represents the presence of Yahweh going with the people (see 2 Sam 17:11 for an illustration). The “presence” probably refers to the angel of the presence or some similar manifestation of God’s leading and caring for his people.
[33:14] 12 tn The phrase “with you” is not in the Hebrew text, but is implied.
[33:14] 13 sn The expression certainly refers to the peace of mind and security of knowing that God was with them. But the expression came to mean “settle them in the land of promise” and give them rest and peace from their enemies. U. Cassuto (Exodus, 434) observes how in 32:10 God had told Moses, “Leave me alone” (“give me rest”), but now he promises to give them rest. The parallelism underscores the great transition through intercession.
[33:19] 14 tn Heb “and he said”; the referent (the
[33:19] 15 sn The word “goodness” refers to the divine appearance in summary fashion.
[33:19] 16 tn The expression “make proclamation in the name of Yahweh” (here a perfect tense with vav [ו] consecutive for future) means to declare, reveal, or otherwise make proclamation of who Yahweh is. The “name of Yahweh” (rendered “the name of the
[33:19] 17 sn God declares his mercy and grace in similar terms to his earlier self-revelation (“I am that I am”): “I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious.” In other words, the grace and mercy of God are bound up in his own will. Obviously, in this passage the recipients of that favor are the penitent Israelites who were forgiven through Moses’ intercession. The two words are at the heart of God’s dealings with people. The first is חָנַן (khanan, “to be gracious, show favor”). It means to grant favor or grace to someone, grace meaning unmerited favor. All of God’s dealings are gracious, but especially in forgiving sins and granting salvation it is critical. Parallel to this is רָחַם (rakham), a word that means “show compassion, tender mercy.” It is a word that is related to the noun “womb,” the connection being in providing care and protection for that which is helpless and dependent – a motherly quality. In both of these constructions the verbs simply express what God will do, without explaining why. See further, J. R. Lundbom, “God’s Use of the Idem per idem to Terminate Debate,” HTR 71 (1978): 193-201; and J. Piper, “Prolegomena to Understanding Romans 9:14-15: An Interpretation of Exodus 33:19,” JETS 22 (1979): 203-16.
[33:20] 18 tn In view of the use of the verb “can, be able to” in the first clause, this imperfect tense is given a potential nuance.
[33:20] 19 tn Gesenius notes that sometimes a negative statement takes the place of a conditional clause; here it is equal to “if a man sees me he does not live” (GKC 498 §159.gg). The other passages that teach this are Gen 32:30; Deut 4:33, 5:24, 26; Judg 6:22, 13:22, and Isa 6:5.
[33:21] 20 tn The deictic particle is used here simply to call attention to a place of God’s knowing and choosing.
[33:21] 21 tn Heb “and you will,” or interpretively, “where you will.”
[33:22] 22 sn Note the use in Exod 40:3, “and you will screen the ark with the curtain.” The glory is covered, veiled from being seen.
[33:22] 23 tn The circumstantial clause is simply, “my hand [being] over you.” This protecting hand of Yahweh represents a fairly common theme in the Bible.
[33:22] 24 tn The construction has a preposition with an infinitive construct and a suffix: “while [or until] I pass by” (Heb “in the passing by of me”).
[33:23] 25 tn The plural “my backs” is according to Gesenius an extension plural (compare “face,” a dual in Hebrew). The word denotes a locality in general, but that is composed of numerous parts (see GKC 397 §124.b). W. C. Kaiser says that since God is a spirit, the meaning of this word could just as easily be rendered “after effects” of his presence (“Exodus,” EBC 2:484). As S. R. Driver says, though, while this may indicate just the “afterglow” that he leaves behind him, it was enough to suggest what the full brilliancy of his presence must be (Exodus, 363; see also Job 26:14).
[33:23] 26 tn The Niphal imperfect could simply be rendered “will not be seen,” but given the emphasis of the preceding verses, it is more binding than that, and so a negated obligatory imperfect fits better: “it must not be seen.” It would also be possible to render it with a potential imperfect tense: “it cannot be seen.”
[12:8] 27 tn The emphasis of the line is clear enough – it begins literally “mouth to mouth” I will speak with him. In human communication this would mean equality of rank, but Moses is certainly not equal in rank with the
[12:8] 28 tn The word מַרְאֶה (mar’eh) refers to what is seen, a vision, an appearance. Here it would have the idea of that which is clearly visible, open, obvious.
[12:8] 29 tn The word “form” (תְּמוּנָה, tÿmunah) means “shape, image, form.” The Greek text took it metaphorically and rendered it “the glory of the
[5:24] 30 tn Heb “his glory and his greatness.”
[5:24] 31 tn Heb “this day we have seen.”
[34:10] 32 sn See Num 12:8; Deut 18:15-18.
[1:23] 34 tn Grk “and have mercy.”
[1:23] 35 tn Grk “with fear.” But as this contrasts with ἀφόβως (afobw") in v. 12 (without reverence), the posture of the false teachers, it most likely refers to reverence for God.
[1:23] 36 sn The imagery here suggests that the things close to the sinners are contaminated by them, presumably during the process of sinning.
[1:23] 37 tn Grk “hating even the tunic spotted by the flesh.” The “flesh” in this instance could refer to the body or to the sin nature. It makes little difference in one sense: Jude is thinking primarily of sexual sins, which are borne of the sin nature and manifest themselves in inappropriate deeds done with the body. At the same time, he is not saying that the body is intrinsically bad, a view held by the opponents of Christianity. Hence, it is best to see “flesh” as referring to the sin nature here and the language as metaphorical.
[1:21] 39 tn Or “waiting for.”
[1:21] 40 tn Grk “unto eternal life.”
[6:5] 41 tn Isaiah uses the suffixed (perfect) form of the verb for rhetorical purposes. In this way his destruction is described as occurring or as already completed. Rather than understanding the verb as derived from דָּמַה (damah, “be destroyed”), some take it from a proposed homonymic root דמה, which would mean “be silent.” In this case, one might translate, “I must be silent.”
[6:5] 42 tn Heb “a man unclean of lips am I.” Isaiah is not qualified to praise the king. His lips (the instruments of praise) are “unclean” because he has been contaminated by sin.
[6:5] 43 tn Heb “and among a nation unclean of lips I live.”
[6:5] 44 tn Perhaps in this context, the title has a less militaristic connotation and pictures the Lord as the ruler of the heavenly assembly. See the note at 1:9.
[1:18] 45 tc The textual problem μονογενὴς θεός (monogenh" qeo", “the only God”) versus ὁ μονογενὴς υἱός (Jo monogenh" Juio", “the only son”) is a notoriously difficult one. Only one letter would have differentiated the readings in the
[1:18] 46 tn Grk “in the bosom of” (an idiom for closeness or nearness; cf. L&N 34.18; BDAG 556 s.v. κόλπος 1).
[1:18] 47 tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[1:18] 48 sn Has made God known. In this final verse of the prologue, the climactic and ultimate statement of the earthly career of the Logos, Jesus of Nazareth, is reached. The unique One (John 1:14), the One who has taken on human form and nature by becoming incarnate (became flesh, 1:14), who is himself fully God (the Word was God, 1:1c) and is to be identified with the ever-living One of the Old Testament revelation (Exod 3:14), who is in intimate relationship with the Father, this One and no other has fully revealed what God is like. As Jesus said to Philip in John 14:9, “The one who has seen me has seen the Father.”
[1:2] 49 tn Grk “He”; the referent (the Word) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
[3:18] 50 tn The article τοῖς (tois) with ἀνδράσιν (andrasin, “husbands”) has been translated as a possessive pronoun (“your”); see ExSyn 215.
[1:6] 51 sn The one who called you is a reference to God the Father (note the mention of Christ in the following prepositional phrase and the mention of God the Father in 1:1).
[1:6] 52 tc Although the majority of witnesses, including some of the most important ones (Ì51 א A B Fc Ψ 33 1739 1881 Ï f vg syp bo), read “by the grace of Christ” (χάριτι Χριστοῦ, cariti Cristou) here, this reading is not without variables. Besides alternate readings such as χάριτι ᾿Ιησοῦ Χριστοῦ (cariti Ihsou Cristou, “by the grace of Jesus Christ”; D 326 1241s pc syh**) and χάριτι θεοῦ (cariti qeou, “by the grace of God”; 327 pc Thretlem), a few
[1:6] 53 tn Grk “deserting [turning away] to” a different gospel, implying the idea of “following.”
[1:17] 55 tn The words “I pray” are not in the Greek text, but have been supplied to clarify the meaning; v. 17 is a subordinate clause to v. 16 (“I pray” in v. 17 is implied from v. 16). Eph 1:15-23 constitutes one sentence in Greek, but a new sentence was started here in the translation in light of contemporary English usage.
[1:17] 56 tn Or “glorious Father.” The genitive phrase “of glory” is most likely an attributive genitive. The literal translation “Father of glory” has been retained because of the parallelism with the first line of the verse: “the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory.”
[1:17] 57 tn Or “the Spirit of wisdom and revelation,” or “a spirit of wisdom and revelation.” Verse 17 involves a complex exegetical problem revolving around the Greek term πνεῦμα (pneuma). Some take it to mean “the Spirit,” others “a spirit,” and still others “spiritual.” (1) If “the Spirit” is meant, the idea must be a metonymy of cause for effect, because the author had just indicated in vv. 13-14 that the Spirit was already given (hence, there is no need for him to pray that he be given again). But the effect of the Spirit is wisdom and revelation. (2) If “a spirit” is meant, the idea may be that the readers will have the ability to gain wisdom and insight as they read Paul’s letters, but the exact meaning of “a spirit” remains ambiguous. (3) To take the genitives following πνεῦμα as attributed genitives (see ExSyn 89-91), in which the head noun (“S/spirit”) functions semantically like an adjective (“spiritual”) is both grammatically probable and exegetically consistent.
[1:17] 58 tn Grk “in the knowledge of him.”
[1:15] 59 sn This passage has been typeset as poetry because many scholars regard this passage as poetic or hymnic. These terms are used broadly to refer to the genre of writing, not to the content. There are two broad criteria for determining if a passage is poetic or hymnic: “(a) stylistic: a certain rhythmical lilt when the passages are read aloud, the presence of parallelismus membrorum (i.e., an arrangement into couplets), the semblance of some metre, and the presence of rhetorical devices such as alliteration, chiasmus, and antithesis; and (b) linguistic: an unusual vocabulary, particularly the presence of theological terms, which is different from the surrounding context” (P. T. O’Brien, Philippians [NIGTC], 188-89). Classifying a passage as hymnic or poetic is important because understanding this genre can provide keys to interpretation. However, not all scholars agree that the above criteria are present in this passage, so the decision to typeset it as poetry should be viewed as a tentative decision about its genre.
[1:15] 60 tn The Greek term πρωτότοκος (prwtotokos) could refer either to first in order of time, such as a first born child, or it could refer to one who is preeminent in rank. M. J. Harris, Colossians and Philemon (EGGNT), 43, expresses the meaning of the word well: “The ‘firstborn’ was either the eldest child in a family or a person of preeminent rank. The use of this term to describe the Davidic king in Ps 88:28 LXX (=Ps 89:27 EVV), ‘I will also appoint him my firstborn (πρωτότοκον), the most exalted of the kings of the earth,’ indicates that it can denote supremacy in rank as well as priority in time. But whether the πρωτό- element in the word denotes time, rank, or both, the significance of the -τοκος element as indicating birth or origin (from τίκτω, give birth to) has been virtually lost except in ref. to lit. birth.” In Col 1:15 the emphasis is on the priority of Jesus’ rank as over and above creation (cf. 1:16 and the “for” clause referring to Jesus as Creator).
[1:15] 61 tn The genitive construction πάσης κτίσεως (pash" ktisew") is a genitive of subordination and is therefore translated as “over all creation.” See ExSyn 103-4.
[1:2] 62 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] 63 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] 64 tn Or “Grace to you and peace.”
[1:2] 65 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
[1:10] 66 tn The infinitive περιπατῆσαι (peripathsai, “to walk, to live, to live one’s life”) is best taken as an infinitive of purpose related to “praying” (προσευχόμενοι, proseucomenoi) and “asking” (αἰτούμενοι, aitoumenoi) in v. 9 and is thus translated as “that you may live.”
[1:10] 67 tn BDAG 129 s.v. ἀρεσκεία states that ἀρεσκείαν (areskeian) refers to a “desire to please εἰς πᾶσαν ἀ. to please (the Lord) in all respects Col 1:10.”