Isaiah 2:5

2:5 O descendants ¹  of Jacob,

come, let us walk in the Lord’s guiding light. ² 

Isaiah 49:10

49:10 They will not be hungry or thirsty;

the sun’s oppressive heat will not beat down on them, ³ 

for one who has compassion on them will guide them;

he will lead them to springs of water.

Jeremiah 2:2

2:2 “Go and declare in the hearing of the people of Jerusalem: ⁴  ‘This is what the Lord says: “I have fond memories of you, ⁵  how devoted you were to me in your early years. ⁶  I remember how you loved me like a new bride; you followed me through the wilderness, through a land that had never been planted.

Jeremiah 7:6

7:6 Stop oppressing foreigners who live in your land, children who have lost their fathers, and women who have lost their husbands. ⁷  Stop killing innocent people ⁸  in this land. Stop paying allegiance to ⁹  other gods. That will only bring about your ruin. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 7:9

7:9 You steal. ¹¹  You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to ¹²  other gods whom you have not previously known.

Jeremiah 31:9

31:9 They will come back shedding tears of contrition.

I will bring them back praying prayers of repentance. ¹³ 

I will lead them besides streams of water,

along smooth paths where they will never stumble. ¹⁴ 

I will do this because I am Israel’s father;

Ephraim ¹⁵  is my firstborn son.’”

Micah 4:5

4:5 Though all the nations follow their respective gods, ¹⁶ 

we will follow ¹⁷  the Lord our God forever.

Zechariah 10:12

10:12 Thus I will strengthen them by my power, ¹⁸  and they will walk about ¹⁹  in my name,” says the Lord.

John 8:12

Jesus as the Light of the World

8:12 Then Jesus spoke out again, ²⁰  “I am the light of the world. ²¹  The one who follows me will never ²²  walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Romans 8:1-2

The Believer’s Relationship to the Holy Spirit

8:1 There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ²³  8:2 For the law of the life-giving Spirit ²⁴  in Christ Jesus has set you ²⁵  free from the law of sin and death.

Romans 2:10

2:10 but ²⁶  glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, for the Jew first and also the Greek.

[2:5]  ¹ tn Heb “house,” referring to the family line or descendants (likewise in v. 6).

[2:5]  ² tn Heb “let’s walk in the light of the Lord.” In this context, which speaks of the Lord’s instruction and commands, the “light of the Lord” refers to his moral standards by which he seeks to guide his people. One could paraphrase, “let’s obey the Lord’s commands.”

[49:10]  ³ tn Heb “and the heat and the sun will not strike them.” In Isa 35:7, its only other occurrence in the OT, שָׁרָב (sharav) stands parallel to “parched ground” and in contrast to “pool.” In later Hebrew and Aramaic it refers to “dry heat, heat of the sun” (Jastrow 1627 s.v.). Here it likely has this nuance and forms a hendiadys with “sun.”

[2:2]  ⁴ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:2]  ⁵ tn Heb “I remember to/for you.”

[2:2]  ⁶ tn Heb “the loyal love of your youth.”

[7:6]  ⁷ tn Heb “Stop oppressing foreigner, orphan, and widow.”

[7:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “Stop shedding innocent blood.”

[7:6]  ⁹ tn Heb “going/following after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[7:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “going after other gods to your ruin.”

[7:9]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.

[7:9]  ¹² tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[31:9]  ¹³ tn Heb “They will come with weeping; I will bring them with supplication.” The ideas of contrition and repentance are implicit from the context (cf. vv. 18-19) and are supplied for clarity.

[31:9]  ¹⁴ sn Jer 31:8-9 are reminiscent of the “New Exodus” motif of Isa 40-66 which has already been referred to in Jer 16:14-15; 23:7-8. See especially Isa 35:3-10; 40:3-5, 11; 41:17-20; 42:14-17; 43:16-21; 49:9-13. As there, the New Exodus will so outstrip the old that the old will pale in comparison and be almost forgotten (see Jer 23:7-8).

[31:9]  ¹⁵ sn Ephraim was the second son of Joseph who was elevated to a place of prominence in the family of Jacob by the patriarch’s special blessing. It was the strongest tribe in northern Israel and Samaria lay in its territory. It is often used as a poetic parallel for Israel as here. The poetry is not speaking of two separate entities here; it is a way of repeating an idea for emphasis. Moreover, there is no intent to show special preference for northern Israel over Judah. All Israel is metaphorically God’s son and the object of his special care and concern (Exod 4:22; Deut 32:6).

[4:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “walk each in the name of his god.” The term “name” here has the idea of “authority.” To “walk in the name” of a god is to recognize the god’s authority as binding over one’s life.

[4:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “walk in the name of.”

[10:12]  ¹⁸ tc Heb “I will strengthen them in the Lord.” Because of the perceived problem of the Lord saying he will strengthen the people “in the Lord,” both BHK and BHS suggest emending גִּבַּרְתִּים (gibbartim, “I will strengthen them”) to גְּבֻרָתָם (gevuratam, “their strength”). This is unnecessary, however, for the Lord frequently refers to himself in that manner (see Zech 2:11).

[10:12]  ¹⁹ tc The LXX and Syriac presuppose יִתְהַלָּלוּ (yithallalu, “they will glory”) for יִתְהַלְּכוּ (yithallÿkhu, “they will walk about”). Since walking about is a common idiom in Zechariah (cf. 1:10, 11; 6:7 [3x]) to speak of dominion, and dominion is a major theme of the present passage, there is no reason to reject the MT reading, which is followed by most modern English versions.

[8:12]  ²⁰ tn Grk “Then again Jesus spoke to them saying.”

[8:12]  ²¹ sn The theory proposed by F. J. A. Hort (The New Testament in the Original Greek, vol. 2, Introduction; Appendix, 87-88), that the backdrop of 8:12 is the lighting of the candelabra in the court of women, may offer a plausible setting to the proclamation by Jesus that he is the light of the world. The last time that Jesus spoke in the narrative (assuming 7:53-8:11 is not part of the original text, as the textual evidence suggests) is in 7:38, where he was speaking to a crowd of pilgrims in the temple area. This is where he is found in the present verse, and he may be addressing the crowd again. Jesus’ remark has to be seen in view of both the prologue (John 1:4, 5) and the end of the discourse with Nicodemus (John 3:19-21). The coming of Jesus into the world provokes judgment: A choosing up of sides becomes necessary. The one who comes to the light, that is, who follows Jesus, will not walk in the darkness. The one who refuses to come, will walk in the darkness. In this contrast, there are only two alternatives. So it is with a person’s decision about Jesus. Furthermore, this serves as in implicit indictment of Jesus’ opponents, who still walk in the darkness, because they refuse to come to him. This sets up the contrast in chap. 9 between the man born blind, who receives both physical and spiritual sight, and the Pharisees (John 9:13, 15, 16) who have physical sight but remain in spiritual darkness.

[8:12]  ²² tn The double negative οὐ μή (ou mh) is emphatic in 1st century Hellenistic Greek.

[8:1]  ²³ tc The earliest and best witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts, as well as a few others (א* B D* F G 6 1506 1739 1881 pc co), have no additional words for v. 1. Later scribes (A D¹ Ψ 81 365 629 pc vg) added the words μὴ κατὰ σάρκα περιπατοῦσιν (mh kata sarka peripatousin, “who do not walk according to the flesh”), while even later ones (א² D² 33^vid Ï) added ἀλλὰ κατὰ πνεῦμα (alla kata pneuma, “but [who do walk] according to the Spirit”). Both the external evidence and the internal evidence are compelling for the shortest reading. The scribes were evidently motivated to add such qualifications (interpolated from v. 4) to insulate Paul’s gospel from charges that it was characterized too much by grace. The KJV follows the longest reading found in Ï.

[8:2]  ²⁴ tn Grk “for the law of the Spirit of life.”

[8:2]  ²⁵ tc Most mss read the first person singular pronoun με (me) here (A D 1739^c 1881 Ï lat sa). The second person singular pronoun σε (se) is superior because of external support (א B {F which reads σαι} G 1506* 1739*) and internal support (it is the harder reading since ch. 7 was narrated in the first person). At the same time, it could have arisen via dittography from the final syllable of the verb preceding it (ἠλευθέρωσεν, hleuqerwsen; “has set free”). But for this to happen in such early and diverse witnesses is unlikely, especially as it depends on various scribes repeatedly overlooking either the nu or the nu-bar at the end of the verb.

[2:10]  ²⁶ tn Grk “but even,” to emphasize the contrast. The second word has been omitted since it is somewhat redundant in English idiom.