Isaiah 32:17-18

32:17 Fairness will produce peace ¹ 

and result in lasting security. ² 

32:18 My people will live in peaceful settlements,

in secure homes,

and in safe, quiet places. ³ 

Isaiah 66:10-12

66:10 Be happy for Jerusalem

and rejoice with her, all you who love her!

Share in her great joy,

all you who have mourned over her!

66:11 For ⁴  you will nurse from her satisfying breasts and be nourished; ⁵ 

you will feed with joy from her milk-filled breasts. ⁶ 

66:12 For this is what the Lord says:

“Look, I am ready to extend to her prosperity that will flow like a river,

the riches of nations will flow into her like a stream that floods its banks. ⁷ 

You will nurse from her breast ⁸  and be carried at her side;

you will play on her knees.

Psalms 91:1

Psalm 91 ⁹ 

91:1 As for you, the one who lives ¹⁰  in the shelter of the sovereign One, ¹¹ 

and resides in the protective shadow ¹²  of the mighty king ¹³  –

Psalms 91:4

91:4 He will shelter you ¹⁴  with his wings; ¹⁵ 

you will find safety under his wings.

His faithfulness is like a shield or a protective wall. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 116:7

116:7 Rest once more, my soul, ¹⁷ 

for the Lord has vindicated you. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 6:16

6:16 The Lord said to his people: ¹⁹ 

“You are standing at the crossroads. So consider your path. ²⁰ 

Ask where the old, reliable paths ²¹  are.

Ask where the path is that leads to blessing ²²  and follow it.

If you do, you will find rest for your souls.”

But they said, “We will not follow it!”

Haggai 2:9

2:9 ‘The future splendor of this temple will be greater than that of former times,’ ²³  the Lord who rules over all declares, ‘and in this place I will give peace.’” ²⁴ 

Matthew 11:28-30

11:28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 11:29 Take my yoke ²⁵  on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 11:30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.”

Matthew 11:2

Jesus and John the Baptist

11:2 Now when John ²⁶  heard in prison about the deeds Christ ²⁷  had done, he sent his disciples to ask a question: ²⁸ 

Matthew 1:7-12

1:7 Solomon the father of Rehoboam, Rehoboam the father of Abijah, Abijah the father of Asa, ²⁹  1:8 Asa the father of Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat the father of Joram, Joram the father of Uzziah, 1:9 Uzziah the father of Jotham, Jotham the father of Ahaz, Ahaz the father of Hezekiah, 1:10 Hezekiah the father of Manasseh, Manasseh the father of Amon, ³⁰  Amon the father of Josiah, 1:11 and Josiah ³¹  the father of Jeconiah and his brothers, at the time of the deportation to Babylon.

1:12 After ³²  the deportation to Babylon, Jeconiah became the father of Shealtiel, ³³  Shealtiel the father of Zerubbabel,

Hebrews 4:1

God’s Promised Rest

4:1 Therefore we must be wary ³⁴  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

Hebrews 4:9-16

4:9 Consequently a Sabbath rest remains for the people of God. 4:10 For the one who enters God’s ³⁵  rest has also rested from his works, just as God did from his own works. 4:11 Thus we must make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by following the same pattern of disobedience. 4:12 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword, piercing even to the point of dividing soul from spirit, and joints from marrow; it is able to judge the desires and thoughts of the heart. 4:13 And no creature is hidden from God, ³⁶  but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Jesus Our Compassionate High Priest

4:14 Therefore since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast to our confession. 4:15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin. 4:16 Therefore let us confidently approach the throne of grace to receive mercy and find grace whenever we need help. ³⁷ 

Hebrews 4:1

God’s Promised Rest

4:1 Therefore we must be wary ³⁸  that, while the promise of entering his rest remains open, none of you may seem to have come short of it.

Hebrews 1:7-9

1:7 And he says ³⁹  of the angels, “He makes ⁴⁰  his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire,” ⁴¹  1:8 but of ⁴²  the Son he says, ⁴³ 

“Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, ⁴⁴ 

and a righteous scepter ⁴⁵  is the scepter of your kingdom.

1:9 You have loved righteousness and hated lawlessness.

So God, your God, has anointed you over your companions ⁴⁶  with the oil of rejoicing.” ⁴⁷ 

Hebrews 5:10

5:10 and he was designated ⁴⁸  by God as high priest in the order of Melchizedek. ⁴⁹ 

[32:17]  ¹ tn Heb “and the product of fairness will be peace.”

[32:17]  ² tn Heb “and the work of fairness [will be] calmness and security forever.”

[32:18]  ³ tn Or “in safe resting places”; NAB, NRSV “quiet resting places.”

[66:11]  ⁴ tn Or “in order that”; ASV, NRSV “that.”

[66:11]  ⁵ tn Heb “you will suck and be satisfied, from her comforting breast.”

[66:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “you will slurp and refresh yourselves from her heavy breast.”

[66:12]  ⁷ tn Heb “Look, I am ready to extend to her like a river prosperity [or “peace”], and like an overflowing stream, the riches of nations.”

[66:12]  ⁸ tn The words “from her breast” are supplied in the translation for clarification (see v. 11).

[91:1]  ⁹ sn Psalm 91. In this psalm an individual (perhaps a priest) addresses one who has sought shelter in the Lord and assures him that God will protect him from danger (vv. 1-13). In vv. 14-16 God himself promises to keep his loyal follower safe.

[91:1]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “[O] one who lives.”

[91:1]  ¹¹ tn Traditionally “the Most High.”

[91:1]  ¹² sn The Lord is compared here to a bird who protects its young under the shadow of its wings (see v. 4).

[91:1]  ¹³ sn The divine name used here is “Shaddai” (שַׁדַּי, shadday; see also Ps 68:14). Shaddai (or El Shaddai) is the mighty king (sovereign judge) of the world who grants life/blesses and kills/judges. In Genesis he blesses the patriarchs with fertility and promises numerous descendants. Outside Genesis he both blesses/protects and takes away life/happiness.

[91:4]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “put a cover over you” (see Ps 5:11).

[91:4]  ¹⁵ tc The Hebrew text has the singular, but the plural should be read. The final yod (י) of the suffix, which indicates the plural, has dropped off by haplography (note the yod [י] at the beginning of the next word).

[91:4]  ¹⁶ tn Traditionally the Hebrew term סֹחֵרָה (sokherah), which occurs only here in the OT, has been understood to refer to a buckler or small shield (see BDB 695 s.v.). But HALOT 750 s.v., on the basis of evidence from the cognate languages, proposes the meaning “wall.”

[116:7]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “return, my soul, to your place of rest.”

[116:7]  ¹⁸ tn The Hebrew idiom גָּמַל עַל (gamal ’al) means “to repay,” here in a positive sense (cf. Ps 13:5).

[6:16]  ¹⁹ tn The words, “to his people” are not in the text but are implicit in the interchange of pronouns in the Hebrew of vv. 16-17. They are supplied in the translation here for clarity.

[6:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “Stand at the crossroads and look.”

[6:16]  ²¹ tn Heb “the ancient path,” i.e., the path the Lord set out in ancient times (cf. Deut 32:7).

[6:16]  ²² tn Heb “the way of/to the good.”

[2:9]  ²³ tn Heb “greater will be the latter splendor of this house than the former”; NAB “greater will be the future glory.”

[2:9]  ²⁴ tn In the Hebrew text there is an implicit play on words in the clause “in this place [i.e., Jerusalem] I will give peace”: in יְרוּשָׁלַיִם (yÿrushalayim) there will be שָׁלוֹם (shalom).

[11:29]  ²⁵ sn A yoke is a wooden bar or frame that joins two animals like oxen or horses so that they can pull a wagon, plow, etc. together. Here it is used figuratively of the restrictions that a teacher or rabbi would place on his followers.

[11:2]  ²⁶ sn John refers to John the Baptist.

[11:2]  ²⁷ tc The Western codex D and a few other mss (0233 1424 al) read “Jesus” here instead of “Christ.” This is not likely to be original because it is not found in the earliest and most important mss, nor in the rest of the ms tradition.

[11:2]  ²⁸ tc Instead of “by his disciples” (see the tn below for the reading of the Greek), the majority of later mss (C³ L ˹ Ï lat bo) have “two of his disciples.” The difference in Greek, however, is only two letters: διὰ τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ vs. δύο τῶν μαθητῶν αὐτοῦ (dia twn maqhtwn autou vs. duo twn maqhtwn autou). Although an accidental alteration could account for either of these readings, it is more likely that δύο is an assimilation to the parallel in Luke 7:18. Further, διά is read by a good number of early and excellent witnesses (א B C* D P W Z Δ Θ 0233 ˹³ 33 sa), and thus should be considered original.

[1:7]  ²⁹ tc The reading ᾿Ασάφ (Asaf), a variant spelling on ᾿Ασά (Asa), is found in the earliest and most widespread witnesses (Ì^1vid א B C [D^luc] Ë^1,13 700 pc it co). Although Asaph was a psalmist and Asa was a king, it is doubtful that the author mistook one for the other since other ancient documents have variant spellings on the king’s name (such as “Asab,” “Asanos,” and “Asaph”). Thus the spelling ᾿Ασάφ that is almost surely found in the original of Matt 1:7-8 has been translated as “Asa” in keeping with the more common spelling of the king’s name.

[1:10]  ³⁰ tc ᾿Αμώς (Amws) is the reading found in the earliest and best witnesses (א B C [D^luc] γ δ θ ˹ 33 pc it sa bo), and as such is most likely original, but this is a variant spelling of the name ᾿Αμών (Amwn). The translation uses the more well-known spelling “Amon” found in the Hebrew MT and the majority of LXX mss. See also the textual discussion of “Asa” versus “Asaph” (vv. 7-8); the situation is similar.

[1:11]  ³¹ sn Before the mention of Jeconiah, several medieval mss add Jehoiakim, in conformity with the genealogy in 1 Chr 3:15-16. But this alters the count of fourteen generations (v. 17). It is evident that the author is selective in his genealogy for a theological purpose.

[1:12]  ³² tn Because of the difference between Greek style, which usually begins a sentence with a conjunction, and English style, which generally does not, the conjunction δέ (de) has not been translated here.

[1:12]  ³³ sn The Greek text and the KJV read Salathiel. Most modern English translations use the OT form of the name (cf. Ezra 3:2).

[4:1]  ³⁴ tn Grk “let us fear.”

[4:10]  ³⁵ tn Grk “his”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:13]  ³⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (God) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[4:16]  ³⁷ tn Grk “for timely help.”

[4:1]  ³⁸ tn Grk “let us fear.”

[1:7]  ³⁹ sn The Greek correlative conjunctions μέν and δέ (men and de) emphasize the contrastive parallelism of vs. 7 (what God says about the angels) over against vv. 8-9 and vv. 10-12 (what God says about the son).

[1:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “He who makes.”

[1:7]  ⁴¹ sn A quotation from Ps 104:4.

[1:8]  ⁴² tn Or “to.”

[1:8]  ⁴³ tn The verb “he says” (λέγει, legei) is implied from the λέγει of v. 7.

[1:8]  ⁴⁴ tn Or possibly, “Your throne is God forever and ever.” This translation is quite doubtful, however, since (1) in the context the Son is being contrasted to the angels and is presented as far better than they. The imagery of God being the Son’s throne would seem to be of God being his authority. If so, in what sense could this not be said of the angels? In what sense is the Son thus contrasted with the angels? (2) The μέν…δέ (men…de) construction that connects v. 7 with v. 8 clearly lays out this contrast: “On the one hand, he says of the angels…on the other hand, he says of the Son.” Thus, although it is grammatically possible that θεός (qeos) in v. 8 should be taken as a predicate nominative, the context and the correlative conjunctions are decidedly against it. Hebrews 1:8 is thus a strong affirmation of the deity of Christ.

[1:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “the righteous scepter,” but used generically.

[1:9]  ⁴⁶ sn God…has anointed you over your companions. God’s anointing gives the son a superior position and authority over his fellows.

[1:9]  ⁴⁷ sn A quotation from Ps 45:6-7.

[5:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “having been designated,” continuing the thought of Heb 5:9.

[5:10]  ⁴⁹ sn The phrase in the order of Melchizedek picks up the quotation from Ps 110:4 in Heb 5:6.