Isaiah 43:7-13

43:7 everyone who belongs to me, ¹ 

whom I created for my glory,

whom I formed – yes, whom I made!

The Lord Declares His Sovereignty

43:8 Bring out the people who are blind, even though they have eyes,

those who are deaf, even though they have ears!

43:9 All nations gather together,

the peoples assemble.

Who among them announced this?

Who predicted earlier events for us? ² 

Let them produce their witnesses to testify they were right;

let them listen and affirm, ‘It is true.’

43:10 You are my witnesses,” says the Lord,

“my servant whom I have chosen,

so that you may consider ³  and believe in me,

and understand that I am he.

No god was formed before me,

and none will outlive me. ⁴ 

43:11 I, I am the Lord,

and there is no deliverer besides me.

43:12 I decreed and delivered and proclaimed,

and there was no other god among you.

You are my witnesses,” says the Lord, “that I am God.

43:13 From this day forward I am he;

no one can deliver from my power; ⁵ 

I will act, and who can prevent it?”

Isaiah 43:21

43:21 the people whom I formed for myself,

so they might praise me.” ⁶ 

Isaiah 44:23

44:23 Shout for joy, O sky, for the Lord intervenes; ⁷ 

shout out, you subterranean regions ⁸  of the earth.

O mountains, give a joyful shout;

you too, O forest and all your trees! ⁹ 

For the Lord protects ¹⁰  Jacob;

he reveals his splendor through Israel. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 45:6-8

45:6 I do this ¹²  so people ¹³  will recognize from east to west

that there is no God but me;

I am the Lord, I have no peer.

45:7 I am ¹⁴  the one who forms light

and creates darkness; ¹⁵ 

the one who brings about peace

and creates calamity. ¹⁶ 

I am the Lord, who accomplishes all these things.

45:8 O sky, rain down from above!

Let the clouds send down showers ¹⁷  of deliverance!

Let the earth absorb it ¹⁸  so salvation may grow, ¹⁹ 

and deliverance may sprout up ²⁰  along with it.

I, the Lord, create it. ²¹ 

Isaiah 66:18

66:18 “I hate their deeds and thoughts! So I am coming ²²  to gather all the nations and ethnic groups; ²³  they will come and witness my splendor.

Exodus 9:16

9:16 But ²⁴  for this purpose I have caused you to stand: ²⁵  to show you ²⁶  my strength, and so that my name may be declared ²⁷  in all the earth.

Numbers 23:23

23:23 For there is no spell against ²⁸  Jacob,

nor is there any divination against Israel.

At this time ²⁹  it must be said ³⁰  of Jacob

and of Israel, ‘Look at ³¹  what God has done!’

Job 12:9

12:9 Which of all these ³²  does not know

that the hand of the Lord ³³  has done ³⁴  this,

Psalms 109:27

109:27 Then they will realize ³⁵  this is your work, ³⁶ 

and that you, Lord, have accomplished it.

Ephesians 2:6-10

2:6 and he raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 2:7 to demonstrate in the coming ages ³⁷  the surpassing wealth of his grace in kindness toward ³⁸  us in Christ Jesus. 2:8 For by grace you are saved ³⁹  through faith, ⁴⁰  and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God; 2:9 it is not from ⁴¹  works, so that no one can boast. ⁴²  2:10 For we are his workmanship, having been created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand so we may do them. ⁴³ 

Ephesians 2:2

2:2 in which ⁴⁴  you formerly lived ⁴⁵  according to this world’s present path, ⁴⁶  according to the ruler of the kingdom ⁴⁷  of the air, the ruler of ⁴⁸  the spirit ⁴⁹  that is now energizing ⁵⁰  the sons of disobedience, ⁵¹ 

Ephesians 1:10

1:10 toward the administration of the fullness of the times, to head up ⁵²  all things in Christ – the things in heaven ⁵³  and the things on earth. ⁵⁴ 

[43:7]  ¹ tn Heb “everyone who is called by my name” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[43:9]  ² tn Heb “and the former things was causing us to hear?”

[43:10]  ³ tn Or “know” (KJV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV).

[43:10]  ⁴ tn Heb “and after me, there will not be”; NASB “there will be none after Me.”

[43:13]  ⁴ tn Heb “hand” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “No one can oppose what I do.”

[43:21]  ⁵ tn Heb “[so] they might declare my praise.”

[44:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “acts”; NASB, NRSV “has done it”; NLT “has done this wondrous thing.”

[44:23]  ⁷ tn Heb “lower regions.” This refers to Sheol and forms a merism with “sky” in the previous line. See Pss 63:9; 71:20.

[44:23]  ⁸ tn Heb “O forest and all the trees in it”; NASB, NRSV “and every tree in it.”

[44:23]  ⁹ tn Heb “redeems.” See the note at 41:14.

[44:23]  ¹⁰ tn That is, by delivering Israel. Cf. NCV “showed his glory when he saved Israel”; TEV “has shown his greatness by saving his people Israel.”

[45:6]  ⁷ tn The words “I do this” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[45:6]  ⁸ tn Heb “they” (so KJV, ASV); TEV, CEV “everyone”; NLT “all the world.”

[45:7]  ⁸ tn The words “I am” are supplied in the translation for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text the participle at the beginning of v. 7 stands in apposition to “the Lord” in v. 6.

[45:7]  ⁹ tn On the surface v. 7a appears to describe God’s sovereign control over the cycle of day and night, but the following statement suggests that “light” and “darkness” symbolize “deliverance” and “judgment.”

[45:7]  ¹⁰ sn This verses affirms that God is ultimately sovereign over his world, including mankind and nations. In accordance with his sovereign will, he can cause wars to cease and peace to predominate (as he was about to do for his exiled people through Cyrus), or he can bring disaster and judgment on nations (as he was about to do to Babylon through Cyrus).

[45:8]  ⁹ tn Heb “let the clouds drip with”; KJV “let the skies pour down.”

[45:8]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “open up” (so NASB); NIV, NLT “open wide.”

[45:8]  ¹¹ tc The plural verb should be emended to a singular form. The vav (ו) ending is probably virtually dittographic (note the yod at the beginning of the following word).

[45:8]  ¹² tc The Hiphil verb form (תַצְמִיחַ, tatsmiakh) should probably be emended to a Qal (תִצְמַח, titsmakh). The יח sequence at the end of the form is probably due to dittography (note the following יַחַד, yakhad).

[45:8]  ¹³ tn The masculine singular pronominal suffix probably refers back to יָשַׁע (yasha’, “salvation”).

[66:18]  ¹⁰ tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and I, their deeds and their thoughts, am coming.” The syntax here is very problematic, suggesting that the text may have suffered corruption. Some suggest that the words “their deeds and their thoughts” have been displaced from v. 17. This line presents two primary challenges. In the first place, the personal pronoun “I” has no verb after it. Most translations insert “know” for the sake of clarity (NASB, NRSV, NLT, ESV). The NIV has “I, because of their actions and their imaginations…” Since God’s “knowledge” of Israel’s sin occasions judgment, the verb “hate” is an option as well (see above translation). The feminine form of the next verb (בָּאָה, ba’ah) could be understood in one of two ways. One could provide an implied noun “time” (עֵת, ’et) and render the next line “the time is coming/has come” (NASB, ESV). One could also emend the feminine verb to the masculine בָּא (ba’) and have the “I” at the beginning of the line govern this verb as well (for the Lord is speaking here): “I am coming” (cf. NIV, NCV, NRSV, TEV, NLT).

[66:18]  ¹¹ tn Heb “and the tongues”; KJV, NASB, NIV, NRSV “and tongues.”

[9:16]  ¹¹ tn The first word is a very strong adversative, which, in general, can be translated “but, howbeit”; BDB 19 s.v. אוּלָם suggests for this passage “but in very deed.”

[9:16]  ¹² tn The form הֶעֱמַדְתִּיךָ (he’emadtikha) is the Hiphil perfect of עָמַד (’amad). It would normally mean “I caused you to stand.” But that seems to have one or two different connotations. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 73) says that it means “maintain you alive.” The causative of this verb means “continue,” according to him. The LXX has the same basic sense – “you were preserved.” But Paul bypasses the Greek and writes “he raised you up” to show God’s absolute sovereignty over Pharaoh. Both renderings show God’s sovereign control over Pharaoh.

[9:16]  ¹³ tn The Hiphil infinitive construct הַרְאֹתְךָ (har’otÿkha) is the purpose of God’s making Pharaoh come to power in the first place. To make Pharaoh see is to cause him to understand, to experience God’s power.

[9:16]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “in order to declare my name.” Since there is no expressed subject, this may be given a passive translation.

[23:23]  ¹² tn Or “in Jacob.” But given the context the meaning “against” is preferable. The words describe two techniques of consulting God; the first has to do with observing omens in general (“enchantments”), and the second with casting lots or arrows of the like (“divinations” [Ezek 21:26]). See N. H. Snaith, Leviticus and Numbers (NCB), 295-96.

[23:23]  ¹³ tn The form is the preposition “like, as” and the word for “time” – according to the time, about this time, now.

[23:23]  ¹⁴ tn The Niphal imperfect here carries the nuance of obligation – one has to say in amazement that God has done something marvelous or “it must be said.”

[23:23]  ¹⁵ tn The words “look at” are not in the Hebrew text but have been added in the translation for clarity.

[12:9]  ¹³ tn This line could also be translated “by all these,” meaning “who is not instructed by nature?” (H. H. Rowley, Job [NCBC], 93). But D. J. A. Clines points out that the verses have presented the animals as having knowledge and communicating it, so the former reading would be best (Job [WBC], 279).

[12:9]  ¹⁴ tc Some commentators have trouble with the name “Yahweh” in this verse, which is not the pattern in the poetic section of Job. Three mss of Kennicott and two of de Rossi have “God.” If this is so the reminiscence of Isaiah 41:20 led the copyist to introduce the tetragrammaton. But one could argue equally that the few mss with “God” were the copyists’ attempt to correct the text in accord with usage elsewhere.

[12:9]  ¹⁵ sn The expression “has done this” probably refers to everything that has been discussed, namely, the way that God in his wisdom rules over the world, but specifically it refers to the infliction of suffering in the world.

[109:27]  ¹⁴ tn After the preceding imperative, the prefixed verbal form with vav (ו) conjunctive indicates purpose or result.

[109:27]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “that your hand [is] this.”

[2:7]  ¹⁵ tn Or possibly “to the Aeons who are about to come.”

[2:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “upon.”

[2:8]  ¹⁶ tn See note on the same expression in v. 5.

[2:8]  ¹⁷ tc The feminine article is found before πίστεως (pistews, “faith”) in the Byzantine text as well as in A Ψ 1881 pc. Perhaps for some scribes the article was intended to imply creedal fidelity as a necessary condition of salvation (“you are saved through the faith”), although elsewhere in the corpus Paulinum the phrase διὰ τῆς πίστεως (dia th" pistew") is used for the act of believing rather than the content of faith (cf. Rom 3:30, 31; Gal 3:14; Eph 3:17; Col 2:12). On the other side, strong representatives of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א B D* F G P 0278 6 33 1739 al bo) lack the article. Hence, both text-critically and exegetically, the meaning of the text here is most likely “saved through faith” as opposed to “saved through the faith.” Regarding the textual problem, the lack of the article is the preferred reading.

[2:9]  ¹⁷ tn Or “not as a result of.”

[2:9]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “lest anyone should boast.”

[2:10]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “so that we might walk in them” (or “by them”).

[2:2]  ¹⁹ sn The relative pronoun which is feminine as is sins, indicating that sins is the antecedent.

[2:2]  ²⁰ tn Grk “walked.”

[2:2]  ²¹ tn Or possibly “Aeon.”

[2:2]  ²² tn Grk “domain, [place of] authority.”

[2:2]  ²³ tn Grk “of” (but see the note on the word “spirit” later in this verse).

[2:2]  ²⁴ sn The ruler of the kingdom of the air is also the ruler of the spirit that is now energizing the sons of disobedience. Although several translations regard the ruler to be the same as the spirit, this is unlikely since the cases in Greek are different (ruler is accusative and spirit is genitive). To get around this, some have suggested that the genitive for spirit is a genitive of apposition. However, the semantics of the genitive of apposition are against such an interpretation (cf. ExSyn 100).

[2:2]  ²⁵ tn Grk “working in.”

[2:2]  ²⁶ sn Sons of disobedience is a Semitic idiom that means “people characterized by disobedience.” However, it also contains a subtle allusion to vv. 4-10: Some of those sons of disobedience have become sons of God.

[1:10]  ²⁰ tn The precise meaning of the infinitive ἀνακεφαλαιώσασθαι (anakefalaiwsasqai) in v. 10 is difficult to determine since it was used relatively infrequently in Greek literature and only twice in the NT (here and Rom 13:9). While there have been several suggestions, three deserve mention: (1) “To sum up.” In Rom 13:9, using the same term, the author there says that the law may be “summarized in one command, to love your neighbor as yourself.” The idea then in Eph 1:10 would be that all things in heaven and on earth can be summed up and made sense out of in relation to Christ. (2) “To renew.” If this is the nuance of the verb then all things in heaven and earth, after their plunge into sin and ruin, are renewed by the coming of Christ and his redemption. (3) “To head up.” In this translation the idea is that Christ, in the fullness of the times, has been exalted so as to be appointed as the ruler (i.e., “head”) over all things in heaven and earth (including the church). That this is perhaps the best understanding of the verb is evidenced by the repeated theme of Christ’s exaltation and reign in Ephesians and by the connection to the κεφαλή- (kefalh-) language of 1:22 (cf. Schlier, TDNT 3:682; L&N 63.8; M. Barth, Ephesians [AB 34], 1:89-92; contra A. T. Lincoln, Ephesians [WBC], 32-33).

[1:10]  ²¹ tn Grk “the heavens.”

[1:10]  ²² sn And the things on earth. Verse 10 ends with “in him.” The redundancy keeps the focus on Christ at the expense of good Greek style. Verse 11 repeats the reference with a relative pronoun (“in whom”) – again, at the expense of good Greek style. Although the syntax is awkward, the theology is rich. This is not the first time that a NT writer was so overcome with awe for his Lord that he seems to have lost control of his pen. Indeed, it happened frequently enough that some have labeled their christologically motivated solecisms an “apostolic disease.”