Isaiah 45:21

45:21 Tell me! Present the evidence! ¹ 

Let them consult with one another!

Who predicted this in the past?

Who announced it beforehand?

Was it not I, the Lord?

I have no peer, there is no God but me,

a God who vindicates and delivers; ² 

there is none but me.

John 10:28-30

10:28 I give ³  them eternal life, and they will never perish; ⁴  no one will snatch ⁵  them from my hand. 10:29 My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, ⁶  and no one can snatch ⁷  them from my Father’s hand. 10:30 The Father and I ⁸  are one.” ⁹ 

Titus 2:13

2:13 as we wait for the happy fulfillment of our hope in the glorious appearing ¹⁰  of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ. ¹¹ 

Titus 2:2

2:2 Older men are to be temperate, dignified, self-controlled, ¹²  sound in faith, in love, and in endurance. ¹³ 

Titus 1:1

Salutation

1:1 From Paul, ¹⁴  a slave ¹⁵  of God and apostle of Jesus Christ, to further the faith ¹⁶  of God’s chosen ones and the knowledge of the truth that is in keeping with godliness,

[45:21]  ¹ tn Heb “Declare! Bring near!”; NASB “Declare and set forth your case.” See 41:21.

[45:21]  ² tn Or “a righteous God and deliverer”; NASB, NIV, NRSV “a righteous God and a Savior.”

[10:28]  ³ tn Grk “And I give.”

[10:28]  ⁴ tn Or “will never die” or “will never be lost.”

[10:28]  ⁵ tn Or “no one will seize.”

[10:29]  ⁶ tn Or “is superior to all.”

[10:29]  ⁷ tn Or “no one can seize.”

[10:30]  ⁸ tn Grk “I and the Father.” The order has been reversed to reflect English style.

[10:30]  ⁹ tn The phrase ἕν ἐσμεν ({en esmen) is a significant assertion with trinitarian implications. ἕν is neuter, not masculine, so the assertion is not that Jesus and the Father are one person, but one “thing.” Identity of the two persons is not what is asserted, but essential unity (unity of essence).

[2:13]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the blessed hope and glorious appearing.”

[2:13]  ¹¹ tn The terms “God and Savior” both refer to the same person, Jesus Christ. This is one of the clearest statements in the NT concerning the deity of Christ. The construction in Greek is known as the Granville Sharp rule, named after the English philanthropist-linguist who first clearly articulated the rule in 1798. Sharp pointed out that in the construction article-noun-καί-noun (where καί [kai] = “and”), when two nouns are singular, personal, and common (i.e., not proper names), they always had the same referent. Illustrations such as “the friend and brother,” “the God and Father,” etc. abound in the NT to prove Sharp’s point. The only issue is whether terms such as “God” and “Savior” could be considered common nouns as opposed to proper names. Sharp and others who followed (such as T. F. Middleton in his masterful The Doctrine of the Greek Article) demonstrated that a proper name in Greek was one that could not be pluralized. Since both “God” (θεός, qeos) and “savior” (σωτήρ, swthr) were occasionally found in the plural, they did not constitute proper names, and hence, do fit Sharp’s rule. Although there have been 200 years of attempts to dislodge Sharp’s rule, all attempts have been futile. Sharp’s rule stands vindicated after all the dust has settled. For more information on Sharp’s rule see ExSyn 270-78, esp. 276. See also 2 Pet 1:1 and Jude 4.

[2:2]  ¹² tn Or “sensible.”

[2:2]  ¹³ sn Temperate…in endurance. See the same cluster of virtues in 1 Thess 1:3 and 1 Cor 13:13.

[1:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.

[1:1]  ¹⁵ tn Traditionally, “servant” or “bondservant.” Though δοῦλος (doulos) is normally translated “servant,” the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

[1:1]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “for the faith,” possibly, “in accordance with the faith.”