Isaiah 51:16

Zion’s Time to Celebrate

51:16 I commission you ¹  as my spokesman; ² 

I cover you with the palm of my hand, ³ 

to establish ⁴  the sky and to found the earth,

to say to Zion, ‘You are my people.’” ⁵ 

John 7:16-17

7:16 So Jesus replied, ⁶  “My teaching is not from me, but from the one who sent me. ⁷  7:17 If anyone wants to do God’s will, ⁸  he will know about my teaching, whether it is from God or whether I speak from my own authority. ⁹ 

John 8:38

8:38 I am telling you the things I have seen while with the ¹⁰  Father; ¹¹  as for you, ¹²  practice the things you have heard from the ¹³  Father!”

John 17:8

17:8 because I have given them the words you have given me. They ¹⁴  accepted ¹⁵  them ¹⁶  and really ¹⁷  understand ¹⁸  that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.

John 17:1

Jesus Prays for the Father to Glorify Him

17:1 When Jesus had finished saying these things, he looked upward ¹⁹  to heaven ²⁰  and said, “Father, the time ²¹  has come. Glorify your Son, so that your ²²  Son may glorify you –

Colossians 1:3

Paul’s Thanksgiving and Prayer for the Church

1:3 We always ²³  give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you,

[51:16]  ¹ tn The addressee (second masculine singular, as in vv. 13, 15) in this verse is unclear. The exiles are addressed in the immediately preceding verses (note the critical tone of vv. 12-13 and the reference to the exiles in v. 14). However, it seems unlikely that they are addressed in v. 16, for the addressee appears to be commissioned to tell Zion, who here represents the restored exiles, “you are my people.” The addressee is distinct from the exiles. The language of v. 16a is reminiscent of 49:2 and 50:4, where the Lord’s special servant says he is God’s spokesman and effective instrument. Perhaps the Lord, having spoken to the exiles in vv. 1-15, now responds to this servant, who spoke just prior to this in 50:4-11.

[51:16]  ² tn Heb “I place my words in your mouth.”

[51:16]  ³ tn Heb “with the shadow of my hand.”

[51:16]  ⁴ tc The Hebrew text has לִנְטֹעַ (lintoa’, “to plant”). Several scholars prefer to emend this form to לִנְטֹת (lintot) from נָטָה (natah, “to stretch out”); see v. 13, as well as 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; cf. NAB, NCV, NRSV. However, since the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, LXX (and Aquila and Symmachus), and Vulgate support the MT reading, there is no need to emend the form. The interpretation is clear enough: Yahweh fixed the sky in its place.

[51:16]  ⁵ tn The infinitives in v. 16b are most naturally understood as indicating the purpose of the divine actions described in v. 16a. The relationship of the third infinitive to the commission is clear enough – the Lord has made the addressee (his special servant?) his spokesman so that the latter might speak encouraging words to those in Zion. But how do the first two infinitives relate? The text seems to indicate that the Lord has commissioned the addressee so that the latter might create the universe! Perhaps creation imagery is employed metaphorically here to refer to the transformation that Jerusalem will experience (see 65:17-18).

[7:16]  ⁶ tn Grk “So Jesus answered and said to them.”

[7:16]  ⁷ tn The phrase “the one who sent me” refers to God.

[7:17]  ⁸ tn Grk “his will.”

[7:17]  ⁹ tn Grk “or whether I speak from myself.”

[8:38]  ¹⁰ tc The first person pronoun μου (mou, “my”) may be implied, especially if ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) follows the second mention of “father” in this verse (as it does in the majority of mss); no doubt this implication gave rise to the reading μου found in most witnesses (א D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 Ï it sy). No pronoun here is read by Ì^66,75 B C L 070 pc. This problem cannot be isolated from the second in the verse, however. See that discussion below.

[8:38]  ¹¹ tn Grk “The things which I have seen with the Father I speak about.”

[8:38]  ¹² tn Grk “and you.”

[8:38]  ¹³ tc A few significant witnesses lack ὑμῶν (Jumwn, “your”) here (Ì^66,75 B L W 070 pc), while the majority have the pronoun (א C D Θ Ψ 0250 Ë^1,13 33 565 892 Ï al lat sy). However, these mss do not agree on the placement of the pronoun: τοῦ πατρὸς ὑμῶν ποιεῖτε (tou patro" Jumwn poieite), τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν (tw patri Jumwn), and τῷ πατρὶ ὑμῶν ταῦτα (tw patri Jumwn tauta) all occur. If the pronoun is read, then the devil is in view and the text should be translated as “you are practicing the things you have heard from your father.” If it is not read, then the same Father mentioned in the first part of the verse is in view. In this case, ποιεῖτε should be taken as an imperative: “you [must] practice the things you have heard from the Father.” The omission is decidedly the harder reading, both because the contrast between God and the devil is now delayed until v. 41, and because ποιεῖτε could be read as an indicative, especially since the two clauses are joined by καί (kai, “and”). Thus, the pronoun looks to be a motivated reading. In light of the better external and internal evidence the omission is preferred.

[17:8]  ¹⁴ tn Grk And they.” The conjunction καί (kai, “and”) has not been translated here in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English style to use shorter sentences.

[17:8]  ¹⁵ tn Or “received.”

[17:8]  ¹⁶ tn The word “them” is not in the Greek text, but is implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context.

[17:8]  ¹⁷ tn Or “truly.”

[17:8]  ¹⁸ tn Or have come to know.”

[17:1]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “he raised his eyes” (an idiom).

[17:1]  ²⁰ tn Or “to the sky.” The Greek word οὐρανός (ouranos) may be translated “sky” or “heaven” depending on the context.

[17:1]  ²¹ tn Grk “the hour.”

[17:1]  ²² tc The better witnesses (א B C* W 0109 0301) have “the Son” (ὁ υἱός, Jo Juios) here, while the majority (C³ L Ψ Ë¹³ 33 Ï) read “your Son also” (καὶ ὁ υἱὸς σου, kai Jo Juio" sou), or “your Son” (ὁ υἱὸς σου; A D Θ 0250 1 579 pc lat sy); the second corrector of C has καὶ ὁ υἱός (“the Son also”). The longer readings appear to be predictable scribal expansions and as such should be considered secondary.

[1:3]  ²³ tn The adverb πάντοτε (pantote) is understood to modify the indicative εὐχαριστοῦμεν (eucaristoumen) because it precedes περὶ ὑμῶν (peri Jumwn) which probably modifies the indicative and not the participle προσευχόμενοι (proseucomenoi). But see 1:9 where the same expression occurs and περὶ ὑμῶν modifies the participle “praying” (προσευχόμενοι).