Isaiah 54:13

54:13 All your children will be followers of the Lord,

and your children will enjoy great prosperity. ¹ 

Psalms 25:14

25:14 The Lord’s loyal followers receive his guidance, ² 

and he reveals his covenantal demands to them. ³ 

Proverbs 8:8-9

8:8 All the words of my mouth are righteous; ⁴ 

there is nothing in them twisted ⁵  or crooked.

8:9 All of them are clear ⁶  to the discerning

and upright to those who find knowledge.

Daniel 12:9-10

12:9 He said, “Go, Daniel. For these matters are closed and sealed until the time of the end. 12:10 Many will be purified, made clean, and refined, but the wicked will go on being wicked. None of the wicked will understand, though the wise will understand.

Matthew 13:11

13:11 He replied, ⁷  “You have been given ⁸  the opportunity to know ⁹  the secrets ¹⁰  of the kingdom of heaven, but they have not.

Mark 4:10-11

The Purpose of Parables

4:10 When he was alone, those around him with the twelve asked him about the parables. 4:11 He said to them, “The secret ¹¹  of the kingdom of God has been given ¹²  to you. But to those outside, everything is in parables,

Mark 4:34

4:34 He did not speak to them without a parable. But privately he explained everything to his own disciples.

Mark 10:10

10:10 In the house once again, the disciples asked him about this.

Mark 10:1

Divorce

10:1 Then ¹³  Jesus ¹⁴  left that place and went to the region of Judea and ¹⁵  beyond the Jordan River. ¹⁶  Again crowds gathered to him, and again, as was his custom, he taught them.

Colossians 2:14

2:14 He has destroyed ¹⁷  what was against us, a certificate of indebtedness ¹⁸  expressed in decrees opposed to us. He has taken it away by nailing it to the cross.

Revelation 2:17

2:17 The one who has an ear had better hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers, ¹⁹  I will give him some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white ²⁰  stone, ²¹  and on that stone will be written a new name that no one can understand ²²  except the one who receives it.’

[54:13]  ¹ tn Heb “and great [will be] the peace of your sons.”

[25:14]  ² tn Heb “the advice of the Lord belongs to those who fear him.”

[25:14]  ³ tn Heb “and his covenant, to make them know.”

[8:8]  ⁴ tn The phrase could be rendered with an understood ellipsis: “all the words of my mouth [are said] in righteousness”; or the preposition could be interpreted as a beth essentiae: “all the words of my mouth are righteousness.”

[8:8]  ⁵ sn The verb פָּתַל (patal) means “to twist.” In the Niphal it means “to wrestle” (to twist oneself). It was used in Gen 30:8 for the naming of Naphtali, with the motivation for the name from this verb: “with great struggling.” Here it describes speech that is twisted. It is a synonym for the next word, which means “twisted; crooked; perverse.”

[8:9]  ⁶ tn Heb “front of.” Describing the sayings as “right in front” means they are open, obvious, and clear, as opposed to words that might be twisted or perverse. The parallel word “upright” means “straight, smooth, right.” Wisdom’s teachings are in plain view and intelligible for those who find knowledge.

[13:11]  ⁷ tn Grk “And answering, he said to them.” This construction is somewhat redundant in English and has been simplified in the translation. Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[13:11]  ⁸ tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[13:11]  ⁹ tn Grk “to you it has been given to know.” The dative pronoun occurs first, in emphatic position in the Greek text, although this position is awkward in contemporary English.

[13:11]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “the mysteries.”

[4:11]  ¹¹ tn Grk “the mystery.”

[4:11]  ¹² tn This is an example of a “divine passive,” with God understood to be the source of the revelation (see ExSyn 437-38).

[10:1]  ¹³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the narrative.

[10:1]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “He”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[10:1]  ¹⁵ tc Alexandrian and other witnesses (א B C* L Ψ 0274 892 2427 pc co) read καὶ πέραν (kai peran, “and beyond”), while Western and Caesarean witnesses (C² D W Δ Θ Ë^1,13 28 565 579 1241 al) read πέραν (simply “beyond”). It is difficult to decide between the Alexandrian and Western readings here, but since the parallel in Matt 19:1 omits καί the weight is slightly in favor of including it here; scribes may have omitted the word here to harmonize this passage to the Matthean passage. Because of the perceived geographical difficulties found in the earlier readings (omission of the word “and” would make it seem as though Judea is beyond the Jordan), the majority of the witnesses (A Ï) read διὰ τοῦ πέραν (dia tou peran, “through the other side”), perhaps trying to indicate the direction of Jesus’ travel.

[10:1]  ¹⁶ tn “River” is not in the Greek text but is supplied for clarity. The region referred to here is sometimes known as Transjordan (i.e., “across the Jordan”).

[2:14]  ¹⁷ tn The participle ἐξαλείψας (exaleiyas) is a temporal adverbial participle of contemporaneous time related to the previous verb συνεζωοποίησεν (sunezwopoihsen), but has been translated as a finite verb because of the complexity of the Greek sentence and the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences. For the meaning “destroy” see BDAG 344-45 s.v. ἐξαλείφω 2.

[2:14]  ¹⁸ tn On the translation of χειρόγραφον (ceirografon), see BDAG 1083 s.v. which refers to it as “a certificate of indebtedness.”

[2:17]  ¹⁹ tn Or “who is victorious”; traditionally, “who overcomes.” The pendent dative is allowed to stand in the English translation because it is characteristic of the author’s style in Revelation.

[2:17]  ²⁰ tn Or “bright.” The Greek term λευκός (leukos) can refer either to the color white (traditional here) or to an object that is bright or shining, either from itself or from an outside source of illumination (L&N 14.50; 79.27).

[2:17]  ²¹ tn On the interpretation of the stone, L&N 2.27 states, “A number of different suggestions have been made as to the reference of ψῆφος in this context. Some scholars believe that the white ψῆφος indicates a vote of acquittal in court. Others contend that it is simply a magical amulet; still others, a token of Roman hospitality; and finally, some have suggested that it may represent a ticket to the gladiatorial games, that is to say, to martyrdom. The context, however, suggests clearly that this is something to be prized and a type of reward for those who have ‘won the victory.’”

[2:17]  ²² tn Or “know”; for the meaning “understand” see L&N 32.4.